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The 4 hour drive in Rudy's car was much more comfortable than the busses or trucks that I've travelled in over the years. We checked into a small hotel and went to "Canadian Dave's" restaurant where a lot of tourist and different aid workers congregate. It is clean and has good food. I was still not eating regular food, so I had half a bagel. Jennifer, her niece Marvel, and 3 children joined us there. She offered to drive us to Mae La the next morning. They would stay with us all day and help us with registration, then drive us back to Mae Sot. That freed Rudy and Mark up from having to make 2 round trips to Mae La, since they were not planning on staying with us while we photographed and registered the children. Marvel spoke excellent English and would be a huge help to Evergreen and us. Having 2 more translators would be a huge blessing!
It gets pretty hectic when the kids and their parents are crowding around, clamoring to get registered and photographed. Having both Evergreen and Marvel registering, would free me up to take pictures along with Rick and we would get done much faster. After lunch, Rudy drove Rick and I to a local market and we bought a lot of food to take into the camp with us. Evergreen and her parents care for 30 children in their home and it is a struggle to get enough food for everyone. Some of the children are not registered and are not eligible to receive camp rations. Our friends, Mi Nge and Ruby had cared for over 50 children before being re-settled in Australia in 2012 by the U.N. re-settlement program. Ruby's parents and sister, Evergreen, are now taking care of the children who are still living in the home.
The reunion with Lucky, Kyi Kyi and their family was going to be wonderful! It had been way too long since we had spent any time together.
We had seen each other in 2011 but had little time to really visit. Sixteen years ago I had been staying in the jungle with about 150 of the Karen who were trying to stay out of the refugee camps. They had built a little compound in the jungle and even had a little church/school. Several of the families had been tricked into going back into Burma and Lucky and his family were among those who went back into Burma. They were unable to return to Thailand for 15 years. While in the jungle with them, I had given Kyi Kyi a T-Shirt that read "I KNOW JESUS LOVES ME" and she had worn it when they returned to Burma. She had it on when she greeted us in Mae La and I was so surprised to see she had kept it looking almost new for all those years. She told me it was a special reminder of me and my love for them and she made sure it was carefully packed away whenever they had to move. She did not wear it last year when we met again for the first time since they had returned from Burma, and I didn't know that she still had it.