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This is the Kayan group "Nine Star" who produced a CD of their own music in Nai Soi Kayan Tayar village (Thailand) in 2006 whilst they were refugees. Most of the group have now been resettled in Third Countries, including New Zealand, the USA and Finland. Say Reh, who wrote most of the music, is in the centre of the back row.
Category: Music Tags: This video shows the annual Kay Hto Bo festival in Huay Pu Keng village in Thailand in 2011. The Kayan festival celebrates the Kayan new year. It is a popular festival in Kayah state. The villagers were joined by friends and relatives from the other two Kayan villages in Mae Hong Son and from Huay Pu Long, a Kayan village just across the border in Burma.
Kayan students were among those who graduated in March 2011 after following a two year course in Nai Soi refugee camp, Thailand. Most of the students who graduate from this course work in the community as teachers or in camp based organizations. The course is taught in English and this enables the students to act as interpreters in Kayan, Kayah, Burmese, English and Thai. The KLMC course has run for the past 7 years, but this was the final year. From May 2011 KLMC and KnPT will merge to form the new Karenni Community College.
Ma Jon (above), photographed with her mother at their former stall in Nai Soi Kayan Tayar village, is the face that greets tourists on arrival in Mae Hong Son. In the airport’s photo montage she’s surrounded by yellow Bua Tong flowers, though she’d never actually visited the Bua Tong fields. As a refugee she didn’t have freedom of movement in Thailand. Visitors would have to go a lot further to find Ma Jon and her family these days as the family were resettled in New Zealand in 2009 as part of a UNHCR sponsored refugee resettlement scheme. Postcards of Ma Jon remain on sale in Mae Hong Son, Thailand Ma Jon had only had one year at Primary School, but she grew tired of a life on show and wanted an education. The family moved into the refugee camp where she attended High School and won a place in the Post-X school. Soon after moving into camp Ma Jon’s mother was the first woman in the family to remove her rings, after wearing them for over 45 years. In 2009 Ma John with her parents, sister and 2 brothers flew to New Zealand. I recently found this video of Ma Da speaking Spanish. Ma Da was one of the most famous Kayan woman in Mae Hong Son. She lived in Nai Soi’s Kayan Tayar village with her mother, husband and two children. She was not only beautiful, but brilliant and charming. Despite having no formal education she could converse in 7 languages (including Thai, Japanese and Spanish). Videos and photos of MaDa are to be found on many internet sites and her postcard remains on sale in Mae Hong Son province.
What few people know is that Ma Da died suddenly on the 8.11.06. Ma Da’s children still live in Nai Soi with their paternal grandmother, but her mother has moved into the refugee camp and applied for resettlement in the USA. National Geographic made a short video about the Kayan living in Thailand. They show rings being put on and taken off and show x-rays of the Kayan. Welcome to my website all about my people. The Kayan people of Burma are very famous, but not many people know the true story about them.
The Kayan are traditionally farmers and few have the opportunity to tell the world about our life and culture. But many people from other countires like to tell stories about us. I hope on this website I can tell you about the real life for Kayan and that you will find it interesting and informative. Thank you for visiting us. |
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April 2011
AuthorI am a Kayan from Burma. Categories |