Bebe San has arrived in our midst, Praise God!

Burmese teen adapts to new life in the U.S.


By Momo Chang, Staff Writer
Article Created: 04/04/2008 05:58:51 PM PDT


Bebe San




Bebe San, 16, arrived in the United States last summer as a refugee with her father and two brothers.
Born and raised in Mae La refugee camp in Thailand _ the largest Karen camp with about 45,000 refugees _ Oakland is Bebe's first experience with urban life.

She is a freshman at Oakland International High School, where there are about a dozen Karen students. The school is in its pilot year and enrolls students who have been in this country less than four years. Refugees may not have much choice over where they end up, but many of the recent arrivals to the Bay Area are from the same refugee camps.



Bebe said she enjoys living in the United States, but says life is hard for her mother, who recently moved to Los Angeles for a better job. Her mother does not speak English and had difficulty finding a job, Bebe said.
``She wants to go back to Thailand,'' Bebe said. ``In America, if you don't have work and if you don't speak English, you don't have money. If you don't have money, you can't eat.''

Bebe has never been to Burma _ she was born and raised in the refugee camps _ but worries for the people there. She recalls last summer's crackdown on monks and Burmese citizens in Burma.

``I don't like the Burmese army,'' Bebe said, tears springing to her eyes. ``I'm scared. When that happened, we came to the church and prayed for the Burmese people.''