Narrator: Meh Sod

Date: 7/15/2019

Location: Atlanta, GA

Summary: Meh Sod documents her life growing up in a refugee camp in Thailand and moving to America, engaging with both Christian communities of her own Karen cultural tradition and Baptist churches typical to the American South. She speaks of her family’s impact on her Christianity as well as how her faith brings her closer to her Karen roots.

Topics: Family, Refugee, Faith, Cultural Adjustment, Education, Places of Worship, Gratitude, Future, Employment

Outline

Section 1: 0:00-5:47

• Family - Because of civil war, born in a refugee camp in Thailand, though originally from Myanmar. Named after the city of Meh Sod, where she was born.

• Grew up in a refugee camp for the first 12 years of her life.

• Refugee - In the refugee camp, her family had a limited food supply and could not find work, but she managed to have fun playing with friends.

• Faith - Grew up Christian, but his mother was not very strict about going to church.

Section 2: 5:47-16:10

• Cultural Adjustment - Rather suddenly, her family was given the opportunity to move to America, and they decided to take it. Meh was unsure about the move at the time.

• Family - While she was leaving everything he knew, Meh Sod’s family kept her strong.

• Education - Had to attend two schools when she first arrived in America: an International school, to become more fluent in English, and a standard school.

Section 3: 16:10-20:05

• Faith - Able to attend Karen church when she first arrived in America. Now attends a specifically Baptist church, but believes the environment is the same.

• Education - Attended the Global Village Project to prepare for highschool, then was able to attend an international high school and make a lot of friends.

Section 4: 20:05-25:23

• Cultural Adjustment, Places of Worship - The elders Meh Sod knew through church ensured that she would never forget her culture.

• emphasized that God created their culture and language, and also brought them to America.

• Gratitude - Very proud to be Karen; has love and respect for her people.

• Future - Stays connected to home through sending money through their church; she wants to go back.

• Returned to Myanmar in 2008 to work with Karen people as an intern.

Section 5: 25:23-30:26

• Future - In the future, if financially stable, she wants to return to return to the Myanmar/Thailand border to teach Karen people to write and talk about their lives and families.

• Home - As she had moved around all her life, home is a place where she can practice her culture, her religion, and be herself. A place that gives her a role in the community to do something she is passionate about.

• Faith - In everyday life, Christianity plays a huge role; she tries to take time every day to connect with God.

• Believes God’s most important commandment is to love others.

• Family - Meh Sod’s siblings don’t all ascribe to the same form of Christianity, but she recognizes that they were all free to make their own choices.