Kae Mae is 73 years old, and there is something about him that just makes you smile. Maybe it’s his size (he stands at just over 5 feet tall), or maybe it’s his kind face. When he smiles it’s like the sun is coming out from behind the clouds. He smiles and laughs, even though he has every reason not to. Kae Mae was born in 1941 in Thaw Oo, Karen State, Burma. He married his wife on April 2, 1968 and they settled into their life together. They had eight children and were just beginning to welcome grandchildren when everything fell apart.
They were forced to leave Thaw Oo when soldiers came and burned the village to the ground. One of his grandchildren was murdered by the soldiers as he and his family fled into the jungle. They lived as internally displaced people for a year before crossing the border into Thailand in 2006.
“I like living in America.” He said, “and I really love to work here.” We are standing at Delaney Farm and he and three others are clearing a bed of green onions of weeds.
“When I was in Burma, I used to work like this. I grew rice and vegetables and I fished. Life in the camp was not good. I lived there for eight years. There is no freedom, no work, not enough food, how do they expect us to survive? America is safe. America is free.”
