Burmese students adjust to life at NHS

December 13, 2011 Leave a Comment 

By Miranda Adkins

Editor-in-Chief

 

Tee Reh looks like a typical high school junior. He sits in the back of Ms. Whitbeck’s classroom, wearing a striped hoodie and skinny jeans, laboring over the intricate doodle on his manila folder that he’s been working on all day. During the lecture he listens intently, soaking in every word. After all, Reh has only lived in the United States for two years, and he is determined to learn as much English as he can.

Before moving to the States, Reh lived in Southeast Asia. His people, the Karenni, are native to Burma, but the federal government oppressed them there. When Reh was very young, his family’s farm was burned and his animals stolen by government soldiers. His family fled to Thailand, where they lived in a refugee camp for ten years.

“The people there were very poor,” Reh said. “The houses were very small and close together, so that if one was on fire, the fire would spread all around.”

Reh said that his family was determined to leave the refugee camp to find better opportunities for housing, education, and employment. They registered to immigrate to the United States and finally arrived in California two years ago, where Reh attended Oakland International High School. He was overwhelmed at first because of the language difference, but he says he caught on quickly.

In California, Reh’s parents did not have jobs. But that soon changed thanks to local chicken producer Pilgrim’s Pride. At the beginning of the school year, Reh and his parents, brother, and two sisters came to Nacogdoches so that his parents could work at the factory. Reh is now one of fourteen Burmese high school students whose parents work at Pilgrim’s Pride and whose siblings attend schools throughout NISD.

“I like this school,” Reh said. “It’s big, I can get a good education, and everyone speaks English here.”