CWS Refugee Stories from Across the Decades:
Laurence Saw, Burma -- 2005
Laurence Saw, from Burma, knew his chances of escaping persecution or death were slim. After all, he was Kayan, a minority ethnic group in Burma that had suffered inhumane treatment from the military regime for nearly a decade.
Laurence can attest to the village raids, pillaging, murder, use of Kayan children as human minesweepers, and the militia’s practice of ethnic cleansing. So, when Laurence reached a border camp where the UNHCR (the United Nations’ refugee agency) gave him “refugee” status and the option for aone-way ticket to America, he knew his future was about to take a very drastic turn.
Saw recalls how, when he arrived in Indianapolis, Indiana, in June 2005, “I was very lonely and worried about my future. Everything was very different from where I lived. I had no relatives, no family.”
Sponsored by Church World Service and its Indianapolis affiliate, Exodus Refugee Ministries, Saw said Exodus staff called him regularly, and he “made an American friend, a volunteer at the time. He called me a lot, provided transportation, and helped me to understand more about American life.”
Hired by the Ed Lee Company, Laurence recently was appointed supervisor of 11 other employees. “Now I have many friends, he said. “and feel much better about my future.”
Read more stories from 2005: