Two Visions of Refugees – Fear and Furthering Dreams

It seems ironic that yesterday the current POTUS was doing a victory lap on changing the fabric of our country, built by refugees and immigrants, and just across town in Dallas a former POTUS was congratulating a refugee and recent graduate of Lewisville High School on his accomplishments of being accepted into the United States Naval Academy Prep School.

It was a proud moment for Peng Thangkl and his family, friends and educators. Peng is one of about 3,000 Chin in the Lewisville community. They were relocated here by the United States as they fled their country of Myanmar due to violence, political and religious persecution. The Chin are some of the most kind hearted, industrious, and beautiful people you could ever hope to meet.

As they began to arrive to Lewisville, most enduring harrowing journeys of hardship, persecution, and poverty the children found their ways to schools with virtually no English or idea of American culture. Community faith leaders like Becky Nelson who now leads Chin Community Ministries http://lewisvillechin.org and educators like Andy Plunkett now Central Zone Leader for LISD opened their hearts and gave their time to the plight of the Chin, especially their kiddos.

Andy who helped mentor Peng traveled with him to meet former President Bush. He reflected, “Tonight I experienced one of the proudest moments of my professional career as an educator. I was honored to accompany one of my former students, Peng Thangkl, as he was recognized by President George W. Bush for his acceptance into the US Naval Academy Prep School.”

Peng represents a tale of two visions and destinies regarding refugees. One seemingly focused on fear, and of what someone may “take” from or do to America. The other focused on hope and furthering dreams and what refugees can “give” and be to America.

In my experience Peng and the many other refugees that populate our schools are some of the best of the best. By lending us the richness of their diversity we all become better global citizens. And when school districts like LISD welcome and embrace diversity, everyone wins.

One way in which LISD does this is through their incredibly powerful AVID program. Peng was an AVID student. AVID (Advanced Via Individual Determination) focuses on the least served students in the academic middle.

Recently I was honored to attend a luncheon where ten AVID students (all refugees) told their amazing stories of hardship, determination, and accomplishment. Each graduate had academic honors and college scholarships. One such story is that of Peng’s fellow Chin classmate David Thang. David is an aspiring medical doctor and wrote a heart gripping essay about his journey to America. To truly understand the experience of a refugee you must know their story. (see David’s essay below in its entirety)

As one who follows the teachings of Jesus, I see the clear instruction of loving and serving our neighbors, the least of these, and yes, especially the refugee.

And make no mistake, it’s this that makes America great — and always has since our founding and when the first refugees reached our shores.

May it be so with us!

Jim

David Thang’s Essay (David is third in from the right) — Born in the countryside of a third-world country, my childhood was a glimpse of a very primitive standard of living. Electricity was a miracle, and the sight of television bewildered me, as I wondered how a whole world existed inside a metal screen. 

Laziness was not tolerated in the Christian household where I grew up. I had to wake up early to milk and herd the goats on our farm before I made my four-mile walk to school without complaint. I was luckier than most of my peers since my father was a teacher who taught me how to read, write, and value the importance of education. I was never the smartest person in my small primary school, but I definitely worked the hardest, and placed first in my examinations in both kindergarten and first grade. For six long blessed years, I lived and thrived in the inconsequential educational system of Myanmar, but the ongoing conflicts among rebels and the dictatorship of Than Shwe forced my family to leave Myanmar and become refugees. 

Hardship began to define my life from the night we boarded a boat to Thailand and into Malaysia. Without other options but to flee the country, my parents put our lives in the hands of human smugglers to escape the military persecution we were destined for back in our native land. The escape was difficult. The nights seemed endless, stuffed inside a small boat and squished inside a taxi. The pain of being in such tight quarters for so long is a memory I cannot erase. However, walking through the jungle was the most agonizing and terrifying experience I had. We had to wait for days to proceed to our next destination, and we resorted to eating dead rodents and drinking un-sanitized water. 

With the mercy of God, my three-member family happily made it to Malaysia and into the hands of other relatives. The new city was another realm, as I had never seen skyscrapers or even trains, which intrigued and excited me. However, the life we lead in the new world was not as easy or enjoyable as I first imagined. With our lives in such chaos, there was no room for education in Malaysia, as our illegal status forced us to hide from authorities as soon as we arrived. Fear controlled my life for the three years that I lived in Malaysia, but my optimism, my desire to educate myself, and my parents’ encouragement pushed me to work hard in the home made schools created by the small Chin Community in Malaysia. My parents always invested in my future by buying me books and supplies to further my studies. They also applied to emigrate to the United States for my sake. 

I finally arrived in the United States after three long years of living in fear of discovery. Unfortunately, my stature was severely stunted. I failed to grow like my classmates. I was the smallest boy in school who did not speak any English and I had a very unfamiliar look. The first months were lonely, but I began to make friends and began a path of academic success mainly through my hard work. Life began to make sense to me and all was right with the world, until my father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer right before I began high school. 

At the age of fourteen, the weight of my family’s future was on my shoulders. Although I was young, I had the responsibility of negotiating the hospital visits and bills for my non-English speaking parents. Because of extensive exposure to the medical field, I began to develop a passion for medicine and helping patients. My father’s illness made me see the importance of selflessness in helping others, as our church and Chin community aided us through prayers along with donations to keep us from becoming homeless during that time. I sacrificed my dream of becoming a professional soccer player and invested my time in the academics that would help me achieve my purpose in life–helping others. 

The death of my father in my sophomore year did not stop me from pursuing the academic goals I set for myself to become a doctor. Although I find myself behind my peers in advanced classes at times, and I sometimes lack resources for my academics, I always look back on all the hardships I had to overcome to strengthen my resolve to fight on now. A boy who was destined to be a mere farm boy, who had to sacrifice the comfort and safety of home and family, was miraculously able to make it to a world full of opportunities. After all that I have experienced, there is no way I’m going to let my life go to waste under any circumstances. 

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