Mon Life in America

            Welcome to America , home of the free and the brave. These are what us “Mon” people imagine American. Why do many Mon people want to come to America ? It is the land of hopes and dreams. We pictured American as a country where millions of diverse people live and a country where there would be no bloodshed, a country of peace. The nation that we arrived in is filled with love and beauty because we have so many race and nationality and most important of all; we have democracy. “We are a nation united in democracy”. We are a nation that established freedom and preserved freedom however before we established freedom; there were those who had to pay the ultimate “price” for freedom. There were those that had to sacrifice their lives so, now our nation is all group in one. One might wonder every day, why more and more Mon refugee is coming to American everyday and how they live their lives.  I Kyea Lorn Sar (Kat-Non Ngern -English) am the daughter of Nai Hong Sar and Mi Aye Mon. I am a freshman in high school who attends Canterbury college preparatory school and to the best of my ability and knowledge; I will give you my perspective point of view of “Mon life in American.

The Mon people have their own Buddhist Temple in Fort Wayne , IN. The Mon people go there every weekend, just as people in America would go to Church every Sunday. Many kinds of celebration occur at the Mon Buddhist Temple . We have New Year’s water festival (Mon Songkran). This occurs in April. Mon people use the Mon Calendar as to what they would celebrate here in America . In July, the Mon has a ceremony called (pat-than) “Non-stop praying” for the Monks. They pray 3 days non-stop, rotating monks until they reach their limit. They have a ceremony for the day Hongsawathoi (Monland) was destroyed. This is to give honor, respect for those who died and fought for our country and to remember the day Hongsawathoi was destroyed. In March, we celebrate Mon Women’s Day in honor of “Queen Mi Jau Bu”. Mon National Day occurs around February. This is one of the biggest celebrations that occur all around the world. Mon women, men, and children perform dances to show their culture way of dance and many sing to keep our Mon music in effect.

The Mon people are perpetuating these celebrations for what caused. This is so that Mon traditions, ceremonies, culture and language are not swipe from the surface of the Earth. If the Mon adults who value these ceremonies don’t guide the young children, our Mon children will not know if any of these traditions and celebrations ever existed. They are influence with the American society. It is normal that Mon children try to become accustomed to American way of life. Nevertheless, what the grown adults are trying to teach Mon children is “Don’t Forget who you are, and where you are from”. That is why we have these celebrations and ceremonies. One day, us youth will obtain and precedent the history of Mon.

Mon Restoration Council has started a Mon Language summer School at the Mon Buddhist Temple . Mon people also have our own language, writings, and alphabet. It is not the same as Burmese. Mon children attend Mon school on the weekends during the second week when English school is off. This is to teach young children their native language. I learned about Mon history through the adults who have experience and know so much that they teach it to us. As to what I learned the pass 8 years attending the Mon Buddhist temple I will give you my understanding of the history of Mon.

Readers might ponder what Mon is or where Mon is located. Let’s take readers into the history. What are Mon readers may ask? “Mon is a nationality without a country. Myanmar ( Burma ) is officially known as Monland. As an example of the Kurds that live in Iraq ; they are a nationality without a land. They live in northern part of Iraq . Mon people live in lower part of Burma . However, Mon is not just a country without a land but Burma now is originally Monland. The Burmese government for 250 years has conquered Monland. That is how long the Mon people have lost their country so Monland is listed nowhere on the map.

Mon people are being swipe off from the face of the earth. According to Charles Darwin “Nation and races were like species. They are competing for survival of the fittest. If a nation were weaker than the other nation, they would die out. The nation that is stronger has rights over the weaker nation. They have the right to exploit the weak and use them for labor.  Competition between nations that leads to conflicts which leads to war is natural because it inevitable. Social Darwinism gives countries this excused that “it’s alright to exploit other country if they are weaker; its human nature”.

 During the “Sphere of Influence” when European conquered the Philippines and all of south East Asia . British conquered Burma and India . French conquered Vietnam . After World War II when independence was gained. Britain was asked to restore the Country back to its original owner. All the Mon cultural and political organization that was formed by Mon leaders avowed their identity and right of self-determination. They asked Burma leaders to recognize their identity but it was rejected. The minister of Burma claimed that “Mon and Burmese are identical and there was no need for separation”. Every since Mon people have been forced labor for the military. Women are being rape and people are being proletariat. Human rights are being violated. The leader of Burma is a dictator and the military is a coup d’ état. Censorship and repression is a law that must be obeyed because the government does not want other foreign countries involved. They consistently release propaganda, think of Hitler’s tactic. The Burmese prime minister uses the same method if you compare them.

This is what I’ve learned about our Mon History and knowing that many children are born in the U.S and English is their 1^st language. Having Mon school helps these children to learn English and still obtain their native language. Mon adults who come to America have hard times acclimating to society because of their lack of English. It is harder for a 30-year-old adult to learn English than it would be for young child according to the Institution of Medical, Illinois University . It is difficult for a family to learn come to a country and not know the language and raise a family at the same time. In the United States of American, the good advantages is that we know we will have our rights, freedom of speech, and we will be able to take on our dignity and pride as the Mon people. Children have the rights to attend school and receive the education that they deserve.

We need more Mon to be educated. Our parents have reached their goal, to come to America . This is to be free. Mon life in America is hard for grown adults because of their limited English but for us young one; it is our duty to achieve as much education as we can so one day we can seek our history of Monland and fulfill the goals we need too. They have laid the path for us to take. Before we can continue this, we need to speak our language Mon, know how to read and write. That is what we have our Mon temple for and most importantly of all we need to learn the history of our country. By doing this we will go beyond our dreams. Education is the key to winning. Without education no matter what we say our voices is not as powerful as to a person who is educated because we don’t have the knowledge we need to win out. Do we have facts? What is our substantiation? This is our duty to seek and this is Mon life in America . Accomplishing our education and seeking our path so one day, we will restore Monland.