From Burma to Carlisle

Mo Nom Tee Kham is proud to call herself a refugee

September 26, 2006

Mo Nom Tee Kham, a first-year student from the Bronx and a refugee from Burma, chose Dickinson because of its global-education program. She plans to study abroad in China.

For one first-year student, escaping to Thailand and being separated from her family isn't a story that inspires much interest. But CNN, two magazines and few radio programs have found Mo Nom Tee Kham's odyssey to the United States to be quite compelling.

A refugee from Burma whose family now lives in the Bronx, N.Y., Tee Kham entered Dickinson this fall through the Posse Foundation, a nonprofit organization that trains youth leaders from urban public high schools and helps send these groups as "posses" to top colleges and universities.

Tee Kham said that she had a choice of more than one school, but Dickinson appealed to her because of its global-education program. She would like to study in China, possibly Beijing, and is preparing by taking elementary Chinese.

Although she was born in Burma, Tee Kham explains that she is not Burmese. She grew up in the Shan State within Burma, speaking Shan. She speaks not only Shan and English but also Thai, Burmese and a little bit of Chinese.

Tee Kahm's father, who was a lawyer when the family lived in Burma, was co-founder of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy and participated in activities against the Burmese government. As a result, Tee Kahm, her father, mother and brother were forced to flee Burma into Thailand when she was barely 12.

The 20-year-old is used to people asking for her "story," which she claims is not "awesome." After all, she did not flee a war, nor was anyone shooting at her. But the organizations that helped bring her family to the United States would beg to differ. They got the word out to the media about Tee Kham and her saga.

Actually, Tee Kham did not know that she and her family were escaping to Thailand when they left home. Her father told her that he had won the lottery and, as a result, they were going to Thailand for a vacation.

Once in Thailand, her father said that they would be living there. Tee Kham thought it was a joke until she noticed that her father was crying. Then she knew that they were staying, and she cried, too.

In Thailand, she lived in an orphanage for a few years, and her education came to a grinding halt. She worked very low-wage jobs because she was considered an illegal immigrant in Thailand.

Through the U.N.'s Human Rights Council, she and her family were moved to the United States, given refugee status and green cards. They were settled in the Bronx by the International Rescue Committee (IRC), a leading nongovernmental partner of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. Videographers from the IRC soon will travel to Carlisle to film a short video depicting Tee Kham's life as a Dickinson student. It will be available on the IRC Web site.

Due to her truncated schooling and the fact that she was 18, Tee Kham was placed in the Manhattan Comprehensive Night and Day School, a public high school that teaches 800 nontraditional students, ages 17 to 21. In two years, Tee Kham graduated and was on her way to Carlisle.

"My father is extremely educated," she says. "He is so happy I'm going to college … it's a dream come true."

Tee Kham, who is contemplating an international business & management or economics major, intends to take some international relations courses so that she can share her point of view as someone from outside the United States.

Right now, her favorite class is her first-year seminar, Education and Democracy, with W. Lance Landauer, chair of the education department and visiting assistant professor of education.

"He's like an uncle; he treats you like family," Tee Kham says. "He wants us to explore and get beyond focusing on grades exclusively, and he wants us to experience our education."

"Mo Nom is a very impressive young woman," notes Landauer. "She is driven to succeed and works very hard in my class. She will learn from us, her teachers and fellow students at Dickinson. We will also learn from her."

Tee Kham balances her academics by participating in the Asian Club and Dickinson Christian Fellowship.

She wants to apply for U.S. citizenship as soon as she can, explaining that from ages 13 to 18, she didn't belong to any country. Therefore, she was very proud when she was finally granted refugee status in the United States.

"I have a green card now. I have a home."