Lwe Paw Kacher

Before Lwe Paw came to the United States, she had one goal for herself. She was sponsored by the U.S. government to attend school, and her goal was to gain an education so she could use that education to serve her people. 

Her interest in education started when she was a young girl in Thailand. She would get excited whenever she saw a book, even if it was in English, a language she did not know yet. She would look at the pictures in the books and imagine herself as one of the characters. She wanted to be like the people she saw. Books helped expand her knowledge and they gave her hope and dreams that she could work toward. 

Christian newsletters and articles also gave her that feeling. Even though she could not understand everything, she was interested in what she saw in the pages. She wanted to learn more and believed an education could help her make sense of the books she was seeing. 

She also had a strong vision of what she wanted her future to look like as a woman. She did not believe her role should be confined to the kitchen. She wanted to prove people wrong and did not want others to define her future for her. “But the dream you have and the reality you experience can be very different,” she reflects. Lwe Paw learned that everyone has their own thoughts, goals, and dreams, and not everyone will understand or support her path. 

When Lwe Paw arrived in California, she was twenty-seven years old. She already knew some people who had resettled in the U.S., but she understood that everyone has their own journey. Just because someone else had resettled did not mean their experiences were identical. At the end of the day, what mattered to her was taking care of herself and trusting her journey.

Her main goal was still education. Even after getting married and having children, she continued going to school. She originally wanted to get a nursing degree, but the demands were too high to manage. She then switched to Health Education because she wanted to teach people about health care but the readings were still difficult, so eventually she switched to Liberal Arts. A subject that allowed her more flexibility while offering her access to an education.

During this time, she also tried different careers. She worked in a preschool and although she learned a lot from the experience, she realized it was not the right career for her. She was very close to getting her teaching license, but her path changed again. When she moved to Minnesota, she became a cultural broker at a hospital. Her own experience helped bring her to this career. She understood the language and the culture, and she could help Karen people communicate and understand the healthcare system.

Eventually, her path led her to mental health. She became involved in addiction counseling because she saw the need in her community. Many K’nyaw people struggle with mental health and use substances to cope. She wants to advocate for people who may not know how to advocate for themselves. “We may not understand the words “mental health” or “trauma” but we all feel things. We have emotions, we know what hurts us and what makes us happy,” she states. The problem, to her, is that sometimes miscommunication or lack of communication is what keeps people from fully understanding each other. 

For Lwe Paw, it starts with the family. If the family is healthy, then the community is healthy. She believes parents and children should learn from each other. She thinks a lot about how Karen parents raise their children. Many of them have a mentality of being controlling without realizing that they are hurting their children. If a son is using drugs, for example, she believes the family should take care of him instead of shaming him. Parents need to learn how to be friends with their children. “Be the friend to your children that your parents never did,” she says. She understands that this is difficult because many people grew up differently. Parents may not realize that how they were raised can affect how they raise their own children. They may think they are doing what is best, but may not understand how their children feel.

Mental health is also something she sees differently because Karen people come from a collective culture. In Western healthcare, people may go to therapy or counseling. But culturally, Karen people are used to supporting each other as a community. People come together, families help each other, and neighbors take care of one another. 

What is important is asking why. Why is this person struggling? Why are they using? Why are they feeling this way? She states, “before judging someone, we need to see them as a human being.” For Lwe Paw, empathy is most important. She understands what it means to struggle. Even if she does not have an addiction, she has her own struggles with mental health. Those experiences help her understand the clients and families she works with. She also believes that addiction and faith can exist together. Healing can involve both faith and science. It does not have to be one or the other. 

Looking back on her journey, Lwe Paw did not end up following the exact path she originally imagined. She wanted a nursing degree, then studied Health Education, then Liberal Arts. She worked in a preschool, came close to being a teacher, became a cultural broker, and eventually moved into addiction counseling. Each unique experience taught her something. Her education gave her more understanding of herself and the people around her. She continues to believe that education should be used to serve her people. 

For Lwe Paw, learning never really stops. She wants to continue understanding herself, her family, and her community. She encourages parents and children to learn from each other, for families to support one another, and for the Karen community to become stronger together. Her journey from wanting to learn from the books she saw as a young girl to helping people in her community has stayed connected to the same dream: education should give you the knowledge and opportunity to help others.