Thriving after camp survival

BURMESE refugee Mas Mai has not only survived hardship over the past 20 years – he’s thrived.
Today he received the Multicultural Award at the Greater Dandenong Australia Day Awards.
Mas and wife Kha Re Mar left behind everything they owned as the Burmese army obliterated their town, Kyeikdon.
They trekked 45 kilometres through tropical jungle over three days without food and water, their children aged four and two in tow.
Gunfire raged behind them as they crossed the border into Thailand where they spent 10 years locked in a refugee camp.
Mas and Kha settled in Springvale with their four children seven years ago and, with help from charity Urban Neighbours of Hope, set up the Free Burma Cafe.
The couple now independently run and own the cafe, which showcases Burmese food and culture.
Greater Dandenong Australia Day Awards judges said Free Burma was also a hub where Burmese people could go for advice and assistance, to socialise and to celebrate and pray.
They said Mas was a highly respected community leader who promoted harmony, tolerance and inclusion and was a great asset to the municipality.
“It’s like a dream,” Mas said of past horrors.
He still knows family and friends living behind the fence in Thailand, including Kha’s nephew and niece.
They send money to them and in recent years have been able to contact them on one of the camp’s four phones.
Mas described the camp as an unsanitary jail where children languished without education.
“It’s hard to survive. Every day you see the same faces. The food and water were not safe. There were diseases like malaria,” he said.