Htoo Paw Loe’s Produce

“I was born in a small village in Burma. I am the youngest of four siblings and both my parents are farmers. We grew rice and other vegetables including the water gourd, bottle gourd and taro. We used cow manure for fertilizer since we had cows.

In 1985, I moved to the border and lived in refugee camp. There I trained with two American doctors and learned how to care for teeth. I worked at the clinic at for 20 years. We were in the refugee camp for 20 years without peace. There were approximately 100,000 Karen refugees. When the enemies would invade they would burn down our homes and hospital and we had to run for our lives. Our homes were made of bamboo and easily caught fire. My home burned down 3 times in the refugee camp.

I immigrated to United States in 2008 and I would very much like to thank the United States for welcoming refugees like us. I thank God for keeping me alive till this day.”