Homeward Bound
Insight Myanmar14 Jan 2025

Homeward Bound

Episode #301: “I want to invite everybody to see the Karen people not just as victims, but to experience the real beauty in the culture, the uniqueness, the simplicity.”

These are the words of Saw Sha Kerpaw Wah, a humanitarian from Karen State, Myanmar, who shares his story of displacement, identity, and commitment to his people. Born in 1995 during the fall of Manerplaw, the headquarters of the Karen National Union, his family fled through the jungle, marking the start of their journey as refugees. Sha Kerpaw Wah spent his early childhood in a refugee camp in Thailand, before his family resettled in Norway. There they found safety, but engendered a sense of cultural dissonance. Although warmly welcomed in Norway, and living there for 20 years, Wah always felt a deep spiritual connection to Kawthoolei, the Karen homeland, feeling that it was his "duty" to return and serve his people.

A major turning point in Wah’s life came during his final year of college when he watched a video of Karen indigenous leader, Saw O Moo, inspiring him to leave his studies and fully dedicate himself to humanitarian work. He began making frequent trips back to Kawthoolei, working to support those displaced by Myanmar’s ongoing civil war.

Today, Sha Kerpaw Wah continues to serve the Karen people, advocating for education, self-reliance, and a united leadership among Karen leaders. His ultimate dream is to see a peaceful, independent Kawthoolei where future generations can grow up free from the violence and trauma that have shaped his life.

Avsnitt(506)

Echoes in the Absence

Echoes in the Absence

Episode #373: In this wide-ranging interview, journalist Lorcan Lovett returns to the podcast to discuss Aung San Suu Kyi’s imprisonment, the fractured resistance, and Myanmar’s trajectory under milit...

3 Aug 20252h 17min

The Resistance Will Not Be Dammed

The Resistance Will Not Be Dammed

Episode #372: “I focus on research that's mostly relevant for climate resilience, and I really look at Myanmar as the most interesting and important case.” Kyungmee Kim, a researcher at the Stockholm ...

1 Aug 20252h 7min

Flattery Will Get You Everywhere

Flattery Will Get You Everywhere

Episode #371: “I remain confident in the longer term, completely, actually, that this regime is losing,” says Sean Turnell, Australian economist and former advisor to Myanmar’s civilian government, as...

31 Juli 202543min

Decolonize This

Decolonize This

Episode #370: "Why are [Asian women] not allowed to dream that we can open our own thing and lead our own work?" This question by human rights lawyer Emilie Palamy Pradichit slices through the silence...

29 Juli 20251h 59min

Oslo’s Lost Accord

Oslo’s Lost Accord

Episode #369: “I promised Aung San Suu Kyi and committed myself to work for democracy and human rights in the country as long as necessary. And still it is necessary!” So says Kjell Magne Bondevik, fo...

27 Juli 202534min

More Than Words

More Than Words

Episode #368: The Adhikara podcast is an important, new voice in Burmese media, aiming to build not just a movement but a resilient community against oppression. Created by Maw Nwei and Morgen after t...

25 Juli 20251h 12min

Degrees of Resistance

Degrees of Resistance

Episode #367: In this episode, we hear from two compelling voices grappling with the human and political costs of authoritarianism in Southeast Asia. Raoul Manuel, the youngest elected member of the P...

22 Juli 202553min

Schooling the System

Schooling the System

Episode #366: Sallo Polak, founder of the Philanthropy Connections Foundation (PCF), has spent decades building a grassroots approach to humanitarian aid in Thailand, Myanmar, and Cambodia. Motivated ...

20 Juli 202557min

Populärt inom Politik & nyheter

aftonbladet-krim
motiv
rss-krimstad
p3-krim
fordomspodden
spar
flashback-forever
rss-viva-fotboll
aftonbladet-daily
rss-sanning-konsekvens
blenda-2
svenska-fall
rss-krimreportrarna
rss-vad-fan-hande
rss-frandfors-horna
olyckan-inifran
rss-flodet
dagens-eko
svd-dokumentara-berattelser-2
krimmagasinet