I’m half Shan and half Karenni and this is the Shan Flag. My grandpa brought it over when we moved here and he just basically took care of it for the eight years that we were here for. Where we’re living, there’s not much Shan people. There’s a lot of Karenni, lots of Karen, lots of Chin, but there’s not much Shan people. So the fact that the flag even exists and that it’s in good condition – it makes me want to preserve our culture and our traditions even more. It’s just the fact that my grandpa and grandma – that they’re getting old – and the fact that they might not be here for the family much longer is scary. And I don’t want that to die out. A few months back, I found out that me and my cousins. We were the only Shan in the Kent community which made me feel really scared. Kent is a very diverse place, but the fact that there’s only a few of us just is scary and I just wanted to learn more about my culture and maybe inform others about it, so that it can spread. We’re Buddhist, so we go to this temple and then we just participate and spread our traditions and culture within that community as well. And then they learn about us and we learn about them.
Place(s): Washington,
Year: 2009
– Khin Oo
