Video helps refugee share his story with Glen Ellyn classmates

Fourth-grader Soe Ka Maw may not always have the words to express himself in the language of his classmates at Glen Ellyn's Churchill Elementary School, but with a computer and a few drawings he has been able to show his classmates his past, present and future as a refugee.

Soe Ka is Burmese, but was born and raised in the Mae La refugee camp in Thailand. His family came to the United States just a few months ago.

In a project that helped Soe Ka build his English skills and taught his classmates a bit about life in other parts of the world, he created a video slideshow of his life story, detailing daily life in the refugee camp, his move to the United States and his plans for his future. Soe Ka's narration is set against his colorful drawings.

In the video posted on YouTube, Soe Ka talks about parts of refugee life that are hidden from most people's view, like the games he used to play and his sources for food, water and other goods.

He then speaks about coming to the United States, where he saw snow for the first time.

"I came to Glen Ellyn. I saw train, airplane, car," he said. "When I came to the Churchill school, I (was) so excited."

And in terms of future plans, Soe Ka tells viewers he wants to become a swimming teacher.

"Sometimes I miss Thailand, but (I'm) happy in America," he says.

His ESL teacher, Grace VanMaanen, said that because Soe Ka is a relative newcomer to the states, he has not yet developed strong English speaking skills. The project was a way to help him practice expressing himself in a new language.

To complete the project, VanMaanen interviewed the youngster. When he did not have the words to communicate his thoughts, he often would pull out paper and sketch to show her exactly what he meant.

"We pretty much did most of the communicating through pictures," she said. "He's a wonderful artist."

Soe Ka used a district iPad to take pictures of his drawings for the project. The two worked together so he could record his narration, and they used a desktop computer and software to pull the short film together.

"He was so quick to grab (the technology)," VanMaanen said.

The ESL teacher said she thinks the project helps give students a voice. Students transitioning from another language have the same intellect and thought processes as their peers, but don't have the ability to communicate their thoughts, she said. The multimedia project helps bridge this gap.

"Having a video/photo story, it's a chance for a student to communicate who they are, how they feel, even express a little bit of their personality or what things were important to them, and they can do it without needing as much language," she said.

But besides helping Soe Ka, the project also allowed others to learn from him, VanMaanen said. The film has been shared with his other classmates.

"As a newcomer to our country, sometimes people think everyone has to help him and everyone has to feed him things and teach him," she said. "But I think it's interesting because when he tells his story it's so informative to other people, so other people are learning from him, which is a good kind of role reversal that you don't always see."