During the 1988 democracy uprising in Burma, "Hlo Baw" (not his real name) was a 22-year old university student living in a provincial town in Burma's Karenni State. The uprising led to a bloody crackdown by the military dictatorship, and the killing, torture and imprisonment of many of its leaders. About one month after the crackdown, Hlo Baw heard that the military was looking for anyone who had been part of the uprising. Along with 21 others from his town, he fled the country, to Thailand.

Of the 22 people in Hlo Baw's group of refugees, only six are alive today.

Hlo Baw lived for several years along the Thai-Burmese border, moving between informal camps, always fearful of raids by Burmese soldiers, and not accepted in Thailand. Since 1992, he has lived in the official Karenni camps. He has become a political leader, serving on the Central Committe of the Karenni National Progressive Party. Yet Hlo Baw cannot legally leave the camp over night. When he does leave, he moves clandestinely, with a constant fear of arrest. His three children, ranging from two to eight years old, have lived their entire life in the camps.

In 2000, Hlo Baw attended the EarthRights School near Chiang Mai. There, he says, he learned about non-violent methods. "When my friends took up arms, I said no, let's try other ways. They said, what should we do? I didn't have an answer. Now I have some answers." Hlo Baw decided to replicate the School in the Karenni Camp.

In 2003, Hlo Baw opened the doors of the School for Human Rights and Environment inside the Karenni Camp. The School takes 14 high school graduates for one year's intensive training. The graduates go on to train other young people in the Camp. In this way, young people who have lived their whole lives as refugees can keep learning, keep dreaming and  keep planning for the day they will return to their land.

Hlo Baw is a quiet and humble man who has kept his dignity and humanity under severely trying conditions.. Most of his adult life, he has been essentially stateless and restricted to a tiny bit of overcrowded land  Yet he has never wavered in his dedication to his principles and to training young people for their lives as activists.

Hlo Baw has managed to create an intensive training program for human rights and environmental protection within a refugee camp. We tell his story in the hope that it will show others that they, too, can accomplish important achievements even in difficult circumstances.