Graduation holds special significance for Winkler student Ehthaboe.

Unlike many of his classmates, Ehthaboe (pronounced Eh-Tah-Boe) grew up in a refugee camp in Thailand with his parents and four brothers. His family are part of the Karen people. Born in a small village in Myanmar they were forced to flee when the Burmese army arrived at their village killing and burning down homes. His family was one of many that escaped the military’s ethnic cleansing in Myanmar.

He lived in the camp from age two to 15 and explains they had very few freedoms and no money. 

"I've lived here for over four years and to graduate high school is a big accomplishment for me," Ehthaboe says.

"It was hard to pay for school, it was just hard to get money while living there," he says. "Living in the camp was hard for me and I’m sure it hard for others people as well... you don't have freedom."

However, he says it was the support of his family that got him through. "We all love each other. We lived in the camp as a poor family, but we knew God’s love us and believed he would find us a better place."

At 15 everything changed when they received word their family had been sponsored to come to Winkler. Their first task after arriving was learning English, as the kids entered the Garden Valley School Division.

Arriving in Southern Manitoba in February was especially a shock. The family had never seen snow, and while the first encounters with winter were full of joy, the biting cold would take some getting used to. Another culture shock was seeing so many cars on the road. In the refugee camp they rarely saw vehicles.

"You would just walk, wherever you wanted to go you went on foot," he says.

However, the rumbling of engines and rubber on the roads would become his inspiration for a career. Ehthaboe took a shine to automotive classes in school and now aspires to become a semi mechanic and eventually a truck driver.

Now 20, Ehthaboe is graduating and says he’s grateful for the new life his family has found on the Manitoba prairies with a bright future ahead of him, new friendships he’s forged on the soccer fields, and the ability to speak a new language.

He says it wouldn't have been possible without their Winkler sponsors, Ryan and Rose Toews, Bruce and Phyllis Kroeker and others from the Winkler Mennonite Brethren Church.

"When we came they did everything for us, they helped us get settled, go to school, everything."

"I've lived here for over four years and to graduate high school is a big accomplishment for me," he adds. "I know my parents and my brothers are all proud of me and I know my sponsors are proud of me as well."

Ehthaboe, his parents and four brothers