T-R PHOTO BY LANA BRADSTREAM Plu Meh is an Asian-American Marshalltown resident. She has worked at CAPS for the last 10 years.

SUBMITTED PHOTO —Hae Tha Lay Paw has lived in Marshalltown the last 13 years. She remembers life in her home country of Myanmar and at the refugee camp before coming to Marshalltown.

SUBMITTED PHOTO — The Asian-American residents of Marshalltown find ways to celebrate their culture through events at churches or ballrooms. Troops of dancers come to Marshalltown to perform at annual celebrations.

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May is the national Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. For a long time, Marshalltown has been home to a diverse group of people, and 1,470 Asian Americans – or 5 percent of the 27,591 population – were counted in the 2020 United States Census.

Among the Marshalltown Asian Americans counted were Hae Tha Lay Paw and Plu Meh.

“As an Asian-American, I have found Marshalltown to be a wonderful place to live and grow up,” Hae Tha Lay Paw said. “The community’s warmth and sense of togetherness have created an inclusive environment where diversity is celebrated. Together, we have faced and overcome challenges, strengthening our bonds and fostering a supportive environment.”

Plu Meh particularly enjoys the convenience.

“Everything is convenient and close-by in a small town, easy to find,” Plu Meh said.

Memories

Both Plu Meh and Hae Tha Lay Paw arrived separately in Marshalltown with their families in 2011. Plu Meh’s family lived in Washington before moving to Marshalltown after her father got a job at JBS. It was the same for Hae Tha Lay Paw’s family, except they lived in Louisville, Ky. Both families are originally from Burma.

Hae Tha Lay Paw was just a child when the journey to America began, so she said many details are fuzzy. Being such a young age, she hadn’t fully grasped her parents’ desire for their children to grow up far from the turmoil of war and conflict. They spent some time in the Mae La Oon refugee camp on the border of Myanmar and Thailand in 2010. While Hae Tha Lay Paw has fond childhood memories, she acknowledged the harsh realities of refugee and past life.

In school, students would sit on bamboo floors in front of a single chalkboard for lessons. Hae Tha Lay Paw remembers sitting by a classmate on a long wooden bench during tests, the dry dirt under their feet. She remembers peeking through the bamboo walls to locate her mother as she waited for Hae Tha Lay Paw to finish testing.

During the walk from school to home, she would stop at her grandmother’s house to take sugar cane from the garden as a snack. Like many kids, Hae Tha Lay Paw would procrastinate her chores and school work at night.

“I studied with my parents around a single lit candle, hoping I wouldn’t make any mistakes to avoid the bamboo stick,” she said. “I fondly remember a tooth coming loose one night and my father pulling it out. I got to avoid my studies that night.”

House chores were also different compared to how they are done in Marshalltown.

“We didn’t have the mops and vacuums to clean,” Hae Tha Lay Paw said. “It was soap and water and a rag. Getting down on my knees, I would use all my strength to wipe our bamboo floors clean as fast as I could. Water had to be drawn from the river, so that also required a bit of a journey. At one point, we had a hand water pump installed near our house. I don’t remember when it came to be.”

Life did not solely consist of house and school work, though. Playtime was always the most fun. Hae Tha Lay Paw said they made mud pies out of dirt and water, houses out of sticks, jump ropes made of rubber bands and swam in the river as the adults did laundry. They had paper dolls and Hae Tha Lay Paw would cut out drawings of dresses she drew.

“Not many people had TVs, so I would follow my uncle to an acquaintance’s house to watch films despite my parents’ opposition,” she said. “The first foreign film I watched was ‘Spider-Man’ with Tobey Maguire.”

Life in Marshalltown

The way of life in Marshalltown is completely different, Hae Tha Lay Paw said – from the way travel is done to the vast amount of tools and resources available for everyday use.

“Life is different, yes, but what remains the same is the loving community that uplifts and supports you and makes life more joyful,” Hae Tha Lay Paw said.

The support of the community is something Plu Meh frequently spoke about. She said Marshalltown residents are very open to new ideas and differences.

“People are very welcoming, even though they might not know what we are looking for,” she said. “I noticed a lot of coworkers, community members, everyone is very supportive and patient. I feel like if you want to do something, people will support you.”

Even though the women are a long way from their homeland, they find ways to celebrate their heritage and culture, which is passed down to the next generation, here in Marshalltown. Plu Meh said many activities happen at the Theravada Dhamma Society of Iowa, the Buddhist temple outside of town. Hae Tha Lay Paw said many of their celebrations take place in churches or ballrooms.

“We have events that commemorate important dates – such as Karen Revolution Day, Karen New Year, or Karen Martyr’s Day – to celebrate our ancestors’ resistance and efforts against tyranny, and the courage and strength of my people to continue fighting to this day,” she said.

Every year, they also celebrate Sweet December, which is a Christian holiday and many Karen people are Christians, Hae Tha Lay Paw said. When December rolls around with the first strike of midnight, people go to church or someone’s house to play games, sing and enjoy some food.

A love of assisting youth is something both women share. Plu Meh has been working at Child, Adolescent and Parent Support (CAPS) for the last 10 years and is a child development specialist, and spends a lot of time helping families out. She said the way children are raised in the United States is different from Myanmar.

“Here, it’s more age-appropriate,” Plu Meh said. “Over there, it’s general.”

Hae Tha Lay Paw is not yet in the workforce but is a student at Iowa State University with an education major. She will begin her senior year this fall.

“Education has always been something my parents have valued and through their influence, I came to understand its profound importance,” she said. “It would be great if one day, a student could remember me as a teacher that positively impacted their life as I recall how my teachers have impacted mine.”

Someday, she hopes to teach in locations where students have limited access to education. Hae Tha Lay Paw is eager for the future and wants to show the students they are capable of achieving great things no matter the circumstances.

“I aim to inspire and empower them to pursue their dreams just as all my teachers have done for me,” she said. “My reasons for choosing this career path deepen with each experience, fueling my passion to make a meaningful difference through education.”

Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.