Charles Sanba died suddenly last week in Hamilton, in western Victoria. He was seventy-nine years old.
‘Pu Charles’ (‘Grandfather Charles’ as he was universally known) was born in 1938 in Burma. He graduated with a law degree from Rangoon University. He worked for the Burmese government and became mayor of Hpa-An, the capital of Karen State. Like many Karen, he hoped to work for change from the inside. In 1961 he married Cudoe, a nurse. In 1962 the Burmese military took power, and Pu Charles decided he was helping an increasingly violent and oppressive regime to stay in power. He took his family to the Karen guerrilla-controlled ‘liberated zones’ on the Thai-Burma border.
Pu Charles initially served as a guerrilla commander. The Karen guerrilla movement lacked educated leaders, and he became a judge with a reputation for fairness and integrity. Later he led the guerrilla’s civilian administration in Mergui-Tavoy District in southern Burma. He then became principle of High School No. 1 in Mae La Refugee School in Thailand, and filled this role for more than twenty years. In contrast to the open corruption of many Karen leaders, Pu Charles had a reputation for not pocketing money, being faithful to his wife, and living at the same level as the refugee community he served. And while Pu Charles was a committed Christian, he had good, respectful relationships with Karen Buddhists. A Baptist himself, there were Catholics and Buddhists in his extended family. The cost of being part of the Karen struggle for democracy was high: Pu Charles and Cudoe’s son Ler K’Saw Moo ‘disappeared’ near Mae La refugee camp, and one son-in-law was murdered by a rogue guerrilla unit.
In 2006 Pu Charles’ son Hta Doh Htoo was accepted for refugee resettlement in Australia. Pu Charles and the rest of the family followed a year later.
After arriving in Australia Pu Charles continued to have a leadership role within the Karen community. He helped establish several Karen Baptist congregations. While encouraging the Karen in Australia to maintain their language and culture, he encouraged the community to integrate and be involved in the wider community. His grandchildren attended Laverton P-12 College in Melbourne’s west, and he served on the school council for several years. He encouraged his granddaughter Paw Paw Po’s interfaith work with Muslims and Sikhs.
In 2014 Hta Doh Htoo moved to Hamilton to become a dairy farmer, and Pu Charles, his wife and daughter and grandchildren followed them. They became members of Hamilton Baptist Church.
Pu Charles will be mourned by his wife Cudoe, his son Hta Doh Htoo and daughter Kwe Ka Baw Paw, his daughter-in-law Rosa, his grandchildren, Paw Wy, Bor Wy, Nor Wy, Thaw Thaw Po, Paw Paw Po, Taw Taw Po, Charlie, Kellies and Harry, and the whole Karen community.
