From Refugee Camp to Dream Home: The Journey of Moo Kaw Baw and Hser Eh Paw

From Refugee Camp to Dream Home: The Journey of Moo Kaw Baw and Hser Eh Paw

For five years, they’ve called a small, two-bedroom duplex home, where their children share a single room. But now, with unwavering determination, they are ready to take the next step towards something they’ve longed for—a place where their children can have their own rooms, where they can build a stable and secure life, and where they can feel the warmth and comfort of a true home.

“Owning a home is different,” Moo Kaw Baw said. “The feelings you have…it’s yours, [you] feel happier. It’s more comfortable… The current place is too small for us. If we rent a different place, let’s say more like three bedrooms, it would be more expensive.”

When they decided they wanted to become homeowners, Moo Kaw Baw and Hser Eh Paw came straight to Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity. They have friends who own a Habitat home and knew Habitat was the right place to go.

The inside of a staged Habitat home

They are now building a brand-new four bedroom home through Milwaukee Habitat’s Affordable Homeownership program. First-time homebuyers in the program can build a three to four bedroom home for an average mortgage payment of less than $950 per month.

“In the future, once the mortgage is paid off, you don’t have to pay [that mortgage] anymore,” Hser Eh Paw said. “You’d have to pay rent [forever]. Mortgage is only 30 years. After 30 years, it’s your own place. It [will become] ours.”

Once they move into their Habitat home, their children will have their own rooms.

“Habitat houses are affordable,” Moo Kaw Baw said. “For [our children], it’s like happiness. Feels cozy. Feels like home. They want to have their own place.”

Not only are they excited for their children to have their own rooms, they are also excited to decorate their home and their backyard.

“I want [to decorate with] plants and decorations,” Hser Eh Paw said. “It makes you feel like home when you see it, especially with plants and flowers.” 

From the harsh reality of refugee camps in Thailand to a cramped duplex in Milwaukee, Moo Kaw Baw and Hser Eh Paw have journeyed far. They are ready to start this new chapter of homeownership, where the walls of their own home will echo with the laughter of their children, and the promise of a brighter future will become reality.

“It will mean new life, new perspective, new hope… happiness,” Hser Eh Paw said.