Hilltribes Part I

Sorry it's been so long since we last posted.
We've been in Norway for the past two weeks, and have been busy painting (Luke) and writing (me.) It is just beginning to be summertime here, and we are living on a small farm right next to the sea, so the weather and landscape are ravishingly beautiful!

There is still a lot to tell about Thailand. I am missing it already, and of course, it didn't feel like we had enough time there or were able to accomplish enough. There's so much need and so much beauty. I feel drawn to live there for a longer amount of time, and hope that that can happen at some point.

We spent our last week with an NGO called the Mirror Foundation where I drafted up some grant proposals and we did home-stays in hilltribe villages, and I have come away from the experience with hopefulness and energy. I really believe in the work Mirror is doing and its effectiveness. They are a small, grassroots, very organic non-profit started by a group of Thai students, artists, and political activists. I was initially drawn to Mirror because it was started and is run by native Thais (not European/American transplants) who live among the people they are trying to help. Mirror's focus is on the hilltribe people of the Mae Yao sub-district of N Thailand.

For those of you who aren't aware, there are many tribes living in the "golden triangle" region of N Thailand, Burma, and Laos- unique ethnic groups with their own individual cultures and languages. These peoples immigrated to Thailand (etc.) throughout the 19th and 20th centuries from Tibet and China, have been traditionally nomadic and are therefore not Thai citizens. The term "hilltribe" includes the tribes of Akha, Lahu, Lisu, Karen, Mien and Hmong; also Paduang (Kaya- the "long neck women") I think, but I'm not positive. There is some fantastic artistry, craftsmanship and beauty within these cultures, which I hope to help expose you all to, and I will write and post more about them over time, but first I will tell you about the 2 groups whose villages we stayed in during our time with Mirror.

Traditionally, these tribes have based their livelihood on farming in the slash and burn technique, opium poppies being their main source of income, until recently when the Thai government cracked down hard on the drug trade and on slash and burn farming (in this case viewed as environmentally harmful.) The government has forced many of the hilltribe villages to relocate out of the mountains down to the foothills and closer to the cities. This forced relocation and change in traditional farming, in addition to the fact that statelessness means they don't qualify for the benefits of state education and healthcare, have created a huge problem of poverty for the hilltribe people. Their young women and children are extremely vulnerable to being trafficked into the bigger cities for prostitution.

The Not for Sale campaign states "the hill tribe people are the most trafficked native population in Thailand."
Mirror foundation has a lot of great initiatives to prevent trafficking and to encourage sustainable income and agriculture in their surrounding hilltribe villages of the Mae Yao area. Mirror is doing work on the preventative end of the sex-trade issue; the kind of work whose success is the least visible/measurable, but is the most important aspect of the fight to end trafficking. I just found out the other day that the Not for Sale Campaign, which is one of the most notable forces in the abolitionist movement, has decided to partner with Mirror. This is so exciting!!! I am really excited about the possibility of Solomon's Porch partnering with Mirror too, and maybe doing yearly trips to volunteer there, like with Guatemala.

alright. that's all for now, but soon I'll post photos and stories from the hilltribe villages, as well as more info about the individual tribes.