Thanks a lot Jon for your great job on Karen people. I know that there are many things that put pressure on Karen's life. Great job to make Karen people are known by the world.
Jon: In your two part film ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-GIsG1PL1AjI.html and ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-XeAghnbHQK8.html you capture exquisitely the spirit of the Karen people in their particular part of the forest in N Thailand and the music which underpins their culture. I felt this strongly in the way you featured the contributions of Chi Suwichan and his wife, together with the recognition and support they have received from their own community - and well beyond. You could only have done this, in my opinion, if you admired and respected the way in which this community was facing the enormous imposition of outside influences on their treasured way of living together. These sentiments and associated empathy shone through clearly. Your bringing the film into the public domain will add to the growing solidarity many around our little planet feel for the ‘wholesome’ ways in which indigenous people connect with each other and with the natural world around them. We all have much to learn from this. Another such expression is solidarity with the Acuar people in who have long lived in the forests in the high Andes of Ecuador and Peru. See the initiatives of the Pachamama Alliance - based in San Francisco - www.pachamama.org/advocacy and their Symposium. www.pachamama.org/engage/symposium I congratulate and salute you Jon for what you are doing. Alan Stewart Adelaide
Thank you Alan for your considered comments. It's nice to see that others recognise the problems that indigenous minorities face, not just in SE Asia, but all over the globe. We live in an amazing world, made more so by an astounding diversity of music, art and culture. Let's keep it that way and make a point of not selling out to the current trend of corporate greed and crony capitalism that so pervades us. Best wishes... Jon.
