Nick
About two weeks ago, the Amazing MK (Marykristn) invited me to join her on a trip to Nai Soi, a refugee village near the border of Burma, inhabited by Long Neck Karen Hill Tribe members members, who have left Burma in fear of their lives.
MK first visited the village a few months ago. She was disturbed by how the village is, in many ways, a kind of human zoo. She decided she wanted to return one day to offer the community a show. She does that kind of thing. Although I was busy I knew I couldn't say no.
We took the bus to Mae Hong Son, and rented a motorbike. 45 minutes of bumping along decreasingly maintained roads brought us to a gate manned by Thai authorities, where we paid our entrance fee. Apparently, most of the money goes to the Thai government.
The village is all dirt roads and houses made from resources collected from the jungle. It is actually a pretty nice place, although the villagers have little money and provisions, and are only allowed to leave under special circumstances. We were told they have no fruit, as there aren't given any.
We spent most of the afternoon looking for Francis, MK's friend from her previous visit, and tracking down the villagers who had posed for MK's photos the previous trip (so she could give them copies). We were, of course, wearing little bow ties and rabbit ears. During this time we were invited to sit through a service at their little church. It was beautiful to hear all the children and villagers singing, and the sermon was nice, as we couldn't understand any of it.
Eventually some of our new friends borrowed our motor bike to fetch Francis. As the sun began to set the villagers began to gather. MK started pulling out games, starting with her flags. We were soon a little performance troop consisting of MK, myself, and a couple of villagers who had as much enthusiasm to entertain as did we. It was definitely a clown show. Before long the whole village seemed to be gathered. Most were very shy.
After the flags came some acro-balancing. After the acro-balancing came the skipping rope. After the skipping rope came the fire performances. The villagers did a great job creating a ring of candles and getting everybody with an instrument to come play music and sing. It was funny: The moment MK lit up her poi they stopped, watching in amazement. It took a few spins before the musicians could watch and play at the same time.
After the fire was finished the crowd began to disperse into the darkness. Eventually it was just MK, Myself, Francis, and a young long-neck girl talking around a little table. They were totally normal people, just like young people everywhere. From our table we could watch the activities of the night, such as teen-aged boys sneaking around to play guitar and sing for the teen-aged girls. Francis filled us in on some of their difficult situation. Although he himself is hoping to immigrate to Norway, the young girl isn't allowed to, as it is the long-necked women who attract the tourists, and so the Thai government doesn't allow them to leave. They are prisoners in Thailand. On top of that, the whole village is going to have to move in a matter of months, for reasons we didn't quite understand. They are being given a raw piece of jungle, and will have to build another village from scratch. Yet somehow, many of them can still smile and laugh and open their hearts. It definitely sucks to be in their situation, but I think it's important that we learn from them at the same time.
As the night grew long, we started to play with photography and candles. Everybody got into it, coming up with new ideas and sharing excitement over the results. MK put stars on everybody's head, which she tends to do. People need stars. They get them from MK in more than one way.
That night I lay awake, a star on my head, listening to the Karen Hill Tribe women whisper on the other side of the bamboo wall, late late into the night.
Oh, and MK is an amazing photographer, you should check out her photos on flickr. 
