Hand-made products. A phenomenal amount of time and effort goes into weaving and other handicrafts. These 'cottage industries' dominate life in village homes, with children following their parents, especially girls following their mothers onto looms. Villages have numerous stalls each selling the same thing. The night markets present a never ending display of items so similar that supply must outstrip demand. What took many hours to produce ends up being sold for just 5 dollars. My heart goes out to them. If their market was widened through fairtrade export, they might have a better chance to get the proper price for their work, at greater volume. What a difference that would make to their lifestyle, health and education. I saw signs of this beginning in a small way - where products also had become more creative and less traditional, selling at huge prices to the affluent in their American and European mansions . This could also happen at more affordable levels.
Buddhism. It is odd how religion manages to reverse itself. As the new year festival approached (Songkran in Thailand) worshippers bought birds in bamboo cages to set free. This gives them 'merit', some ethereal benefit which might enhance their multi-life destiny. In fact, these poor birds are traumatised as they were neglectfully handled, in a very hot son, by children as young as three. What started as an act of kindness has become a culture of cruelty, for profit. The birds, once released, will be rapidly recaught and offered for sale again. Buddhism teaches respect for life; this exploitation is unpardonable. The children sell such things instead of going to school, so they will become the uneducated poor of the next generation.
The global village. Our guide had learnt English, his sister French, his brother Japanese. They will never be in competition for work. Russian is spoken in their home, since father once lived there. Newspapers carry British, Italian and Spanish football results, as well as baseball results. English football (or at least the big four clubs) on satellite has a strong fan base. I was bemused by a word search in a Laos newspaper which demanded an in depth knowledge of the geography and villages of Devon. Not surprising that no one had won the prize: I certainly could not do it without an atlas. American music and films were other cultural exports. Cultural colonialism is alive and well.
Buddhism. It is odd how religion manages to reverse itself. As the new year festival approached (Songkran in Thailand) worshippers bought birds in bamboo cages to set free. This gives them 'merit', some ethereal benefit which might enhance their multi-life destiny. In fact, these poor birds are traumatised as they were neglectfully handled, in a very hot son, by children as young as three. What started as an act of kindness has become a culture of cruelty, for profit. The birds, once released, will be rapidly recaught and offered for sale again. Buddhism teaches respect for life; this exploitation is unpardonable. The children sell such things instead of going to school, so they will become the uneducated poor of the next generation.
The global village. Our guide had learnt English, his sister French, his brother Japanese. They will never be in competition for work. Russian is spoken in their home, since father once lived there. Newspapers carry British, Italian and Spanish football results, as well as baseball results. English football (or at least the big four clubs) on satellite has a strong fan base. I was bemused by a word search in a Laos newspaper which demanded an in depth knowledge of the geography and villages of Devon. Not surprising that no one had won the prize: I certainly could not do it without an atlas. American music and films were other cultural exports. Cultural colonialism is alive and well.
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