Karen Hill Tribe - Traveling Photography

One of the greatest things about my profession is the ability to travel the world.  Traveling Photography allows an opportunity for others to share in an experience from across the world.  It has the ability to open people’s eyes to events happening on the other side of the world.  It is such a blessing to be able to see and experience so many places and capture authentic photos.  

On this trip, I was traveling with Adam, who leads lateniteart.com, whose purpose is connect people through creativity.  Also traveling with us was Zaq, who was sharing the love of yoga with those on our travels.  We were visiting the Karen Hill Tribe near Mae Hong Son, Thailand’s province.  I met Coleen, the founder of the NGO, Kleo.  Kleo is a non profit, 100% volunteer run organization focused on providing educational and humanitarian support to Karen refugees in Ottawa, Canada and disadvantaged Karen communities in North West Thailand.  

Despite families having lived in the same villages for over 100 years many of the Karen Tribe are unable to obtain titles to their land and obtain citizenship.  Without citizenship they are ineligible to enroll in school, welfare or healthcare  and unable to vote or run for office.  Despite all that, the children we met were friendly and happy.  We had the opportunity to connect with them and play.  The portraits that I captured show that despite their situation they feel lucky to have the little that they do.  

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