Maria and I were invited to Albany today to see a gathering of more than 1,000 Burmese refugees from all over New York State to celebrate Karen, the annual planting of new crops. This custom is under fierce attack from the Burmese military, part of the ugly civil conflict in Burma.

The celebration was held in a local middle school. It was standing room only.

The refugees work hard to keep their culture and customs alive for their children, and we meet many of these good and hard-working people today. Their country definitely qualifies as poor and trouble, and they would likely be among the first kinds of refugees banned in the governments new push for affluent white refugees from places like Norway.

These refugees would not quality. We just loved the depth of feeling in the dancing and singing we saw, and I’ll post more photos in a few minutes. Come and see some of the dancing that went on for six hours day.

It is amazing how hard these kids worked to put on this kind fo dancing.