Remote village in laos high above the clouds the people here speak their own language. Time seems almost to have stood still. We meet a family that is holding fast to the old traditions while also making small steps out into the wider world. Today is a special day a photographer has come to the village. Well im going to put it on. The father how caring has wanted a family photo like this for a long time. He wants to put it in a golden frame and hang it up at home. With. His youngest son is only rarely here hes been living on his own since he was 11 when he moved to a town in the valley to attend school. The girls of the family will probably spend their lives here on the mountain like their older brothers. The family have penned their hopes and can launch the youngest son as their best hope for a different and easier life for the younger generation. For the women of the family the day begins with starting a fire cooking and feeding the pigs. Yeah yeah. Yeah yeah youre gonna look at them when i talk to. Much of clashing sometimes they sell a pig to a neighbor to bring in a bit of money. That goes to help support the youngest son. Apart from that the family are subsistence farmers. One of the neighbors pigs has snuck into their yard. So. He has plenty of time to relax. His wife your choice has chores that keep her busy from dawn to dusk. Among the are cut people of the mountains of laos fetching wood is womens work. For the women of the family walking without carrying a heavy load on their back is too leisurely so they spin cotton along the way. In the past aka women were not supposed to wear shoes. Your choice still prefers it this way. When it. Was hard. I went to school until grade 3 then my father died and i had to work with my mother. I had to do all the mens work such as chopping down big trees. I built myself a letter out of branches so i could reach them. I worked very hard as hard as i possibly could and we still didnt have enough rice to last the family the entire year. Long after my mothers. I married my husband hes rather old but he said that if i married him he would take care of me and my younger sister my mother. Hes 12 years older than me. He now. How. You troil is 59 years old. I cant wait. To mourn me. I have my 1st daughter when i was 23 my 2nd when i was 24 and my 3rd at 25. After that i had a child every year 15 pregnancies in one year that because i had so many children i looked much older than my age almost like you knew i had to work very hard because i didnt want my children to go hungry. While in la. That you might. You. Know the one who. Told me he. Was going to hide on. The moon. Because. You. Feel like you. And. Her for. Her. And if. You believe her. One of her daughters in law has stayed home to cook a midday meal for the family. Gets me to do it with them i got a way to go or i could probably. Do it. To do mom ella why one not. To let it hit on a clue how they all love us and that they do want. To turn. The whole idea of. Every meal includes vegetables and rice breakfast lunch and dinner sometimes there are eggs and rarely some meat. Allowed in family eat in the kitchen. The parents and the oldest son said it one table. Because you. There was a lot of it for the other son the daughters in law and the grandchildren sit at the other. 12 people live in this house and all. That. Much of life is governed by custom and tradition from the seating arrangements of meals to the womens dress to the work they do their daily routine and their festivals. How can keeps a close eye on things. Hes a member of the Village Council of elders and a former village chief. And although no one says so directly hes also the shah men. Name this is a fortune telling. If someone is old and very sick then i can know the day of their death by looking at this down to make it. So i mean its fine that i can make these predictions but it would not be good for me to tell someone else that bad luck is coming their way they would be off. With. A neighbor comes to fetch him the child is sick with a high fever. The family says the boy was frightened in the forest and his soul left him and now the spirits are trying to lay claim to him they want the shame and to prevent this. Instead of entering the child the spirits will be lured into a doll made of paper gold tobacco and rice will entice the evil spirits. Thats why i love the at the top have always been the last which actually did. The soul of the baby chick is supposed to enter the child. The chick is also sacrificed to the evil spirits. To get. Him. Down there or the idea of. God or might you have thought oh why he did it i got to tell you im now doing all that to. Do but it will be done very well to. Get them here to get. The evil spirits are now inside the paper dog the shaman is removing her from the village. Because the sword will ensure that they remain banished from the village that afternoon the fever is gone and the child feels better he took a pill a fever reducing medication but as far as the villagers are concerned thats an irrelevancy. d more than 30 years ago pal can pick this hilltop as the location for the village pelion song by. 3 sacred trees marked the spot. That. Were not allowed to cut these trees. Even the tiniest cut is forbidden no one can cut any of these trees and if you cut there youre also cutting here. The trees are sacred. If someone cuts them somebody in the village will get sick but tigers will come from the forest to eat or kill our animals. Theres no electricity Running Water roads or neighbors. The arca have maintained their traditions over centuries c c. But how can also experienced a different way of life when he served in the military. And. I say so i thought in the vietnam war for this country and for the people of laos for 16 years. My pop of the night before to liberate the country in the people. In all my home i was a soldier fighting our enemies mali when i was at the loch a company shot down 6 airplanes over there behind the hamilton thats where i was when the planes arrived i thought. That my who we were not. I fought harder than anyone in the province. Wanted me. If i hadnt returned to the village id be a Government Official by now was i me. Man. King 2nd son has just become a father again its his 5th child he lives next door. Looked. So sad. Because it did your wife give birth already. Knows how much how is the baby crying a lot why the car is she in the baby a well. Thats it about why they. Also. Its. Ringback not my mother i learned after the harvest the rice needs to dry under the sun every day at night put back into the sacks. When the women work the men take care of the youngest children. 9 women moved to their husbands village when they married. They began wearing the traditional dress and start adding to its decoration. And. Thats just a. Little. Detroit had to sew each of our 3 daughters in law a full costume. I mean not that youd rather i did. Than. I do what. I did. My mother in law is old so she doesnt want to wear bright colors like us she doesnt want to outshine her daughters in law ringback. Then youre going to be. Offended that we do we cant take off the headdress even when we go to sleep. To lead them at that and we cant comb our hair or wash it when we want to only on certain days moving out that got really the most forbidden day is the birthday of our parents and our parents in law. That would mean they wished for their deaths. And i met a lot of young women have a lot of work i cant even listed all. Can we go to the rice fields cut firewood carry water do the washing. Feed all the animals. Theres no set bedtime who just go to bed when we finished all our work. That also includes their highly skilled production of textiles. They make dyes for their clothing out of wild indigo plants and slike to live. During the day one of the women is always at the wooden machine to separate the cotton from its seeds then comes the spinning weaving and dying every family in the village produces their own clothes and. Often we cant find the white limes so we have to buy from someone else and we make our clothing out of cotton fabric. The fabrics have to be hung to dry for more than 12 months before we can make clothing out of them but did you like. That. She and her husband have 5 children. The youngest is 2 the oldest 10. I cant remember the 1st time i went to have billets. Until i married when i was 22 years old. She was 21. Then i 1st met her at the new year. But we shouldnt talk about such things. Of the here when our parents are around its not good to talk about things like this. Its embarrassing. Even sitting next to each other in front of the parents is considered unseemly. Theyve been living in this house as a married couple for 11 years. King and you choi 2 of their sons their wives and 6 grandchildren live in this house. Make up. We are the parents. We can sleep in the same room but others have to be in separate rooms not know when they will call in for the day. And then i put in. My 1st daughter in law sleeps over there separate from my son this is the room of our 1st sons wife she sleeps beside the kitchen. Putting the 2nd son doesnt live here anymore. The 3rd son his wife sleeps here and he sleeps over there. You have. To pick on him and i dont during law may sleep on this site is not allowed my you know. How king has sent his sons out to look for a location for a new rice field. After 3 years the soil is depleted. Then the old rice field is abandoned and forest is cleared for a new one. For. The men also have a task to do when they head out on a longer mission. They hunt for wild animals and birds. Their brother in law was accidently shot while he was out hunting. Thank you. They found a spot for the new rice field how king told them they need to start clearing the ground straight away. And i give you what day is it today and i know the day is the day of the pig which is a good day and thats why we need to start clearing now we want to start on a good day. And that there will come back in about 2 or 3 days time to start clearing properly. It was. It will take 20 days to finish clearing this field homu of any 1000000. Until i dont think its enough time you know. Theyll clear all the way to the crest of the hill as soon as the rice is growing well they will conduct a sacrifice to the spirits. Of all but when the rice plants have grown to about 50 centimeters we slaughter for chickens for the ceremony one will have to be a white chicken or the like chickens to feed the spirits in this area the 2nd chicken is for the heart in the field the 3rd chicken is for all the animals around the field and the 4th for all the plants and the trees. They all need horses and cows to bring the harvest in later in the year being. This year our rice field will be closer to the village we last year was over there this year its here but this years harvest brought us more than 100. 00 bags of rice but it takes around one to 2 hours to get them up there. By you know. 8. Before they head home the brothers put markers down. That way the other villagers will know that their family is now farming this section of land. Thanks. For. The familys youngest son 18 year old ken long has come for a visit. He brought with him some t. Shirts jackets and trousers which people from the town of gave him who want. C to celebrate the visit the women are making a large meal out today they were in the kitchen. Only in that. Job but they will say that i took the mobile phones away and i had a flat tire on the way to look once i reach pop song village of new one from an old man im trying to put ill have no carriage so i had to change myself yes. But he has a bit to get out of the little one with. His best childhood friend has come over him and. He wants the same haircut. Kenya is one of only 3 boys who left the village of 300. 00 residents to continue their studies after finishing primary school. Its based tolo place and we would like him to go to university but we dont have money for that hell finish high school this year or many here i dont want him to come home i want him to work for the government you would have to help in fact i used to work for the government but i gave that up to come back to the village meet me so i want my youngest son to continue what i began that well who knows who pat me. Cornel west and me. Will be going to give them. Money i used to be in love with a girl from the uk i dont know anymore but you know i live in farms really well there are many different ethnic groups. You need to i know im not just limited to the aca. The news pulse like to enable of a neighbor. And. I dont want america girl im mainly in films only and the women have beautiful their. Young. Men and men peanuts in town then he can choose whether to follow our culture or not thats fine for him but not for us for us older ones we cant stop living according to our tradition. To be you in the future if my parents are still alive for an invite into living time with me ill take care of them once i have a job and earn some money and they know they hate me as a. Little known and. I dont know what ill think they will may have to turn over to you but im not sure of my brothers will go to it by now it will be and im going to before i knew Caldwell County and if i know. The question of who might want to move away as a hot topic in the village. Every 3 months a medical student visits the village to carry out vaccinations and to distribute vitamin a and medications against worms. Going to. The villages remote far from any hospital or doctor. You know when someone is seriously ill and the path is impassable due to heavy rain theres no way to get medical help. Thats why the village chief wants to have the village relocated further down the mountainside. They would have access to a paved road as well as electricity and Running Water. 30 families live in the village not all of them want to move some because they dont have the money. Others because they fear that they will lose touch with their culture and traditions. In the name calling on. The governor said but its really chief accounts and we leave the village we have to move together or if it will move on my own i would have done that already that. The nanny if they want to move by we have enough to stay here if they go theyll go but well stay so calm while the chief isnt here anymore and well just keep living here where. They hold fast to their traditions the ceremonies the sacrifices of animals to ward off bad luck and their relationship to the spirits and to their ancestors. Oh. Its. The biggest taboo in our culture is one that they are not permitted to mention within the confines of the village. It is. Its a topic that the older people always told us we shouldnt talk about. Only the elders can talk about it. Well you who when there are a pregnant women in the house they must never hear anything about this topic we have its so terrible i mean people hate us as much as well maybe through the new pope no one in the callee its always been this way. If you give birth to twins the family cant stay in the village. And they cant move to another village either. You know they know you but our cousin in the old village had twins once and we took them away and carried out all the ceremony he. My son in law the parents who give birth to twins have to build a small hut in the forest next to a small stream. That would have even when we bring them food we cant look at her talk to them so we just say here is food for you. Were not allowed to say anything about their family when we bring them food. We talk as though we were talking to ourselves and to the trainees and not going where it looks. Almost they try to talk to us were not allowed to respond. Oh you know. Thats what we believe what they did about you know we mustnt talk about this topic in the village its forbidden. We cant raise twins even if someone wanted to force us to. Thats our culture. Of leo i long that there be. 4 years ago Government Officials came to not post some village. They came to ask if we could change. I was told but even if the government requests this of us we can change this and if we cant raise twins we have to respect our traditional culture and i. Didnt know to our own people are never allowed to step across the river where they buried the twins did one little did a little light move. Did. Not yet get an idea of. The parents of twins are permitted to return to the village after they have killed their newborn twins. Their home is burned down with everything it contains im in for an entire year no one is permitted to speak to the couple. People believe that only animals can give birth to more than one baby at a time. When a woman gives birth to twins an evil spirit must be at work. Or unless. You know. Your choice cousin has died. A member of the family must attend the funeral which is being held in a village on a nearby hill located partway to town. Hall at the point where i can mum the youngest son is leaving. He wont visit again for a month. And. The funeral ceremony began a week ago. The figure on the horse represents the deceased. On the 2nd horse some of his belongings will accompany him on his final journey. The deceased rides into the forest where he will be buried at night. The shaman must kill the water buffalo with a single stab of the spear as part of the ritual sacrifice. Im glad. I never. Have. To make sure the family continues to prosper ahead of the buffalo must be noisily brought to the roof. Of the. More prosperous the deceased the longer the funeral ceremony lasts and the more animals that are sacrificed. The. Cut. Plan. Was. The. High. When i die i will have 2 horses to ride. And about 6 or 7 cattle will be slaughtered sure but make nice and go here ive done so much and i work for the government but so much so that my funeral isnt the biggest i wont rest well if. I want my funeral to be the biggest hardening and they get back what would you know. Then mom still has a 3 hour drive ahead of him. He has to go into the valley and cross the lake in order to reach town. Hall. Peak. Its a journey into another world a world hes been living in for 7 years now in which he hopes to make his future. Mum has some rice in his bags. Every morning the residents of fun sally are woken by a news broadcast through the loudspeaker courtesy of the socialist government here. Ken lum remembers how coming to live here on his own at age 11 was a bit frightening but also exciting. Back then he found a grandmother an elderly woman without any family in town. She cooked for him sometimes and let him watch t. V. He only comes to the market hall to shop on special occasions he cant afford most of what sold here. He has the rice he brought from home and cooks meals for himself in his room in 6 months will finish his high school degree. God saying ill do my best to get a high score on the leaving that day so that i can go to university to be hanged and this i see do at recess a full on. Only the top 3 in his class will get a scholarship. 37 students are competing for can lump doesnt want to disappoint his father a fine. Young. Man my dream is to study something about i t v he and yet we all might be become a Police Officer you have been but my father doesnt really should pull those oh it is only my own dog shit but who knows as a ploy in the end my financial situation will determine whether i can go to university you will note we dont have the money for it. You know and. He cant imagine returning to the village. After 7 years in town hes left behind the customs and traditions of the village high above the clouds. King long gets up early every morning to exercise. The kind of university then i think overcome a dry. Oh if it began. Good news. What would that mean for his family who have such high hopes for him. To. Call coverlid bet. I could work as a chauffeur to earn money to. You know i want to have money ill buy a van and overwrite a shuttle service. Is determined to earn a living. He and his friend from school are making plans for their future. Returning to the village is no longer an option. Even if he leaves the traditions of the uk a people behind will have fulfilled his fathers hopes. His life in town will certainly be easier than in the village above the clouds. To all. Groove. Human intelligence obsolete can we still save the world from Climate Change do we need one revolution or mention. The Frankfurt Book Fair hes the form for the worlds pressing questions we meet the authors catch up on the trends and visit the festivals the special guest norm. In 30 minutes on d w. Where the real power resides. Really i come from there lots of people in fact more than a 1000000000 to do the blood not just democracy maybe thats one reason why im passionate about people and aspirations and they can see. The truth in the mission the court has tried to embody and pop in the form of the burning one and remember thinking at the time if the barley in broken forward anything can happen if people come together and unite for a cool. Head i do the news that often confronted difficult situations for conflict between does something stand i see despite my job to confront good leaders on policies and development to put the spotlight on issues that matter most congo Food Security oppression martian isolation. Cannot has been achieved so much more needs to be done and i feel people have to be at the heart of solutions my name is a mcclatchy and i work at the delta. Its really quite a bit. This is d. W. News line from berkeley and protesters in hong kong defy a band to make their voices heard thousands of demonstrators take to the streets for an unauthorized rally undeterred by recent Violent Attacks on try to focus the activists also coming up. And other bricks that extension is on the table british Prime MinisterBarak Johnson writes to the new on