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#571 From: Matthew McDaniel <akhalife@...>
Date: Tue Nov 10, 2009 11:38 pm
Subject: Akha Journal: Monticelly, Arkansas 		akhazauh
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Dear Friends:

We are on day 250 at Monticello, Arkansas - a friendly town on the eastern side of the state. We are several days from Graceland and Memphis.

I just put up a BUNCH of new videos on http://www.youtube.com/akhazauh

Still behind on the videos that you can download and keep at www.akha.org

That site has been increased in size to 45 gigabyte to accomodate all we are doing with it. Keep this in mind if you think of a donation, because we have kept akha.org up non stop for over ten years.

Memphis, Knoxville, DC and NY. Those are our four last big destinations. Soon we will be down to less than 1,000 miles to travel. WOW!

We will run a budget of about $600 a month minimum for the last three to four months.

Diesel
Food
Grain and Hay
Web site
Phone
Bus Insurance

Thank you for your support.

Matthew McDaniel

The Akha Heritage Foundation.
http://www.akha.org Akha Heritage Site.
PO Box 6073 Salem, OR. 97304 USA.


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#570 From: Matthew McDaniel <akhalife@...>
Date: Wed Nov 4, 2009 7:02 pm
Subject: Akha Journal: El Dorado, Arkansas 		akhazauh
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Dear Friends:

We are in El Dorado, Arkansas. A town where you can be stopped by five police cars at night, for being seen with a saddle on the sidewalk.

Oh Well.

We jotted around a bit on the map, dodging tornados and enduring torrential rains, and now head for Memphis. 

Today we are locating a horse shoer, and we are in need of $120 roughly to get the job done once we find one who will come to town.

We'd like to think we only have 90 days left, but after this week its maybe 120 days. Memphis, Knoxville, Roanoke, DC. NY.

Every day is an exhausting adventure, packed with details, events, weather, scratching for funds, keeping in touch with the Akha in Thailand, touching base with media and producing videos.

Finding a place to load them fast to the web server, now 45 gig in size, is always a chore so we have at least ten to still add.  

The bus holds up, the crew, the amazing crew of the Ride for Freedom Bus holds up, Hampton holds up, and my hat is about worn out.

We will have blood in our eye when the miles drop to under 1000 left to go, right now it is 1350.

Do all you can do to support our last months on the Ride for Freedom. With more than 120,000 views on Youtube.com/akhazauh we feel we are getting the word out and that number will grow, as well as the 3000 buisiness cards we will have handed out when the trip is over.

Matthew

The Akha Heritage Foundation.
http://www.akha.org Akha Heritage Site.
PO Box 6073 Salem, OR. 97304 USA.


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#569 From: Matthew McDaniel <akhalife@...>
Date: Mon Oct 19, 2009 5:27 am
Subject: Akha Journal: Bush House Picket 		akhazauh
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Dear Friends:

Like I promised, when I got to Dallas, I'd picket George Bush's house over the drug war killings of the Akha under his policy with Thaksin Shinawatra, the Embassy/Consul in Thailand, the DEA and Task Force 399.

I picketed the location for three hours on Friday and then again on Wednesday, the Secret Service finally coming up from Dallas and out of the compound to ask me why I was hanging out on a horse in front of George Bush's street gate?

I said I was there to inform George Bush about the Akhas who died in the drug war in Thailand during his time in office. I think it is an important issue. I gave out business cards and showed the SS a copy of the Akha Journal on the drug war killings.

You can see both videos from those two days at www.youtube.com/akhazauh

We also met up with an Akha woman Ann who lives in Dallas and so the women got to talk and cook up a storm of Akha food for a few days.

Ch. 8 News WFAA picked up our trip and it also ended up on Yahoonews videos. I don't have a link for either one, but many people stopped me and Hampton on the streets of Dallas about the show.

Now we head south to Louisiana and warmer days, to come up to New York in the spring.

It would be good if you could help us cover some basic expenses on the bus, diesel and other maintenance, plus some of our basic food costs.

With the flu out and about in force, we aren't doing as much sidewalk flyer handout work as we normally do.

Thank you for your support, I hope you enjoy the videos, and I appreciate any help you can be to support our efforts to get the word out to the people in the US about the Akha people.

Matthew McDaniel



The Akha Heritage Foundation.
http://www.akha.org Akha Heritage Site.
PO Box 6073 Salem, OR. 97304 USA.


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#568 From: Matthew McDaniel <akhalife@...>
Date: Mon Oct 12, 2009 10:29 pm
Subject: Akha Journal: Many new videos 		akhazauh
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Dear Friends:

This is to tell you that there are many new videos up at http://www.akha.org and http://www.youtube.com/akhazauh including the video Day 218 when we picket George Bush's gate.

We will rest a number of days in Dallas, Texas.

Matthew McDaniel




The Akha Heritage Foundation.
http://www.akha.org Akha Heritage Site.
PO Box 6073 Salem, OR. 97304 USA.


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#567 From: Matthew McDaniel <akhalife@...>
Date: Sat Oct 10, 2009 3:05 pm
Subject: Akha Journal: Dallas Texas 		akhazauh
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Dear Friends:
 
We rode east into Ft. Worth amidst hot and humid weather. As we crossed the area just south of downtown, the wind turned cold and hard.
 
By evening it began to rain and rain hard, all through the night, buffetting us as we headed for downtown Dallas.
 
We pressed hard, getting to downtown Dallas by 11Am, more than sixty miles in 24 hours in miserable weather. The only part of us that wasn't soaked was the phone and the camera, wrapped in a plastic bag.
 
In Downtown Dallas we were picked up by Ch. 8 news, yet to see that segment.
 
From downtown I got picks of the place where the thugs murdered our President JFK and our country. I was surprised at how small the location was, it was like shooting someone at point blank range, the grassy knoll, the bridge, the roadside drain. There was no hope of escape on that day.
 
Heading north from the groups of people eager to pet Hampton, I took up position across the road from former President George Bush's lane. Lots of people stopped by to see that.
 
I handed out business cards and told people why I was there. At one point one of the residents of the lane stopped, came over and met me, and said that he would deliver my message to George Bush.
 
1. Did he know who the Akha were?
2. Did he know that during the US supported drug war in Thailand many Akha were murdered by Thai police and army under the guise of the Drug war?
3. Did he know that none of those security forces were ever placed on a US required vetting list at the US Embassy in Bangkok?
 
I was promised I would hear back and thanked the man for an offer of a place to stay for Hampton. Very friendly the people of Dallas.
 
From there I rode further north as dark dropped in on us, and headed for the home of one of the few Akha women married to an American in the US. Time for the family, the horse, to take a break.
 
Matthew McDaniel

The Akha Heritage Foundation.
http://www.akha.org Akha Heritage Site.
PO Box 6073 Salem, OR. 97304 USA.


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#566 From: Matthew McDaniel <akhalife@...>
Date: Tue Sep 29, 2009 8:50 pm
Subject: Akha Journal: Aston, Texas Day 208 Ride for Freedom 		akhazauh
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Dear Friends:

We close in slowly on Dallas Texas.

We are all in part well but a few need dental work.

The horse can use more grain and hay for the belly of the bus.

And we are constantly running out of flyers.

Visit our many new videos at http://www.youtube.com/akhazauh and make a donation to benefit this journey across the nation publicizing the Akha cause. 

Today the local small paper picked up the story, each one is another success, the word out to more people. The Western Observer, Anson, Texas.

The Manhattan Press, Snyder, Texas and the Livestock Weekly of Texas also carried stories.

In Dallas, Texas we will be meeting up with one of few Akha in the US, and taking a break there.

Our slow journey through the winter to the UN will continue as well as the ongoing documentation with videos at the youtube site.

We now know that many Akha are watching the videos in Thailand, will gives us some cheer.

The Akha land case we will continue to follow up on.

As intended, we continue to pass the word about the Akha people to many people in America who would not have heard otherwise, and while we can not reach as many as we would like to, we still reach many. Your help in making this a continued success is appreciated. Over 100,000 views on those videos so far.

So if you haven't been a donor in a while, please take the time to drop down to the link below. Even a $5 donation helps.

Matthew McDaniel



The Akha Heritage Foundation.
http://www.akha.org Akha Heritage Site.
PO Box 6073 Salem, OR. 97304 USA.


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#565 From: Matthew McDaniel <akhalife@...>
Date: Sun Sep 13, 2009 8:51 pm
Subject: Akha Journal: Brownfield Texas 		akhazauh
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Dear Friends:

We have ridden all the way to Texas and are headed for Dallas across vast expanses of farm land. Rather flat in most cases.

But we are pretty happy about the royal project and the case of Akha land formally coming to the attention of the UN.

You can see the UN document here:
http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/category,COI,,,THA,4a66d9a3c,0.html

And the Queen's Project here:
http://www.chaipat.or.th/chaipat/journal/aug03/hill_e.html

It has taken years, but now it is history, and the Thai government must make a reply.

It also means that missionary Akha such as Ajay and other missionaries who said there was nothing to the allegations or the land rights case, are in fact quite full of bull and begs why they don't stand up and really defend the Akha? (The money of course)

We have also loaded another ten or so movies to www.youtube.com/akhazauh 

Matthew McDaniel




from Rule of Lords, ratchasima.net:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Thailand’s “unsubstantiated” police abuses
September 7, 2009

Thailand’s representatives to the United Nations still cling to the
outdated idea that if they turn up at a big get-together and make nice
comments about how they cherish human rights, then everyone will think
things are fine in the land of smiles.

Not surprisingly, they are unhappy when other people tell a different
story. So last March, when the Asian Legal Resource Centre addressed
the U.N. Human Rights Council concerning Thailand, they weren’t at all
pleased.

The Hong Kong-based group told the council that the police are the top
abusers of human rights in Thailand, for which they enjoy impunity.
The center did not make this statement frivolously. It has for years
worked closely with people in the country on dozens of cases that
speak to this fact, and it is aware of and has documented hundreds
more. Many cases it cannot publicize because to do so would put lives
at risk.

Notwithstanding, the government representative, Sihasak Phuangketkeow,
claimed that the center’s remarks were “unsubstantiated.” Although his
defense of his country’s record was not in itself surprising, the
vehemence of his response was remarkable given the piles of evidence
to the contrary which groups have accumulated and presented to
international bodies over the last decade.

This week the center had a chance to rebut his claim.  In a statement
to the coming session of the council it cited the case of disappeared
human rights lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit, the disappearances and
killings of dozens of people in Kalasin, torture in Ayutthaya and the
impunity for killers in the war on drugs as just a few of the most
obvious examples to support its point. It could have cited hundreds of
other cases without even scratching the surface.

The center also pointed out that in 2005 the U.N. Human Rights
Committee, a treaty body to which Thailand is bound to comply, had
similar findings about police abuses and impunity, and recommended a
range of things that the government could do in response, none of
which have been implemented.

What it did not do was interrogate the representative concerning the
motive for his emphatic yet false denial of a fact that – for anyone
who bothers to look into it – is both incontrovertible and
uncontroversial; a fact that even senior police officers privately
admit.

One possible motive is that at present the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations is busy making its own human rights agency for the
purpose of misleading the international community and obfuscating the
facts about rights abuses in its region. Thailand’s government has
played a lead role in that activity. It doesn’t want anything to upset
its image as a responsible global citizen rather than a systemic
violator of human rights.

The permanent representative to the U.N. Human Rights Council has been
personally involved in the ASEAN project. Perhaps he considers it
unfair that he and his colleagues are not getting more credit for that
effort.

Apparently he doesn’t see anything ironic about his reinvention as a
human rights defender, given that he was a Foreign Ministry spokesman
when the government of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was
enabling the killing of thousands of alleged drug dealers in 2003.

Another probable cause for the disgruntlement is that Thailand will
sooner or later take a second shot at getting a seat on the U.N.
rights council. It was stung that when the council took over from the
Human Rights Commission in 2006, its bid for a seat was rejected while
other Asian states with abominable records, like Sri Lanka and
Pakistan, were successful.

The U.N. mission will be keen to redeem itself. It doesn’t want
annoying truths to get in the way of its good news stories. Never mind
that Thailand’s own official rights body no longer complies with
international standards and has been occupied by police and
bureaucrats; that the police keep on getting away with murder and
threatening anyone who makes a complaint with the same treatment; or
that the army is still skulking around in the political background and
running the show down south: politeness and diplomacy are supposedly
enough to get a seat.

Each country in the world has human rights issues of one sort or
another. Those that are mature about them acknowledge their problems
and recognize the difficulties in addressing them. They seek out
allies at home and abroad who are prepared to work for change through
mutual respect and criticism, not by hushing things up and doing
closed-door deals, but by putting everything on the table.

By contrast, Thailand’s representatives issue denials and lash out at
people and agencies that don’t join in conspiratorial silence over
what is going on and why. If they want to be taken seriously, they
should start with rethinking their role and altering the way that they
work. After all, whether or not they are prepared to tell the truth
about human rights abuses in Thailand, someone else will.

-------------------end of first story-----------------
------------------                           -----------------second:


← Thai police put crime report before medical help Thailand’s
“unsubstantiated” police abuses →
Bangkok court shoots self in foot, again
September 7, 2009

A court in Thailand inched closer to its counterparts in neighboring
Burma last week when it sentenced an anti-coup protestor to 18 years
in prison. The Bangkok criminal court convicted Daranee
Chanchoengsilapakul on three counts of lese majesty arising from
statements she made in a rally to support the ousted prime minister,
Thaksin Shinawatra. In the speech, she connected the 2006 military
takeover to the palace, and drew parallels between events in her
country and the fate of the monarchy in Nepal, which was abolished in
2008 after a popular uprising.

The charges were brought against Darunee following a complaint from
Sondhi Limthongkul, the leader of the army-sponsored anti-Thaksin
movement that occupied the prime minister’s offices for three months
and the national airport for about a week last year. Neither he nor
any of his cohorts have been brought to justice over those events,
despite the massive criminality involved, including assaults and
alleged murders, wanton vandalism, and theft of public and private
property. While targeting opponents for alleged crimes of thought and
speech, Sondhi and allies continue to spread their own vitriol through
a variety of broadcast and Internet media.

The judges made little pretense of conducting the trial fairly. They
denied bail three times, reportedly because they were worried that
Darunee’s release would affect public sensibilities, which is not a
justifiable reason under the Criminal Procedure Code. They closed the
court on grounds of national security. Given that in Thailand even the
trials of alleged terrorists have been held in open, it is hard to
identify the superior threat that the diminutive 46-year-old former
journalist may have posed, even with the nickname “Da Torpedo.”
Presumably the real reason for closing the doors was that the accused
chose to fight the charges; defendants in lese majesty cases typically
just give up, take the rap and then approach the king to seek
forgiveness and obtain a pardon. Darunee will not be doing that. She
told journalists that she is going to appeal the sentences.

Darunee joins Suwicha Thakor, who earlier this year received ten years
for posting offensive images of the king on the Internet, as one of
Thailand’s prisoners of conscience. Others awaiting trial over similar
alleged offenses include Chiranuch Premchaiporn, the webmaster of an
independent Internet news site, Prachatai, who is being prosecuted
under the country’s ambiguous Computer Crime Act. Chiranuch did not
say or do anything herself; her “crime” was not having removed
sensitive comments from her website quickly enough. The Asian Human
Rights Commission, a Hong Kong-based regional advocacy group, has
written to two United Nations special rapporteurs seeking their
involvement on these and other cases.

Thailand’s judiciary has again shot itself in the foot in its hurry to
defend increasingly outdated social arrangements. A court has for the
umpteenth time in the last couple of years succeeded in injuring
itself while scrambling to protect an entrenched political order that
is less and less relevant to a fast-changing society. Although the
disservice the judges did to themselves is in certain ways detrimental
to everyone in Thailand – declining respect for their institution only
further undermines the rule of law – it has also done a service by
having the opposite effect from what it intended. Instead of silencing
critics, it has triggered a new round of debate and comment at home
and abroad about the limits to what can be said, let alone done, in
the kingdom. The more courts try to stop people in Thailand from
saying what they think, the more people will stop to ask why.

Source: Thailand judiciary further discredits itself with harsh lese
majesty sentence against protestor


The Akha Heritage Foundation.
http://www.akha.org Akha Heritage Site.
PO Box 6073 Salem, OR. 97304 USA.


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#564 From: Matthew McDaniel <akhalife@...>
Date: Wed Sep 2, 2009 7:48 pm
Subject: Akha Journal: Roswell, New Mexico Front Page 		akhazauh
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Dear Friends:

After riding far across New Mexico, many valleys and mountains, we have come to Roswell, New Mexico, home of UFO's and also we make the front page.

www.roswell-record.com

Its been a long trip. We are now about half way. We soon head for Dallas Texas and Louisiana and the east coast before heading north to New York.

Your support is welcome, we do not have regular sponsors, this is a tough trip for all of us to get the job done, we need food, diesel, grain for Hampton, things like that.

But we are getting the word out about what the Queen has done, what missionaries are doing to the Akha children.

See this doc, we worked to bring this about.
http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/category,COI,,,THA,4a66d9a3c,0.html

See you in Texas.

The people of New Mexico have been supportive and friendly.

Matthew

The Akha Heritage Foundation.
http://www.akha.org Akha Heritage Site.
PO Box 6073 Salem, OR. 97304 USA.


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#563 From: Matthew McDaniel <akhalife@...>
Date: Tue Aug 11, 2009 7:38 pm
Subject: Akha Journal: Heading for New Mexico - Short update 		akhazauh
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Dear Friends:

I leave today for New Mexico, after a beautiful stay in Springerville, Arizona, actually the only real town we have stayed in while crossing Arizona.

I have just loaded several new videos to http://www.youtube.com/akhazauh for you to see, including one more Akha recipe by Michu. Akha Meat Cake. I hope you enjoy them all.

Matthew McDaniel

The Akha Heritage Foundation.
http://www.akha.org Akha Heritage Site.
PO Box 6073 Salem, OR. 97304 USA.


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#562 From: Matthew McDaniel <akhalife@...>
Date: Tue Aug 4, 2009 2:01 am
Subject: Akha Journal: Leaving Arizona, New Horse Shoes 		akhazauh
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Dear Friends:

In a few days we head for the New Mexico border. 

Friday we got new shoes put on Hampton. 

Arizona has been tough on us. The heat is one thing, but the lack of Public Spaces has been what we have noticed most. Many towns we traveled through had no real town center at all making it very difficult to hand out flyers and pass the Akha story.

Most businesses will not let you pass out flyers, even if you ask. 

A far cry from what we experienced in California and Oregon which both had interest and places to pass out literature, many many places.

As a result, our fundraising is also way down, and we need your help to move forward. We know we are getting the word out to a lot of people on this trip despite what we experienced in Arizona. 182 videos on Youtube.com/akhazauh and over 100,000 views to date, which will only grow with time.

You can help us get the word out there, and inform the public what the Akha are going through.

Greater public awareness can help pressure the Thai government to stop taking Akha rice lands, return the land that has been taken already and improve human rights conditions in Thailand for the Akha and other hill tribe people.

Your donation to the Ride for Freedom can help us achieve this successfully.

Sincerely,
Matthew McDaniel

The Akha Heritage Foundation.
http://www.akha.org Akha Heritage Site.
PO Box 6073 Salem, OR. 97304 USA.


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#561 From: Matthew McDaniel <akhalife@...>
Date: Mon Jul 27, 2009 5:57 pm
Subject: Akha Journal: Show Low Arizona, More Videos 		akhazauh
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Dear Friends:

Today is Day 144 of the Ride for Freedom for the Akha Hill Tribe People.

We have ridden to Show Low, Arizona and are finally out of the brutal Arizona heat around Phoenix, which forgives no one.

We have a whole bunch of new videos by the day up at Youtube.com/akhazauh and we hope you will take the time to see some of them. You can also download them at akha.org.

We are now in pine country and heading soon to New Mexico on our way to Dallas, Texas.

I removed one of the bus radiators to check it out and made a few repairs to try to address the heat problems and will do a few more changes to improve the situation too.

Hampton gets new shoes on Friday. Those were put on in Los Olivos, California, so we certainly got a lot of wear out of them.

Show Low, Arizona is cool with beatuiful clouds this time of year, afternoon rains, lots of pine and BLUE skies.The towns are getting smaller as we head east for a while.

Yesterday the kids got a break and went fishing at Show Low lake where they caught 13 fish and I kept busy putting worms on hooks.

You can help us get the word out for the Akha people by making a donation. 

We are a third of the way through our journey. Our expenses are things like diesel, food, grain, hay, phone and the Akha website along with flyers and business cards. We hand out a lot of these.

Thank you for your support.

Matthew McDaniel






The Akha Heritage Foundation.
http://www.akha.org Akha Heritage Site.
PO Box 6073 Salem, OR. 97304 USA.


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#560 From: Matthew McDaniel <akhalife@...>
Date: Sun Jul 12, 2009 10:34 pm
Subject: Akha Journal: Desert Heat, Videos 		akhazauh
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Dear Friends:

I have just uploaded 8 more videos to http://www.akha.org or http://www.youtube.com/akhazauh from our trip and discussions of Akha culture.

We will probably rest in Apache Junction a couple more weeks before moving east, repairs on the bus and resting Hampton.

We need an additional $700 to replace our second AC unit on the bus, and then we move on.

We have 165 videos now on YouTube.com/akhazauh with nearly 100,000 views.
We think that is pretty good.

We soon head for New Mexico and Texas and points east.

The Akha of Pah Nmm Akha tell that the Queen's project has them growing tea for slave death camp wages while the products are sold at a high price.

We also are told that the Thai police have come to the village extorting old men for money, hauling them off to jail until they pay, basically kidnapping for a ransom.

We'd like to hear from you.

akhalife@...

Matthew McDaniel



The Akha Heritage Foundation.
http://www.akha.org Akha Heritage Site.
PO Box 6073 Salem, OR. 97304 USA.


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#559 From: Matthew McDaniel <akhalife@...>
Date: Fri Jul 3, 2009 11:44 pm
Subject: Akha Journal: Hell's Crossing 		akhazauh
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Dear Friends:

From the 7th of June till the 29th of June we made Hell's Crossing from Los Angeles across the Sonora Desert to Phoenix, the part from Indio to Phoenix being the most difficult. This is some of the most difficult riding and walking I have ever done.

We have a lot of trucker friends who watched us make our progress day by day through some of the toughest desert stretches of the South West, temperatures reaching to at least 112 degrees with very long distances between water.

We are now past Phoenix in Apache Junction, Arizona resting family and horse, catching up on videos and taking a few weeks to prepare for the next leg of our journey.

We are now 1/3 of the way across the US.

www.youtube.com/akhazauhfor latest videos
www.akha.orgfor recent web update

I continue to spread the word about the Akha people and their situation in Thailand to all who will take time to listen.

We are happy for a safe but difficult trip thus far.

We hope to hear from more of you.

The Queen of Thailand needs to give back the land of the Akha people.
The missionaries need to return the Akha children back to their families.

Matthew McDaniel

The Akha Heritage Foundation.
http://www.akha.org Akha Heritage Site.
PO Box 6073 Salem, OR. 97304 USA.


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#558 From: Matthew McDaniel <akhalife@...>
Date: Wed Jun 10, 2009 4:35 pm
Subject: Akha Journal: We Serve Papers on the Thai Consulate Los Angeles 		akhazauh
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Dear Friends:

Day before yesterday Wed 8 June, we spent five hours picketing the Thai Consulate at 611 Larchmont in Los Angeles. CBS Channel 2, and that story was picked up by Yahoo News Videos.

www.akha.org for Day 95:

You can find all these links on our home page also.

The Thais came out to take their intel pictures, I gave them flyers about the Queen of Thailand.

I did the same for everyone going in and out of the Consualte.

The women who worked inside with Thai Tourism came out and fed carrots to Hampton, you can see in the video.

At the end of the day Channel 2 of CBS news showed up and did a story, which we really appreciate because that got picked up by Yahoo News Videos.

We appreciate those who have taken the time to support this expedition, we hope you will continue to find a reason to do it. And if you haven't to date, we hope you will.

Hampton is doing fine, the kids are seeing quite a bit, today resting on a farm in El Monte. Michu is waiting for a box of clothes her mother sent her from Thailand, more Akha clothes for our daughter who doesn't have much yet.

Al Jazeera TV in Thailand has done a documentary on the devastating work of the christian missions, you can see their news report here:
http://www.bythefault.com/2009/06/08/christian-missionaries-devastating-the-culture-of-the-akha-tribe-in-chang-rai/

The case of Bobby Morse and rape of hill tribe girls, that is still going on in Chiangmai and we will let you know as soon as we hear of an outcome. Last we heard Bobby was trying to get the girls to recant their statement at the police department, the accused having contact with the victims?

The bus is holding up well and we get on our way towards Phoenix in a day or two.
Los Angeles was our biggest city for a while, now we are back into scattered horse land, as we head for Pamona, Ontario, San Bernadino, Riverside, Redlands, Palm Springs.

My goal is to gather as much publicity for the Akha as possible. To some extent I am succeeding.

Matthew McDaniel


The Akha Heritage Foundation.
http://www.akha.org Akha Heritage Site.
PO Box 6073 Salem, OR. 97304 USA.


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#557 From: Matthew McDaniel <akhalife@...>
Date: Wed May 27, 2009 4:13 am
Subject: Akha Journal: Day 84 Santa Barbara 		akhazauh
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Dear Friends:

We are a day away from riding down into Santa Barbara where we will rest shortly before heading to Los Angeles and the Thai Consulate.

We would appreciate hearing from you if you enjoy being on this list, and find it useful.

We will be riding into LA and then riding east to Riverside, California before heading to the desert crossing to Phoenix.

We now have more than 114 Ride for Freedom videos up on Youtube.com/akhazauh and close to 90,000 views of those videos.

Today we rest in Los Ovitos, California, yesterday I walked 36 miles to give the horse a rest, on the way from Santa Maria.

Tomorrow Hampton gets new shoes, the last ones went almost the entire length of California.

In LA we have flyers to hand out regarding the Queen of Thailand taking Akha land.

She is going to see the bottom of our shoe for sure.

You can help by calling the Thai Consul in LA. and voicing your displeasure about the Queen's Royal Project at Hooh Yoh and Pah Nmm Akha.
323-962-9574 - 77
323.962.2128 - Fax

We are about 1/3 of the way of our trip across the US. We need help with grain for the horse, diesel and food if you are of a mind and heart to help out.

By the way, we have heard that Richard P. Haugland has returned the Akha kids to their villages. We continue to investigate it.

Bobby Morse (the defendant) took five hilltribe girls (the victims who accused him of rape) to the police station in Chiangmai to explain to the police that their report against him was nothing more than a prank. Since when does the accused have contact with victims, let alone escort them to the police station to recant their stories. Missionaries.

I would also like to hear what your interest is in the Akha projects and what you are interested to do to help out the Akha cause?

Matthew McDaniel

The Akha Heritage Foundation.
http://www.akha.org Akha Heritage Site.
PO Box 6073 Salem, OR. 97304 USA.


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#556 From: Matthew McDaniel <akhalife@...>
Date: Sun May 17, 2009 1:27 pm
Subject: Akha Journal: Day 73 Big Sur Ride For Freedom 		akhazauh
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Dear Friends:

We head out for Big Sur this morning, Hampton and I, and the bus I will be going back for tonight and moving then. A good day it will be.

The children got the chance to see the Aquarium at Monterey which is one of the previous videos. The videos you can see and download at www.akha.org or you can stream them at www.youtube.com/akhazauh.

We got two good articles in two local papers. One in the Half Moon Bay Review:

Half Moon Bay Review Article


And one in the Santa Cruz Sentinel:
Santa Cruz Sentinel Article


I think the Thais should know we are coming.


We have heard rumors that Richard P. Haugland has let go his Akha kids from Starfish Country Home, but still want to confirm that.


Bobby Morse, arrested on rape charges as a result of allegations of hill tribe girls he took possesion of, is still denying involvment. Rumors are rife about family pay offs and victims being silenced. The US Embassy of course has stated to Congressman Wu (Oregon) that the Privacy Act is more important than children's Protect Act.


However I think this case will continue to follow the man, with a lot of people interested if he is going to squirm out of this. It is also a message about what goes on with these missions.


Yes, we are up to day 72 on our videos, we hope you find something of interest there.


Ten days we will be in Santa Barbara and after that to the Thai Consul in Los Angeles before we head into the heat across Phoenix.


Most certainly a lot more people know about the Akha than when we started.


Matthew McDaniel







The Akha Heritage Foundation.
http://www.akha.org Akha Heritage Site.
PO Box 6073 Salem, OR. 97304 USA.


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#555 From: Matthew McDaniel <akhalife@...>
Date: Wed Apr 29, 2009 9:56 pm
Subject: Akha Journal: Ride for Freedom Santa Rosa - Help us beat the heat. 		akhazauh
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Dear Friends:

Today is day 55 of the Ride for Freedom, and we are closing in on San Francisco. We travel from Cloverdale towards Santa Rosa today, this afternoon.

Today, April 29, 2009 we also got an article in the Ukiah Daily Journal
http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/ci_12251903?source=most_viewed

We also got a TV documentary about our ride in the www.ukiahvalley.tv web site, however I haven't figured out how to find the video in their archive, but it was very well done.

We also got an interview on KZYX Mendocino on Monday.

Last night we rode and walked some 30 miles through some really long and very dark train tunnels to get to Cloverdale, California. I parked Hampton on a field of weeds and grass, only to get jumped by the cops for him eating there, to think of it.

So we move on for Santa Rosa.

You can't imagine what a commotion a horse will cause I suppose.

Any rate, we are moving along. We can use your donation to speed our progress towards LA and Phoenix, due to weather conditions we can not linger as long as we would like to, and cross the heat of Arizona.

Now many videos on www.youtube.com/akhazauh and we'd like it if you tell your friends.

Very few people have heard about the Akha in America, like nearly NO ONE. So we feel that what we are doing is helping get the word out there.

Towns that have stood out in our mind in California have been Arcata, Garberville, Ukiah.

Maybe you followed our work in Laos. Marijuana is the biggest cash crop in California. But the US was over in Laos cutting the opium of some of the poorest people in the world. You can see the fancy helicopters in Ukiah. Same is happening in Afghanistan.

Your donation can help with diesel and grain costs.

Thank you.

Matthew McDaniel









The Akha Heritage Foundation.
http://www.akha.org Akha Heritage Site.
PO Box 6073 Salem, OR. 97304 USA.


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#554 From: Matthew McDaniel <akhalife@...>
Date: Fri Apr 17, 2009 3:51 pm
Subject: Akha Journal: Day 42 Fortuna, California - Question 		akhazauh
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Dear Friends:

We are in Fortuna, California on our way to San Francisco on the Ride for Freedom.

The weather is turning beautiful, the rolling hills covered with green grass and horses as we approach wine country.

This is just the start of this trip, we have far to go and intense heat to battle on the way across Phoenix.

We also have our act to do at the Thai Consul in LA.

We need your support, and we also hope you are busy watching our website at www.akha.org and youtube.com/akhazauh

This letter goes out to two in house lists and several other lists.

We would like to know about your interest in the Akha and what you are willing to do to help improve their situation.

Would you like to volunteer, either at home or in Thailand-Laos?
Are you able to do promotional work in your home country such as presentations?
What skills do you have that you might contribute?
Are you willing to be a donor or raise funds?

Right now we have invested an enormous amount of our own time, energy, money and life in this project and in this educational tour across the US by bus and horseback and we really want to know who is with us, who wants to be supportive, who wants to do something to help improve the recognition of the Akha people.

The website has an enormous amount of videos and information. We get thousands of hits per month, and it costs a lot to keep this website up and keep the bandwidth paid for.

For those who haven't contacted us before, we encourage you to ask questions and find out how you can get involved.

In every town we have been in, we have found that 99% of all the people knew nothing about the Akha, had never ever heard of them. So much so, that good sized newspapers like the Times Standard in Eureka, California saw no reason to report on a group of people numbering 600,000 that they had never heard of.

While we don't have the money for more business cards ($133) or more flyers, we are telling as many people as we can about who the Akha are and why we are doing this.

If you benefit from the website or the information we put out, if you are interested in helping the Akha people, then write to us, and ask how you can get involved. There are many ways to help out, from small to large.

Your donation keeps the story of the Akha going out in the towns we go through.

To do this educational tour, a huge billboard 40 ft long to the side, a horse to grab attention, we run a diesel bill, website, phone bill, and bus insurance. We get by on food and grain from what we can gather up. A bargain. A billboard on any highway runs $6000 for one month only. No newspapers or TV's report stories on billboards, and billboards don't talk and walk down main street.

So please don't hang back, step up and help out if you want to help the Akha people.

And even a donation of $10 can help cover the above costs.

Thanks,
Matthew McDaniel

The Akha Heritage Foundation.
http://www.akha.org Akha Heritage Site.
PO Box 6073 Salem, OR. 97304 USA.


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#553 From: Matthew McDaniel <akhalife@...>
Date: Tue Apr 14, 2009 7:05 pm
Subject: Akha Journal: Day 40 Ride for Freedom Humboldt State University 		akhazauh
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Dear Friends:

This evening we have a presentation on the Queen of Thailand taking the land of the Akha people, missionaries removing Akha children and other Akha human rights cases here at Humboldt State University in Arcata, California.

You can see our videos at www.akha.org or at youtube.com/akhazauh

From here we ride south to Santa Rosa, California which will take us a good week, and then on into San Francisco.

We are holding up, but we need help on Diesel and grain for Hampton. He eats "like a horse" as they say.

Hampton has been a terrific hit with everyone along the way. He is very gentle, loves people, and he gets a lot of attention.

The Native American community has been wonderful to us along the way, our last stop with the Yurok people.

We now have 39 videos up on our site or youtube just from the ride.
We also have to reinforce our website at www.akha.org to carry the bandwidth and server load.

Please make a donation, as we get the word out about the Akha people. You can make a difference for what we are doing.

We continue to publicize the University of Oregon's Ph.D. in Genocide Program at various Universities as we travel along.

We have had a wonderful time meeting people along the way, and newspapers continue to do articles on our travels.

Sincerely,
Matthew McDaniel


The Akha Heritage Foundation.
http://www.akha.org Akha Heritage Site.
PO Box 6073 Salem, OR. 97304 USA.


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#552 From: Matthew McDaniel <akhalife@...>
Date: Sun Apr 5, 2009 9:15 pm
Subject: Akha Journal: Ride for Freedom Entering California 		akhazauh
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Dear Friends,

Tomorrow we ride from Cave Junction, Oregon into the Redwoods of California.

You can watch our daily videos on line at www.akha.org or at youtube.com/akhazauh

We have had a great trip so far. The weather is getting definitely warmer, but still cool nights.

We continue to pick up good stories in the press, such as at the Grants Pass Daily Courier which has quite a good coverage.

People along the route have been very good to us.

Top campaign points:

1. The Queen of Thailand takes the land of the Akha people.
2. Stop the removal of Akha children by missionaries.
3. 10,000 mosquito nets for the Akha of Laos

You can choose to make a difference.

We would like to point out that Church of Christ Missionary Bobby Morse was arrested in Chiangmai, Thailand for sexually abusing a number of hilltribe girls in his hostel in Chiangmai. Amazingly, he is already out on bail. Harry Nicolaides by comparison spent six months in prison for a paragraph in a book. Shows how serious we can take Thailand and of course the power of the missionary dynasty in Thailand, more like a mafia.



Matthew McDaniel

The Akha Heritage Foundation.
http://www.akha.org Akha Heritage Site.
PO Box 6073 Salem, OR. 97304 USA.


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#551 From: Matthew McDaniel <akhalife@...>
Date: Mon Mar 23, 2009 8:48 am
Subject: Akha Journal: Day 16 Ride for Freedom 		akhazauh
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Dear Friends:

We are headed into our 17th day in our Ride for Freedom.

People have been real good to us as we travel.

We are currently in Roseburg, Oregon.

We are getting some cool videos of demonstrations, interviews etc, up on
www.akha.org

Invitrogen, Haugland, Paul Lewis to mention a few names that showed up at our
actions this last week.

Take the time to look around and enjoy the videos.

Remember, we do this work so that people will come to know who the Akha are and
what is happening to them.

You can choose to help us cover some of the costs of taking the time to do this
with our lives. We need diesel, grain, hay, food as we go along. There is a
PayPal link below.

We put our hearts into this, thanks for coming along.

Matthew McDaniel



The Akha Heritage Foundation.
http://www.akha.org Akha Heritage
Site.http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Akhaweeklyjournal
Discussion http://groups.yahoo.com/group/akha
Donate Via Credit Card Paypal:
https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=akha%40akha.orgPO Box 6073 Salem, OR.
97304 USA.

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#550 From: Matthew McDaniel <akhalife@...>
Date: Thu Mar 19, 2009 6:29 am
Subject: Akha Journal: We stir it up in Eugene Oregon 		akhazauh
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Dear Friends:

Visit the videos at www.akha.org

We have really stirred it up in Eugene, Oregon about this Richard P. Haugland
guy taking away small Akha girls in Thailand. Armed with millions from his sale
of Molecular Probes in Eugene to Invitrogen, he set himself up a compound there
in Thailand and began taking away Akha girls.

Now that we have picketed the University of Oregon with this information as well
as the fact that University of Oregon gives PhD.s in Genocide, we have seen a
lot of reaction, the perps don't think it is funny any more.

Our hits on Akha.org have skyrocketed, and yes this is about Akha freedom.

Matthew McDaniel


The Akha Heritage Foundation.
http://www.akha.org Akha Heritage
Site.http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Akhaweeklyjournal
Discussion http://groups.yahoo.com/group/akha
Donate Via Credit Card Paypal:
https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=akha%40akha.orgPO Box 6073 Salem, OR.
97304 USA.

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#549 From: Matthew McDaniel <akhalife@...>
Date: Thu Mar 12, 2009 10:52 pm
Subject: Akha Journal: Ride for Freedom Day 7 		akhazauh
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Dear Friends:

We have started our "Ride for Freedom" to the UN.
We are on day 7.

You can see videos from each day at www.akha.org

Thanks to all the people who donated and helped get this project going.
We hope to educate many people about what is happening to the Akha and also
provide support to their communities.

If you have suggestions, we welcome them.

We do not have any ongoing sponsors for this project, if you find it beneficial
consider helping out.

I think the videos tell the rest of it.

Matthew McDaniel

The Akha Heritage Foundation.
http://www.akha.org Akha Heritage
Site.http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Akhaweeklyjournal
Discussion http://groups.yahoo.com/group/akha
Donate Via Credit Card Paypal:
https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=akha%40akha.orgPO Box 6073 Salem, OR.
97304 USA.

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#548 From: Matthew McDaniel <akhalife@...>
Date: Fri Mar 6, 2009 6:18 pm
Subject: Akha Journal: Start of Ride For Freedom 		akhazauh
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Dear Friends:

Within a day or two days we will be heading out on the start of our ride.

Our driver quit after training so we are looking for a new driver.

But we are leaving anyway.

Stable fees paid, vet bills paid, one insurance bill left is all.

Thanks for working along with us.

We have a lot of new videos on the Ride for Freedom up on www.akha.org and at
youtube.com/akhazauh  At the Akha.org site all the new Ride for Freedom videos
are listed either as an embedded file or at the top of the right hand column as
a link, that you can download the file from.

WE NEED YOUR FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO KEEP THIS PROJECT GOING.
We appreciate your continued financial support, its been a long year, a long
struggle, but a lot of people are coming to know of the Akha situation.

Our goal during this trip is to raise money for the human rights network in
Thailand and a rice bank, and money for mosquito nets in northern Laos.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,
Matthew McDaniel


The Akha Heritage Foundation.
http://www.akha.org Akha Heritage
Site.http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Akhaweeklyjournal
Discussion http://groups.yahoo.com/group/akha
Donate Via Credit Card Paypal:
https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=akha%40akha.orgPO Box 6073 Salem, OR.
97304 USA.

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#547 From: Matthew McDaniel <akhalife@...>
Date: Sun Mar 1, 2009 2:33 am
Subject: Akha Journal: Where did that Driver Go? Water tank repair. 		akhazauh
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Dear Friends:

Well, after training a driver for a month, keeping her well fed, she up and
quit. So we look again. Least she got free truck driving school.

While in Portland we did some fundraising and handed out flyers.

Movie here:
http://www.akha.org/upload/video/rideforfreedom/5fundraisinginportland.m4v

Then we noticed a water leak, fresh water.  So after I got the driver safely out
the door, I parked the bus. Ripped the water tank out from under the bus, lots
of strategic sawing and modifying, and then today I got the iron out and welded
the top back on, fixed the holes, and slung it back under the bus. Ugly, but was
moving too fast to snivel or feel the pain.

The kids were a great help.

You can see the video here:
http://www.akha.org/upload/video/rideforfreedom/6watertankrepair.m4v

Onwards and upwards.

I sawed my right hand, crushed my left finger, OVER HERE, I got a blister on my
pinky!

Due to a wonderful gift to the project from the best donor (me) we now have a
new mac computer to load daily ride for freedom videos for you to watch. Rockin
man.

Anybody know any good non profit jokes?

Matthew McDaniel and crew.

The Akha Heritage Foundation.
http://www.akha.org Akha Heritage
Site.http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Akhaweeklyjournal
Discussion http://groups.yahoo.com/group/akha
Donate Via Credit Card Paypal:
https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=akha%40akha.orgPO Box 6073 Salem, OR.
97304 USA.

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#546 From: Matthew McDaniel <akhalife@...>
Date: Thu Feb 19, 2009 12:57 am
Subject: Akha Journal: Ride for Freedom 		akhazauh
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Dear Friends:
 
We are hoping to be out within a week, to beat the weather.
 
We have gotten our vet check, vaccines, and travel papers arranged. We have about $800 left in vet, stable and diesel related fees.
 
Weather is turning softer.
 
We got shoes reset on Cookie the filly this afternoon.
 
The bus is in shape and ready to go. Spent Saturday, Sunday and Monday in Portland passing out flyers for the project.
 
Our friends in the Czech Republic say that there have already been 12,000 hits on the bio video on the TV website. I Kidnapped My Family
 
Thank you for your support.
 
Being a monthly donor during this project can make a big difference for us.
We hope to increase the awareness of the Akha cause, bring increased pressure on the Govt. of Thailand to return Akha lands and raise funds for malaria prevention in Laos.
 
Sincerely,
 
Matthew McDaniel

The Akha Heritage Foundation.
http://www.akha.org Akha Heritage Site.
PO Box 6073 Salem, OR. 97304 USA.


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#545 From: Matthew McDaniel <akhalife@...>
Date: Mon Feb 9, 2009 11:08 pm
Subject: Akha Journal: Driver, Biography Video and More.... 		akhazauh
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Dear Friends:

We have a driver. Kaely has joined us for the Ride for Freedom and has settled in behind the wheel.

We are glad to have her on board.

http://www.akha.org

Our Biography Documentary has come out on Czech TV.
"I Kidnapped My Family"
http://www.ceskatelevize.cz/ivysilani/408235100021003-unesl-vlastni-rodinu/

We are really getting close to departure, in a few days now.

Thank you for all your help.

We have gotten an update from Thailand, that the Queen's project has built administration buildings right in the fields of the Akha in Pah Nmm village, that having them work their own fields for the Queen is not good enough, they were not working long enough hours, so they are now made to get up before sunlight and and walk up the mountain the two hours to the project, and made to work until dark and walk back.

We continue to work for Harry Nicolaides release from a Bangkok Prison.
Our video on the topic, a parody of the King over this Les Majeste and the Akha Land Theft can be seen here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wumXctF6XjE&feature=channel_page

Thanks to all.

Matthew McDaniel






The Akha Heritage Foundation.
http://www.akha.org Akha Heritage Site.
PO Box 6073 Salem, OR. 97304 USA.


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#544 From: Matthew McDaniel <akhalife@...>
Date: Sat Jan 31, 2009 5:09 am
Subject: Akha Journal: Driver, Stable Fees 		akhazauh
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Dear Friends:

It looks like we have a driver who will be joining us soon.  We are really
looking forward to that.

Right now we need your help to wrap up our stable fees and we are on our way.

Do you value the work we do for the Akha people? Have you considered making a
donation in the past but haven't gotten around to it?

Then this is a great time to help out.

It is still cold and wet in Oregon, but we know the heat down south is going to
be relentless.

Your good help can get us on the road, and through this trip we can raise a lot
of publicity for the Akha people. We have already seen it happen here in Salem,
Oregon, a whole lot of people have gotten flyers and have seen the Bus.

It has been anything but easy, but we have gotten this far.

4500 miles of America, from small town to small town, 25 miles a day, getting
the word out, meeting people, sharing the Akha story and seeing all the places
in this country that make it great.

We have freedom here. We remember it especially now that Harry Nicolaides, who
has helped us in Thailand, has been put in prison for a few lines about the
Crown Prince, a local rumor, in his book Verisimilitude.

Looking forward to hearing from you soon,

$100, $50, $20, $10 helps a lot.

Matthew McDaniel

The Akha Heritage Foundation.
http://www.akha.org Akha Heritage
Site.http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Akhaweeklyjournal
Discussion http://groups.yahoo.com/group/akha
Donate Via Credit Card Paypal:
https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=akha%40akha.orgPO Box 6073 Salem, OR.
97304 USA.

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#543 From: Matthew McDaniel <akhalife@...>
Date: Thu Jan 22, 2009 11:34 pm
Subject: Akha Journal: Free Harry Nicolaides NOW Video, Ride for Freedom 3 video and ah..... 		akhazauh
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Dear Friends:

I am currently loading three movies to youtube.com/akhazauh

The first is Akha TV 9, Commentary on Prisoners of a White God.

The second is Akha TV 10, Free Harry Nicolaides, a request to the Thai
Government to get its act together, do the right thing, and free our friend
Harry Nicolaides from prison. He was sentenced to 3 years on Monday after being
in prison since he was arrested in Sept on the charge of Les Majeste, a foolish
draconian law in Thailand.

His crime? Quoting a rumor about the Crown Prince in Thailand in his book
Verisimilitude.

One paragraph.

And then also a video from the Mien - Akha new year in Portland Oregon last
week.

I don't have these up on www.akha.org yet because its been a tough winter, and I
don't have the cash to pay our monthly fee on the server so they cut it off.

What would really help is if we could get a sponsor for the website, we have a
very secure and dependable server.

Anyway, that is why you won't find www.akha.org out there at the moment.

Due to the amount of material we have out there on our site, and the bandwidth
we use, we have a monthly fee of $124.00  Our only other set fee on the Ride for
Freedom is our phone bill which will cost us $150 a month for phone and computer
related modem (two seperate items.)

We had a card reader but canceled that when we found it just too difficult to
get person to person credit card donations, so we rely on our paypal account for
that service to donors now.

We want to get set off on the Ride for Freedom by the end of the  month, so I
have been doing what I can to make that happen.

Thanks, and we always appreciate your help, patience, volunteerism and other
efforts.

Sincerely,
Matthew McDaniel

The Akha Heritage Foundation.
http://www.akha.org Akha Heritage
Site.http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Akhaweeklyjournal
Discussion http://groups.yahoo.com/group/akha
Donate Via Credit Card Paypal:
https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=akha%40akha.orgPO Box 6073 Salem, OR.
97304 USA.

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#542 From: Matthew McDaniel <akhalife@...>
Date: Fri Jan 16, 2009 4:06 am
Subject: Akha Journal: Final Call - Ride for Freedom 		akhazauh
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Dear Friends:
 
Final Call - Ride for Freedom
Jan. 15, 2009

We have stable bills to pay and then we leave, in days, in this month, for the US Coast at Lincoln City, Oregon and from there to the United Nations at New York by bus and horseback. If you can help, please do so at this time. We need your donation in one of the last expenses we have to launch this trip.
 

Its been a very long year, but we have prevailed and we have gotten a bus, it is ready to go, and we have pulled this all together with the help of all our friends.

 

During this trip we want to bring awareness of the Akha situation in Thailand, we want to provide mosquito nets to the Akha of Laos, we want to help with rice supplies in the Akha villages in Thailand and support the Akha human rights network there.

 

Thanks for helping out, please pass the word to get this great adventure under way. Five Akha-American kids look forward to seeing this great country for the first time. Download our movies.

 

We put everything we have into this, and now it is time to go.

 

Hampton and Cookie, our two horses have their new shoes and are ready to head out.

 

Your help continues to make a difference to our work.

 

You may donate at the link below.

 

Matthew McDaniel

Michu

Ah Soh

Meeh Daw

Ah Tsah

Ah Ngoh

Ah Pymm



The Akha Heritage Foundation.
http://www.akha.org Akha Heritage Site.
PO Box 6073 Salem, OR. 97304 USA.


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