For those of you who have been following the Ride for Freedom for the Akha people, we are now in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. We have ridden from Salem, Oregon to Los Angeles, from LA to Phoenix, to Dallas, Texas and now are only 894 miles from New York City where we are headed to the UN.
The weather is winter weather of course, though Tenn. is currently a bit mild. We have been taking some time to visit a child actor our children are friends with, Zach Mills.
Once new shoes are on the horse we will be headed for Knoxville, DC and New York, at least a couple of months left.
Along the way, we have spread the word about the situation of the Akha to a lot of different people. People have either seen the bus, the horse or both, with many a conversation in many a small or large town about the Akha who they had never heard about before.
While we ride, missionaries are busy in Thailand forcing Akha children to convert, you can visit one such website vernonjournal.com which will give you an idea what this looks like.
And what about the thousands of Hmong who are being deported by force from Thailand by the Thai army to Laos right now? The US State Department is acting like this whole thing is a surprise to them. Rubbish.
Ok, just a bit of road talk. Check out http://www.youtube.com/... for 279 days of Ride for Freedom Videos.
We tell as many people as we can the Akha story. A day goes like this, I say goodbye to the kids and Michu and ride out for about 20 miles. Then I find a place to put the horse on deep grass, and then hitchhike back to the bus, and move the bus to the horse where we spend the night. And that is how it moves along. Talking on the road, and talking to who ever gives me a ride back to the bus. Slow, but progress. Send your friends to http://www.akha.org if they are new to this story. Help save the Akha, pass the word.