Karen Smiles

These Karen kids come from Burma but currently live at a children's home in Thailand. I was amazed and encouraged by the joy they had and the family atmosphere at the home. With almost 40 kids running around, it seems like it would be easy to get into trouble, but I saw nothing of the sorts. The kids were respectful, well behaved, and loved to have fun.

For school and church they wear their traditional Karen shirts, such as the white one here. They also often paint their faces with a paste made from water and powder from a tree (that's all they could tell me about it.) The powder not only looks nice, but it's supposed to be good for the skin too.