Grassroots Leadership Training Programme

Co-ordinated and run by Wongsanit Ashram.

GLT Karen: Friends of PgazK'Nyau - Siam

In Siam, development promotion over the past 50 years has overemphasised economic growth without adequate consideration for environmental sustainability, social justice, and cultural integrity. This has led to many negative impacts on indigenous forest communities as well as the rural poor. Many have become the direct victims of development projects such as big dams, expanded road construction, chemical-dependent agriculture, and illegal logging. As in many countries, more and more people talk about the importance of 'sustainable development' and 'income distribution', yet few policy changes have been made for fear of jeopardising economic growth.

The Karen (PgazK'Nyau) people are ethnic forest dwellers living in Northern Siam. Their traditional lifestyle is under threat by continued forest encroachment and economic expansion. The GLT programme for Karen leaders aims to combine indigenous/local knowledge with appropriate modern technology and management. Besides our annual Interfaith Forest Walk (see also FOREST WALK) SEM in close consultation with the Karen elders have been organising participatory action research (PAR) among 15 Karen communities to accurately identify the problems these communities are facing as well as highlight the potential and resources still alive in them. Then the villagers find solutions together to move forward into the future in a more proactive way so that they will not be always at the end of the chain of exploitation and oppression in the Thai society. The final report of this study will also put on this web-page in the near future. The insights so far from this study have been fed into our future project of the alternative college. For more information about the alternative collage see Our Dream.

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