A sanctuary for abused animals

The Hmong are an Asian people from the mountainous regions of southern China, northern Vietnam and Laos. They are also called the Miáo, meaning "raw rice" and designating nomadic populations with little integration. The exact origin of the Hmong people has never been proven, but it is certain that they occupied the basins of the Huang He River in northeastern China and then migrated to the mountains of the southern provinces (Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi) towards the end of the 18th century. In the 19th century, Hmong people settled in Laos (Non Het, Hua Phan) and then in Vietnam (Lao Cai). Since their migration from Yunnan province about three centuries ago, the Hmong have remained relatively self-sufficient, living mainly from rice terraces, gathering non-timber forest products and, more recently, from handicrafts and other tourist activities. There are many forms of dialects among this people. The most common are "Green Hmong" and "White Hmong", named after the color of the speakers' traditional female costumes. These people are originally animist, believing that there is a soul in every being, every object and every element on earth, and then opened up to shamanism and Christianity. According to their ancestral beliefs, the Hmong are endowed with twelve souls at birth, the three most important of which manifest themselves at death. One then guards the tomb, the second leaves to join the ancestors and the last is reincarnated.