The Volunteers
There were 13 volunteers while I was in Thailand and we ended up with a really great group; it was a fun, hard working, and non-drama group. I also loved watching and learning from the volunteers and being in awe of their example; from selflessly taking off their own shoes for another kid to wear to play soccer, from adamantly and determinedly making things happen and getting results, to quietly and calmly loving those around them.
Another great thing about this group is we worked hard and played hard. We had the traditional Tim Tam Slam every Tuesday, celebrated birthdays, and went on weekend adventures (the weekend adventures blog post is coming your way next week).
Tim Tam Slam Tuesday
Natalie's Birthday
Preparing to GoGetting ready to go included a gigantic to-do list with purchasing plane tickets, attending training, paying program fees, an even bigger packing list, etc. I visited the Centers for Disease Control website to find out which vaccinations I may need to get and went to a travel clinic to discuss any other preventatives I should take. I was up to date on the vaccinations they recommended and was given a prescription to take daily for malaria prevention and another for Traveler's Diarrhea if I was "lucky enough" to get it... I was not. I sprayed all of my clothes down in my garage with permethrin and made sure to have bug spray/lotion with 40% or more deet. Getting my VISA was a little stressful because it was hard to figure out where to start but once I found the correct website, I was well on my way and it only took 7 business days to get it back. (Oh! One of the girl's VISA was placed over her Ireland Stamp in her passport so I would be sure to write a note asking that no stamps are covered with the VISA). When in Thailand I was advised to get the Japanese Encephalitis vaccination, I was super bummed because I HATE shots, but it was good I got it in Thailand because it was an arm and a leg cheaper than in the states; also it is the only disease in Thailand on the CDC website that is untreatable so it's probably better to be safe than sorry.
The House
We called this home and compared to the other homes of those we worked with, this would be considered a mansion.
Our Kitchen
0 ovens, 1 mini fridge, 2 burners to cook eggs for breakfast (and anything else we could creatively think of to cook on them for dinners), 0 dishwasher or disposal, 1 sink, 2 drying racks for our hand washed dishes... and a cupboard of our breakfast foods, dishes, and silverware (minus butter knifes).
The eating area
Our front room/ family room
The Girls Bedroom: we also had lizards and bugs as roommates. I was ok with the lizards... they ate the bugs. And after about a week you got used to the lizards talking to each other through the night.
Our bathroom
Our washing machine died halfway through the five weeks, so we washed all of our clothes by hand; which I kind of liked. It was time to just think... like doing dishes.
However, I would say, because of this I got very creative about how to make my clothes last a little longer before needing to be washed. Probably not the nicest thing to do to my volunteer-mates.
We traveled everywhere in the back of two tiny pickup trucks. I loved it!
Besides loving the freedom feeling of it, my most favorite memory of being in the back of the truck would be driving back from the Lahu Village one night and it started to pour... BUCKETS! We all threw our bags into the cab of the truck and then the rain just took us while we laughed. I didn't know it was possible to be that soaked. When we arrived at the house, all the girls ran out into the rain and danced.
We ate most of our lunch and dinner meals at a place just a 5 minute walk from the house that we named The Pink Palace. The Pink Palace was owned and run by this family and they knew us as "regulars." We had to order everything in Thai, which I loved. My favorite was Cashew Chicken and Yellow Curry Chicken. I would say each meal cost about $1.50 to $2. We also would eat dinner at these places on the street where there would be a street cart on the curb and then tables and chairs set up on the side walk and business fronts; sometimes the tables were even on a loading dock ramp and we'd eat on a slant. On occasion we would eat at 7-11 (no slurpees but great grilled cheese sandwiches) and Tesco, which was like a mini Walmart and had a tiny food court.
The Pink Palace
Favorite Snacks... to name a few
Having favorite snacks in Thailand became some of the little things that made our days. It was fun to get excited when we knew we had time to go grab a favorite treat or to get one after a long day of good hard work or to go and pick something up for someone when having a rough day.
Cocoa Yen: The best way I could describe it would be like a chocolate slushie or a chocolate cream slush. We finally found a Cocoa Yen stand which we really liked, there was a jumbo cup option, and we went so often the lady knew who we all were and would just say, "Cocoa yen?" as we walked up and we would all nod with a big excited smile.
Magnum bars which were basically like a Haagen Dazs bar in the US and you can even get Magnum bars in the US BUT they still were a fun treat and often craved.
The mangoes. Oh the mangoes! They were so delicious and incredible. We have nothing like them here in the US; our mangoes are fake ;)
The Lahu VillageOne of the villages we worked in was the Lahu Village; we spent a lot of time here, making me love these people more and more. The village was made up of several huts up in the hills. The village had three buildings with concrete walls; a preschool, a meeting house and a church. The dominate religion in the village was Catholic.
Stairs in the village to another section of homes.
The road to the village.
Playing with KidsOn Monday and Wednesday evenings a group of volunteers would teach public health to the adults, another group of volunteers would teach English to the teenagers, and then the rest of the volunteers would play with the kids; mostly to make sure the classes in session were not interrupted. These nights, by far, were my most favorite times of the week. We played Duck Duck Goose and Down by the Banks. We had relay races and danced and pretty much anything else to entertain them.
One night all of the little girls started grabbing flowers to put in our hair. Now these flowers were not randomly placed, no, our hair from behind looked like a work of art and true flower arrangement designs.
Jump ropeWhile playing with the kids on Monday and Wednesday evenings was the highlight of the week, I knew I wanted to mix things up. I could only handle so much of Duck Duck Goose and Down By the Banks. While visiting a school in the Akha Village I played jump rope with a group of girls and their jump rope was made out of rubber bands. I had never noticed these jump ropes anywhere in the Lahu Village but decided I wanted to figure out how to make one and take it to play with.
Trying to mime elastic bands at the grocery store was hilarious but with some creativity the sales clerk was able to figure out what I was saying; I was very grateful for his patience. I watched some youtube videos on how to make the jump rope and then spent a Sunday morning making some with one of the other volunteers.
I don't know who was more excited about the rope, me or the kids, but it was a lot of fun. It took a few nights there to work on taking turns and not just running in to jump before someone else.
My last night at the village I gave my jump rope to one of the little girls who was a little more on the shy side but also was very kind to always look for others to include. She had the biggest smile on her face for the rest of the night.
MuralOne project in the village was painting the exterior of the meeting house. We painted all the sides blue and then the front was a mural of the surrounding hills with the villagers' and volunteers' hand prints as the leaves for the trees.
Getting started
The kids lining up for us to paint their hands green to place on the branches of the trees.
The finished product
Art ClassOne of the volunteers taught an art class twice a week at the pre-school and I would go along to help. Trying to keep the attention of kids and teach them how to draw shapes with the language barrier was hilarious fun but of course sometimes perplexing on how to creatively teach them. There was a lot of pointing to something I drew on my paper and then pointing to them and then their paper. Some got it... others not so much.
Aerobics
On the nights when we were playing with the kids and other volunteers were teaching; once everyone was finished, they would come out and two of the volunteers led aerobics. It was fun to see the popularity for it grow each time and to have fun laughing along with the village women and girls as we worked out together and have moments of "dying" from out-of-shape-syndrome. The volunteers who led these workouts did such a great job and I have been missing them myself.
Ahka Village
Another village we worked with was the Ahka. The first waive of volunteers worked the majority of their time in this village while the second waive (my waive) spent the majority of our time in the Lahu village, but we still did get to do some projects in this village. I loved all of the people I got to work with in this village as well. This village had a true sense of comradery. They had very strict rules such as: no drugs, no drinking, watch out for each other, curfew, etc.
English Teaching
On Tuesday and Thursday evenings I team taught school teachers, from schools in the Ahka village area, English. Oh my goodness, this was such a blast. I team taught with Meredith (She had the teachers call her Lola because they had a hard time saying her name) and one of our country coordinators, David, helped translate. These teachers were so great and such an example of how educators go above and beyond to further their education so they may give their students a better education.
The last night of class we gave the teachers certificates for taking the class and then they made us this amazing feast. Our hearts were so full. (So were our bellies. We would finish one plate and they would bring out another one for us to eat).
Playground
The first waive volunteers started a playground at a preschool in the village and I joined the team to help finish it up during the second waive. It was fun to be able to paint; it was like arts and craft time in elementary.
We put the animal character heads up to tires for the kids to climb on at the playground.
We helped the Ahka Village dig a needed canal around their soccer field, to stop the flooding of the soccer field but also for other water needs. Now, when I say soccer field, we're talking a dusty dirt rectangler-ish shaped area with goals at each end with partial nets. One day we had to re-dig a part of the canal and it had rained earlier, making the dirt thick and clay-like, which made it hard to dig with our hoes. I suggested we think about ex-boyfriends to release some anger and get some powerful swings out of the hoes.
Planted Corn
We helped Peuen, (more about her below) a lady from the Akha village, plant her HUGE field of corn. She was a constant big help in getting projects started in her village and we wanted to do some for her since she did so much for us. It was fun but hard. The labor wasn't that hard but the heat was a major killer. At one point it was so hot my face was bright red and everyone thought I was sunburned... I wasn't.
Swimming Lessons
Sadly, a week or so before the second waive arrived, a man from the Lahu village drowned in a lake near their village. Our country coordinators asked if we could teach the adults how to swim but they were too terrified to go near the water but they did agree to let us teach the boys. We would pick them up from the village and take them into the swimming pool in Fang for lessons. Luckily two of our Thai speaking volunteers also have taught swimming lessons and so they taught and the rest of us helped as much as we could. I got really good at showing strait legs with my arms.
My favorite part was watching how excited the boys were to be at the pool and how they imitated what they have seen swimmers do on TV; I'm assuming the Olympics because they would smack their arms against their bodies, giving themselves a hug, like you see swimmers do. ie: Michael Phelps.
Hitching a ride after swim lessons back to the Lahu Village for English class.
PreschoolOne day while visiting the Lahu village to help a specific family that was sick, our country coordinator needed to take the family to the hospital and the volunteers of us who were with him needed to stay and wait for him to come back. We were invited into the preschool to hang out while we waited. The teacher, Cuel, was in my English class and I absolutely love her. Some of the pre-schools we visited or worked in were almost a daycare but Cuel really worked hard to teach her students and make it fun too. Her students knew their Thai and American alphabet, colors and numbers.
We also participated with their singing time where all the kids knew the actions and the words to the songs that were also teaching them lessons (kind of like our School of Rock songs). One thing I loved about this time, is she gave her students opportunities to be leaders and had them come up in pairs, for each song, to lead the class in it.
Bonding over play dough
CatIf you need a good laugh... watch this video.
I love this video because of it's innocence; you know the cat is like a stuffed animal to her and she wants it to be having just as much fun as she is.
UDHP FarmEvery Friday morning we would go to the non-profit UDHP farm and help with whatever chores they may need help with from tending to plants all the way to feeding the pigs. The UDHP farm was a non-profit farm where they would grow plants and sell them or produce at cost to the villagers and also work on projects like teaching the people how to use their land to productively farm it.
After mixing this dirt with fertilizer and other types of nutrients, we sat on tiny stools and filled little plant holder bags with dirt... more like pounded in the dirt nice and tight into them.
Dengue Fever is a tropical disease transmitted by mosquitoes and if the disease is not tended to it can lead to death. Most of the villagers do not take the disease seriously until someone dies. Doctors and local health professionals are trying to educate the people to take precautions and to come to the hospital if you do get it. Our public health team taught some classes in some of the villages about Dengue as well.
We spent a morning helping a local doctor go through a village where someone had gotten Dengue Fever and went to each home to dump out standing water in the yard and pour larva killing pellets in standing water, that could not be poured out.
These were our faces when our country coordinator on accident translated to us incorrectly that Dengue Fever was extremely contagious. He quickly corrected the mistake.
Inside one of the homes.
The People
Oh my goodness, the Thai people were amazing and I truly miss them so much. They were such a kind, gentle, humble and generous people. I loved working in these villages and never once feeling judged for being covered in sweat, no make up on, paint splattered on my shoes, etc. I always felt loved for who I was.
While talking with my team teacher one night after English class we were talking about how these people live with so little but yet we do not see them as poor. Maybe in a material way but they watch out for each other and love each other, they are so kind and happy, they are humble, and so much more. They are rich in some incredible ways. are not poor.
I constantly was in awe by the generosity of these people and it was a good reminder to me to constantly look for ways, even in the tiniest amount, to serve others. One day I left my water bottle at a man's home and when we went back to pick it up he had washed it out for me, had water bottles from the store for us, and a bag of fruit from his yard.
Peuen (this is the best way phonetically I can spell her name) was a go to person in the Akha Village to get projects going and to get support from the community. She herself has diabetes and other health problems but her focus was always outward; she was more concerned with serving others. This is a picture of her cutting up some fruit for us while we helped her plant her field of corn.
Lunch break at Peuen's home.
The teachers in our English class brought us fruit to take home to all of the volunteers every class. It was always more than our entire household could eat but the teachers insisted we took it all.
This sweet teacher, Toy, had such a kind and tender heart. She made my team teacher and I yarn crochet flash drive and Kleenex box holders.
Maw, the Village Elder's wife and the preschool teacher in the Lahu Village. She told me I did not need to go home because I could stay with her.
