Thailand # 1

(This is the first of two or three posts on Thailand)
Last year I had to wave good by to the team as they headed out for LAX to get on a plane headed for Thailand.  I had the honor of staying home to help with our new grandson who was born a month early and his mamma and daddy needed some help from family . . . I am not complaining as all . . . I could not have left the little guy if I had been paid to go!  Still, it was tough to see the team leave without me.  
Fast forward to this year and the timing was perfect for me to go back to Thailand and to the Karen village that has stolen a piece of my heart.  Every year I am sad when it is time to go home!  I wish the pictures could capture the stories in a more complete manner . . . but to get the real feel for what is going on you will just have to sign up and go next year!!!  
One more thing, if you love the faces of these children, sign up to sponsor a child.  It's an awesome way to impact their lives!  You can do this through Lanna Cafe, USA.  Here is the link:
SPONSOR A CHILD

We arrived at the Downtown Inn and soon after I spotted this guy across the street.  A classic Tuktuk ready to help you navigate the streets of Chiang Mai.  We were off to dinner so no time to take advantage of a crazy ride to somewhere!  After dinner we would take advantage of the $3 foot messages at the Night Market and would not need a Tuktuk to get us there as its only a couple of blocks away.

After a good nights sleep following an awesome foot rub we were off to the hills!  It's about 4-5 hours of driving on paved/semi-paved roads and then another 2 or so hours on some pretty gnarly dirt roads.  I'm not sure you can quite see in this picture - I did not have a good telephoto lens, but off in the distance (in the middle of the pic) you can see the Mohojo region and the school house.  From this point, we still had about 45 minutes to an hour to drive.  Click on the picture and you can see it better.

VILLAGES

In this area, there are 5 villages that feed into the school - now called Mohojo school, but it will be renamed a more neutral name soon.  Confession:  I am not sure I am spelling the names of these villages correctly as over the past 4 years I have seen multiple spellings.  The Karen spell it one way or have an entirely different name, the Thai government spell it another way and the few people who can read and write in the villages even spell it however it comes to them in the moment!

 This is the village of Mohojo.  One of the first villages to get a water system through Integrated Tribal Development Program (ITDP).  They donated land for the school (hence the name) and the medical clinic.  
The hut on in the middle of the pic is where Eric and I stayed (reddish roof).  This is one of the nicer huts as many still have thatched roofs.  It was about a 10 minute walk down the hill into a ravine and then back up another hill to the school site.  We walked this walk two to three times a day.

 The village to the right is the village of Debusicillo.  I am standing in near the same place taking both of these pictures.  The school has the best view!!!  Both of these villages have Christians in them and when we were there, we held the church service at the school dinning hall so we had believers from both villages there together.  It was amazing!!  The village below is the village of Whulo.  It is the first village you come to in this group of villages and is quite a walk from the school.  Notice the beautiful rice field in the background.  We were in this village visiting children who are sponsored by people in the states.  Our child lives in this village.  There are no believers in this village.

CHILDREN

Below is a picture of me with Yupin Machoano.  The above picture was taken from her house.  We have been sponsoring her for almost 3 years now.  I did not get to meet her mom and dad.  They were out working in the fields.  She was home after school tending to the family's chickens and pigs.  The children in the villages work hard with their families from an early age.  

Some of the little girls who go to the school.  Notice the white dresses.  A little girl will wear this traditional dress until she is married.  After she is married, she will wear the very colorful sarong and blouse.  All of their cloths are hand loomed.  

The sweet face below and the position of her hands are a greeting and sign of respect to me.  I'm not sure how to spell it but the greeting sounds like "Sa wat te kah" and you "Y" by placing your hands in a prayer position under your chin or over your lips.  The higher your hands and the lower you bow your head, the more respect you are showing.  

This particular time she was giving me just a quick, friendly greeting.  When she came to see us in the clinic, she "Y'd" with a much more bowed position and hands higher.

 The girls on the right came through our clinic as we did well child physicals on each of the 80 or so children that are in school.  I have seen a difference in the health and cleanliness of the children over the past 4 years.  However, now we are seeing dental issues because with progress, comes the chance to have refined sugar in the diets.  The teeth are showing this!!  So we talked a lot about brushing those teeth!!

This little sweet face is the baby of our hut family.  I remember when she was newly born and now she is three.  She was a little sad here because she did not feel well.  But those eyes melt me every time!!
I cannot for the life of me remember her name.  Next year I am writing it down!!  Her mama is newly pregnant with baby number 3.  She lost her second child in her 7th month of pregnancy.  She came to see us and is so scared to loose this 3rd baby.  There was not much we could say . . . just listen and encourage her to rest and keep hydrated.  A hard thing to do when you need to work in the fields to keep your family fed.  It is also not uncommon to eat only two meals a day and to drink only small amounts of water and/or tea at each meal.  Nothing in between. So the concept of carrying water and keeping hydrated is something we talk about alot! 

This little man was only about 2 the last time I saw him.  Now he has a little brother that looks just like him and he is 4. He is so so shy so I feel lucky to have taken his picture!!
He lives in the hut just across and up one from the hut we lived in.  His mom was the cook for our team two years ago.  (The ladies are taught to cook for "American/white" stomachs and then get paid to cook for the 10 days we are there - great income for them)

Each morning the children line up for school.  

 This young man below was watching some of the guys work on a truck.  He alternated between smiles and intense looks as he processed all they were doing to install a winch on the front of the truck.  I just watched him for 15 minutes and snapped pictures.  This was my favorite!

Below are two little ladies that hung out lots with the team.  Behind them is a new pig pen next to the fish pond.  Apparently the pig manure is good to push into the pond for the fish.  Organic farming at it's best!!

Well, that's all for now.  In the next couple of days I will post more on the medical clinic and the building projects as well as some team pictures.  Remember to click on the link above and sponsor a child if you don't already!!