Thursday, October 24, 2013

Poverty and education: fighting to keep families together

For five days we wore jeans and cardigans, socks and shoes, we drank afternoon tea, we dreamed dreams. Sometimes I don't think I realize just how hot Bangkok is until I leave. I love the heat as much as anyone, but five days in northern Thailand with dear friends was just what the doctor ordered. And nothing makes a good vacation into an awesome vacation quite like deep conversation that stirs the heart. 

I'm not usually one to launch into visionary kinds of conversations- I'm too practical for that. When you tell me your vision, all it see are the million details to get from here to there. But time after time in life we are confronted with suffering, and suffering often demands a visionary response. In SE Asia we are often brought into contact with the myriad of suffering that is linked to poverty. And I know that poverty and its many secondary issues are all to real in the US too. But there I had to go out of my way to see it. It is much more in your face here- the prostitution, trafficking, begging, refugees and slums aren't as well hidden as they are in more developed nations. 

One issue that I keep coming into contact with lately is how problems like poverty and lack of educational options are splitting apart families and sending children out on their own when they are much too young. Too many parents cannot afford to take care of their kids, sending them away to children's homes where they are fed and educated. These parents do it "by choice", even eagerly. Wouldn't you, if you knew the alternative was malnutrition and a lack of education that would continue the cycle of poverty? What kind if choice is that? Other families, among the rural poor and often among Thailand's hill tribes, send their kids to the city once they finish elementary school, their villages either not having schools or not having good schools. Some of these kids are in the city on their own. The luckier ones, if you can call them that, are in dorms and boarding houses. The parents I work with at ICS are nervous about sending their sixth graders to the middle school, about whether their child will be able to handle it. Their poorer peers are taking care of themselves. Other kids simply don't have access to education because they are migrants or refugees. Others because they are needed all night by their families to beg in the red light district so their family can eat (my friend is actually a part of an informal school which instead of charging tuition, pays a family to let their kids go to school during the day and sleep at night, replacing the income that the kids made by begging). 

It's a large complex issue, one with many root causes, and not one that we were going to solve in five days. But, we did have meaningful conversation about ways we might be able to support one village from one tribe on one mountain in Thailand. We have connections there, people who know this population and can help us understand the roots of why the kids leaving so young, why the families are so broken. It's awesome when similar issues are on several hearts at once and we can see God putting things into motion across the country and region. 

I don't know where God is calling me in all of it. Perhaps only to prayer and to have the conversation. Perhaps to support a future project financially. Perhaps to work in teacher training to help bring better education to the village. But it sure has been exciting to be researching and discussing the economic roots of brokenness and suffering in families and begin looking into how I might be able to come alongside in some small way. 

Note: does this topic interest you? I encourage you to start by checking out World Vision International or one of the other highly successful community based child sponsorship programs. Studies have shown that child sponsorship is one of the most effective methods in helping children in poverty worldwide, especially when done with a holistic community approach like World Vision. Working at the community level allows them to address the economic issues as well as the physical, social, emotional, and spiritual. 

I'm getting a roommate!

This weekend I have a project to work on: get my guest room ready for someone to be able to live in it for awhile. On November 2nd my friend Gillian returns to Bangkok and is going to be staying with me, probably through April or May, though really, it's Thailand, so who knows. My apartment is pretty small for two people, but Gillian stayed here while I was in the States this last summer, so she knows what she is getting into. It will be a little tight, but I think we can make it work. 

I am excited to have a roommate for awhile since there are things I miss about living with people. And making room for her is forcing me to go through a lot of stored stuff, and thus throw a lot of it away, which is always a good thing. The real question, of course, is whether Gillian is going to survive my quirkiness and the empty tea mugs I leave strewn about the place. Though the fact that she comes from Northern Ireland tells me that the mugs might not be entirely foreign. I do enjoy tea drinking roommates! 

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Ahka Hill House

After two days in the northern city of Chiang Rai, my friends and I went up into the mountains to stay for two nights at the Ahka Hill House. Ahka is one of the tribal groups who live in the mountains of northern Thailand, Burma, Laos, and China. One of the villages runs this small rustic guesthouse. We went planning to hike, rest, talk, and be in the green. Sadly, it rained most of the time we were there, but we made the most of it. When we started out on our hike it wasn't raining, but it definitely rained for most of the hike and since it had been raining for days, nothing in the place felt completely dry. The food they had was fantastic, some of the best food I've had in Thailand, and if got to drink several mugs of their 'jungle tea', the oolong tea that they grow on hue he mountainside. It was a pretty cool experience all around, and a good time with friends. 

Rainy view from the restaurant area

Tea plantation on the hillside

View from our bungalow 


Rainy waterfall hike

Biggest bamboo I've ever seen! 


This area might possibly be the most remote location I have ever traveled to. When I have been in other  somewhat remote spots, they have all been pretty well visited by tourists. This place was much quieter and remote than the places I went in Patagonia, for example. It was nice to be out in the middle of no where with so much green- I've literally never seen something so green and lush. Not only was it beautiful, it also gave me a better appreciation for the people and cultures that live in this area. 

Today we are back in Chiang Rai, and will be flying back to Bangkok tomorrow for our last days of break. 







Sunday, October 20, 2013

Soccer Game

Tonight we went to the last home game of the season for Chiang Rai United, the local soccer team.  They haven't been very good this year, apparently, but won tonight and we had a great time. Soccer fans are crazy :) 


This guy was leading the yells and chants and songs the entire game. Watching him made me tired! 


Favorite Thai food

Meet khao soy, my favorite Thai food. It's a northern speciality, so I was excited to eat it for lunch today on my first trip to northern Thailand. So far, I love Chiang Rai: beautiful, peaceful, green, and cool.

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Pictures

Well, I think for now, the picture a day theme will take a rest. I feel like many aspects of daily life are now well photographed and I am running out of inspiration. I'll try to keep looking for unusual things and keep some pictures coming, but not daily. And of course, whenever I travel (going up north next week!) I will take a few photos for the blog. I'm actually pretty surprised that I kept it up as long as I did. 

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Picture a day October 10

These are the ground floor shops in the building at the front of our school's campus. The one in the foreground has the best name for a book store/ cafe. Then there's a small music school and a snack shop. Quiet during the school day, this place area is swamped once the bell rings. Above the shops are small apartments for new teachers. I lived here my first 9 months in Bangkok. 

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Picture a day October 9

The view from where I sit, or at least, when I'm sitting on the back of a moto taxi! 

The vehicles here are called a song taow, a pick up truck with a structure in the bed that has benches and a roof. They are used like buses. 

I love the pink apartment building up ahead! 

Picture a day October 8

Let's retry this post from yesterday: 
I was downtown with a friend and we stopped in a cute Japanese shop of organic products, not food, but clothes, table linens, blankets, baby stuff, etc. and then we found these, and wow. Whole other level of granola! 



Monday, October 7, 2013

Picture a day October 7

Today's picture addresses something that has long baffled me in Thailand: yogurt spoons. This is a picture of a Tupperware with a four pack of yogurts, and four plastic spoons. From time to time I find the four packs come in a little container and if I'm low on containers I buy the yogurts that come with a free one (the whole disappearance of Tupperware thing seems to be a global problem). But I was surprised to open the container and find these little plastic spoons. But I shouldn't be surprised, not anymore. You see, every time you buy yogurt at the store, they give you a spoon for each yogurt. Now, when I'm buying yogurt at 7- Eleven, that almost makes sense, as in, it's a convenience store so I might be about to eat my yogurt right then and there. But the fact that they give me a spoon per carton of yogurt even when I am stocking up at the grocery store has always confused me. So today I thought about it a bit. And I think it all comes down to the fact that Thais eat with a spoon and fork generally, and the spoons are a good soup spoon size, not teaspoon. Teaspoons are not common. I have them, because I like them for my tea, but I do confess that I usually use them for yogurt too. Maybe if all I had were the giant ones than the little plastic ones might be useful for the little yogurt cartons. Or at least, that's my new theory...

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Picture a day October 6

Universal truth: don't go to the grocery store in Sunday night because EVERYONE goes on Sunday nights making for crowded aisles and long lines. 

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Picture a day October 5

Live Postseason Tigers baseball in my living room in Bangkok. First inning is going well! 

Picture a day October 4

I had a bowl of mint chip ice cream and the twins attacked with mouths wide open. It was a bit like feeding the pigeons at the park, once if gave them a bite they chased me down till it was gone. 

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Picture a day October 3

I walked past the soccer field after school today and thought this was pretty cute- a line up of little guys watching the high schoolers play. It's one of the advantages of a K-12 school, everybody all interacting together. 

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Picture a day October 2

This picture does not convey the greenness of everything when I took it. There's a great lightning show going on right now, but so far no rain.