Find us on Facebook!

Nowadays people are more interested in an active and interactive site instead of a static website. So besides our website ( http://www.bloodfoundation.org ) we now are also to be found on Facebook. This is a wonderful way to interact with people interested in the work we do and a great way to get people like you more involved!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Blood-Foundation/42053144217?ref=mf

You don't need to be a member of Facebook to be able to view the page.
Go and have a look at the 'wall' with many comments of 'fans' and the 'photo albums' of the projects. You can also leave a comment on the wall yourself if you like!

Have a good day!

Nong Tao school is still going!

This school used to be part of the Free Schools project we did before we handed the project over to a local NGO and started Blood Foundation. When we got the news that many school were about to be closed we talked to Pi Pui and decided to take care of this school. The kids are so motivated and the teacher was sure that many kids would drop out of the government school without the extra help. The students are learning Thai as a second language and at home they only speak Lahu and the parents themselves can't help with school work because they never went to school themselves.

So we are more than happy to keep this school going and this happens with sponsoring from the Dutch branch of Blood Foundation. Teacher Aer is happy and more than ever motivated to help this children!

Yep, the rainy season has sure started! The road towards the school was rather wet and very very slippery! We are so lucky with the car from my parents... We keep on realising how much we appreciate this help!

Trip to Ban Thud Dtai and Black Lahu village

Thud Dtai is in the Chiang Rai province and far of the beaten track. It used to be (not even long ago) the playground of the famous opium trade of the Golden Triangle. The drugs trade is still very much alive and moved on to 'yabba' - a chemical drugs with many local victims as well.
The area is a mix of 'poor' people, lots of Chinese and tribal, and many very rich family with connections to the trade. The landscape is rough and mostly untouched what makes it perfect for the trade.

The bright colored clothes of this girl are in strong contrast with mud in this Black Lahu village.

Father Claudio from our town Fang has a Catholic mission and a centre in Thud Dtai. There is no active converting and the main activity is the care of over 300 children who are boarding at the mission. They all are either orphans or from families with no means to look after the children, let alone being able to send them to school. They are very lucky to have a home, daily meals and a school to go to. In the holidays they all go back to their families. Most of this children are Akkha or Lahu.

IDP camp Burma - Novice for Children

With the successful project Novice for Children we went on another trip to hand out goods to people who are in need. This time we went to an IDP camp which stands for Internal Displaces People. If you flee from Burma into, for example Thailand, than you are a refugee. When you get chased out of your house and the area you live and when you than are in hiding within your own country, you are an internal displaced person. Sometimes these people are way worse of than refugees because they are often continuously on the run without any belonging and not more food than the forest has to offer.

Within Burma there are many 'camp' (basically hiding places in the forest with hopefully some huts and plastic) and also there are quite a few IDP camps along the Thai-Burma border. These border camps are mostly part of a army base. This is for them a safer place to live than in a camp more inlands in Burma because they are now protected by the army against the Burmese.

One of those camps we visited a few times and this time we came back armed with the Novices and a truck full of supplies. It was an amazing few days!!!

We had quite some Westerns with us; my parents Fokke and Corry; volunteers James and Jamie from England; Renee, Rosalie and Tette from Holland; Kate from New Zealand and of course Ben and me. We slept in tents from the temple .

When we arrived we were welcomed in the office/ house of the major of the camp for a lunch. Of course we brought our own food! Some ladies did the cooking for us for all our meals and managed to deliver great meals every time.

A groups photo with all the 'falangs' (Westerns) and the novices before we handed out all our goodies on the second day.

We collected money from all the falangs who wanted to join to make the most of the trip by be being able to buy really useful food. We had bought boxes of instant noodles, kilo's and kilo's of cabbages, chillies, soy bean and different school materials for the kids.

Underneath you see the school building. The teachers salary is sponsored by SWAN but the school doesn't get too much used. We were told that the kids from the camp never had any education in their life's so you can only imagine how it must be like for a kid of 10 years old to sit in school banks for the first time. Also some kids no longer have parents to teach them the value of education. I wish I could do something to help the school and these kids!

A happy lady with a new born baby with just received goodies.

The novices handed each one type of food to the people. All people were perfectly in rows.

An old Palong lady with her food.

This boy is soo cute! He was intrigued by the cabbage and wanted to carry it.

Hygiene is a severe issue for the people.

Who can help this kid with a wash and some new clothes?

After the food handouts the kids were collected to join in games and after they would receive schools materials and some snacks. They were orderly put in rows with the youngest at front.

Click on the photo to see these beautiful faces better.








All the farang helped out with the games so for each age group there was something fun! Wow they had such a wonderful time!!!

Renee and Kate teamed up with 'bag hopping' (zaklopen) in all varieties. Tette and Rosalie did a game with soccer with water bottles and James and Jamie had several games for the youngest kiddies. I had the group with the teenage girls to practise some English with games.

The Major and his little girl with my Mum.

After the games all the kids (and parents :) joined the painting activity. The novices had made plaster animal sculptures for everyone and also this activity was a hit!

Even the grandparents wanted to paint a little animal and young and old were happily painting.

The boys were just as into it as the girls. Even older boys who are as tough as anything for their age were painting with their tongue out of their mouth. The activity took a long time because they took it very serious to make it as beautiful as possible. No spot stayed white!

Even some soldiers came to paint! This was rather amazing to see!

On the way home we had some car problems... Because the road was soo steep for too long the breaks overheated or something and stopped working!!! So Charin very simply and quietly said 'I think it's better to go out now'. No one really got it but I started to shout to James, Jamie and Rosalie to jump out, NOW!! Of course the care was driving although not with a too high speed. We all managed to get out without being too hurt. Than it was time to get the car to a halt with Charin still in it! The novices were in the back of the truck and were all bare foot but hang nevertheless on the back bar to slow down the car. Oh what a pain they later had! Charin drove the car for a long time through the bushes to break the speed but it took a while. Luckily they managed!!! It sure was an adventure what could have ended very different....

All in all another amazing experience....

Novices for Children to Wiang Heang

After many weeks of preparation we went off to Wiang Heang district to deliver all kind of goods collected by the novices. Normally the novices don't do much work like this in the Thai Buddhism but it didn't take much to get them to see the beauty of using their position within the village. They asked to villagers to donate different food and second hands clothes as making merit, something they don't hesitate to do. So we had carloads of goodies to be handed out to the poor who needed something extra.

On the trip came as well Rosalie en Blake (guest from Monk for a Month who later volunteered), also came James and Jamie who are teaching in Moung Choum for several months. A good bunch all together!

The trip was also a fun school trip so we had 3 full days to fill with a mix of fun and handing out the things at 3 different locations. We visited some family of some of the boys which was great. So poor but they received us with the most hospitality you can imagine.
Under you see a photo near a waterfall where the novices went swimming. What a fun they had together!! Time to be boys and not serious novices all the time.

In the mornings the novices went on alms rounds and the villagers had a good time making serious merit with all these novices and some monks from the city!

See under a photo of a monk from Fang who traveled among quite a few monks who also came. It sure was a circus parade... farang and monks all packed in cars and trucks... Note the banner with Monk for a Month!

Ben came the last night to join all the activities. We ate breakfast and lunch after the novices and monks finnished. They collected full bike trailers full every day, so much...

Here we finally went to our second destination of handing out goodies. This 'camp' needs it a lot and the people were lining up all exited. Kids came first.

Every kids got one pencil and one colored pencil (among other things) but it shows that you make this kids happy as with such little things.

The parents got different things and the village leader knew who needed more than others. Nice that everyone got what they needed. Next time I wish to have more usefull products but that of course needs funding. Well next year...

The novices were handing out the things and were very happy!

We visited some more sights on the way. This is the monument of the very famous Shan freedom fighter.

Here the novices handed out the last few things to a monastery with mainly novice orphans. Actually our friend used to teach here so we knew very well the need of these boys.

We were received in the houses with meals.

One evening we organised English games and activities for the local students. It was great fun but hard work! Something like 80 kids came and everyone of the westerns helped with having a group and doing the games.

The novices did great work and even monks were right into it! In the end we made many groups photo's.

Last shot of a boy, very dirty but very very content with his fruit juice.

How lucky we are to be meeting all these amazing people all the time! What a world....

Burma ... 70.000 child soldiers

Burma...

over 70.000 child soldiers

the highest number anywhere in the world

Did you know?

Foto by Thierry Falise

The Real Christmas

To get in the real Christmas mood I wanted to hand out blanket to kids in two villages. A lot of kids have bronchitis and a never-ending cold. Not strange because it's freezing at night time! To keep warm, a blanket is a good thing to get. With Adam and Amy we handed the blankets out to 80 kids. It was fun because for me, this is what makes me happy what no big feast can do. Great to know we made a few people a bit warmer at night. Who knows next year we can pull of something bigger if we would get some donations.

Trip to Doi Angkhan

A few Saturdays ago I went on a trip to Doi Angkhan with 6 novices from the temple school and the teacher Khun Charrin. It was a great day!
The boys in front of the board of their village Ban Noi Lae. All these boys are from the Palong hilltribe and wanted me to see their homes and meet their families.

Joy in front of a traditional Palong house. All the tribes have their own style of building their huts.

Palong girls in their colorful clothes. I love that they keep their traditions alive while they at the same time change some ways like allowing education for the girls.

The village is half build in Thailand and in Burma. The borders are fluid here.

We made many groups photo's...

One of the boy's father has a few donkeys for bringing back vegetables and other things they grow in Burma. The fields are close to their home but because the steep mountains the donkeys are very useful.

The Palong villagers were gathering at the temple where the children were playing with boxes.

The temple with a lot of Shan influences because the Palong came from Shan State.

Joy and his brother in their house. Very very simple but with a new tv.

Joy's house is shared with 7 people. The parents have a separate area because they deserve the most respect. Married brothers and other siblings share the main living area for sleeping.






Joy's brother and a neighbour in from of the house.

We met a sister of a students who didn't came on the trip. She has a photo on the blog because her eyes are of amber color and very different. This shows that the origins of the Palong tribe is not from around here but from higher mountains like Tibet.





Man working with bamboo.

Most friendly grandfather taking care of grandson while parents are at work in the fields. The boy lifted his arms up to be picked up by me. Normally the kids are so shy so it was very nice.

All the kids' lungs are rattling and have bugger over their faces. Winter is cold here, very cold.
















The white patches are Bumese army camps. They are everywhere. Even though there is not a lot of fighting at the moment, the soldiers do come to the villages to demand food or money. The are desperate too because no-one is feeding them. Water needs to be fetched from way down the mountain. They may be the 'baddies' but they are also just surviving...



This was quite far into Burma. Beautiful mountains...

Part of the Royal Project is that the families are having one or two rose houses so they can sell roses. Seems great but the story is a bit different. The Lahu people in a village further down the mountain refuse to be part of it because the pay is really bad and there is so much corruption from the 'middle man'. The Palong have not the position to deny the 'work' because they have no papers what means no voice.





The roses we cut were for the Christmas dinner at Malfrids!







The Lahu village nearby.









We climbed the last bit of the mountain and we could see Moung Choum way below!

Kids playing in the late afternoon sun. Lahu houses are build on longer stilts and look different again.

The Lahu chief was in a jolly mood. A very old and respected man.

A father of one of the boys who brought some pumpkins as a present for me. They were delicious!

Donkeys just coming back up the mountain fully loaded with fresh vegetables and some specials roots who are profitable when sold in markets in Thailand.

Palong grandma looking after children.

Crazy December

See here the 'Kerst stal' / nativity display (?) which we gave Malfrid for Christmas. Sarrayut made it from bamboo and de figures AJ and I bought in Holland. The roof is made in Red Lahu style and is really special.




Meet our new volunteers from Sydney; Adam and Amy. They are here for a month and already done a lot of work. Amy is working with the xo laptop kids to help them use the machine and is teaching them English as well. The kids are really exited and would like to have Amy the entire day. She is a delight to see at work!
Adam is working with Aaike and Ben on the website and all sort of other technical things. Even a server for the xo's is being created at the school. They are a great addition to the team!

On the left you see Blake from the US who is Monk for a Month! He has taken the 8 precept and on Monday he will ordain as a novice. Blake is the real deal and fits in so well with the temple life that you would think he always was there.
Hannah who stayed in the temple for a week came back to visit all us again before returning back to the UK.

Charrin and the boys from the temple school had a festival day with other temple schools and had to prepare a stall with all photo's and activities. It looked al great.

Elsbeth and Miel left us but might be back for a Christmas celebration this week. They are now of to a nice resort. I hope they have fun!

Hannah on her final departure. She helped me with a document and really want to help when back in England. It's great to have so many enthusiastic people!

Monk for a Month

We had a nice dinner at the fry fry with our volunteers Miel and Elsbeth and our Monk for a Month Hannah.

Hannah was our first female guest and was a great girl. She was the ideal rol model and she managed to do so much else in just a week besides meditation and studying. Good fun!

Hannah was learning the Pali scripture for her eight precepts with the boys. The were helpfull and loved to help her.

Not easy to pronounce the words let alone being able to repeat them after the abbot without a book! Most impressive...

The ordination for the 8 precepts is not in the temple like the one for being a novice like the men. Hannah did great and Dr. Apisit was very impressed in het sincerity to learn and understand.

Besides chatting with all the boys at the temple and teaching English in the school for 2 afternoons, Hannah also helped with laying stones on the square at the temple grounds. A real trooper.

Dr. Apisit. He is an amazing man and everyone we take to meet him sais the same.

My week:

Meet our new volunteer Miel and Elsbeth. They are from the Netherlands and will be with us for 3 months. Elsbeth will teach in two school and Miel will help with other stuff like organisational things. We hope they will have a good time in Thailand!



And another parade...

I have spend this week with preparing new rooms for Monk for a Month and last Saturday I brought with me the ladies to clean. As always they were like a hurricane... From ceilings till tiles till fly screens, all was taken care of. I brought presents for them from Holland so that was a nice surprise.

There are now 3 rooms with in each 2 just made beds. Simple but comfortable.

The truck was many times full with stuff! From a big storage cupboard to racks to bedding as you see here. Now we hope for new guests!

Not my photo but this was the view last night! The moon was standing together with Venus and Jupiter like a smile! When I spoke to people today to ask if they were happy today they all were and more than normal because the universe had smiled at them! Great stuff, let's hope it will happen more often because it does the world good.

Trip to the border with Sjoerdtje and Abe

Sjoerdtje and Abe were in Fang for a few days and we had a wonderful time together. Sjoerdtje and my auntie Tjits came together to the wedding last January so it was nice that she could show Abe beautiful Fang.

We took a trip to the border with Burma along a windy mountain road. So pretty... I still love it like I just have seen it for the first time...

Here you see (and above) the Burmese army in one of their many camps.

Palong lady in Doi Angkan.

We had lunch in a village high in the mountains. A boy was playing with a tire and when we took a photo he hold up his hand for money. Got to be opportunistic in life sometimes no?

The Thai army seems to be well prepared for a coming enemy!

The road was small and really bad, basically it was washed away. Stunning view far into Burma with only trees and more trees.

Sjoerdtje in the back of the truck!

Well armed soldiers. I was so busy making photo's that I just avoided being scooped out of the truck by the post pole. Well it made everyone laugh including the soldiers.

Villagers (Palong) in Doi Angkan.

Loy Khratong movie

Back in Fang

It was good to be back in Fang and see my dear friend Malfrid again. She arranged a picknick in the hot springs. It was the perfect weather and we had company of a dog what always makes the day as well.

Holland 1

Wow, it's been such an amazing trip... I was so very happy to be home again and to see all my loved ones! I look back with great memories and know that everyone is doing fine.
I ate way too much because that's also a pretty important part! Lot's of boerenkool, marsepijn, danerol croissants, stoof peertjes and so much more.
Amsterdam is still the same but fashion is so apparent that it kind of does look different. Hard to explain. Ben and I stayed at my sister and Joost's house while in Amsterdam and we had a most special time with them! My sister is now nearly finished with her masters criminology after months of delivering a massive thesis. She is now ready to work what will be a big change in her life. Well done moppie!!!! You've done it all by yourself, be proud of it!!!!!!

My sweetheart grandma was doing very well and it was just the best thing to see her again. She loved to view the pictures I brought her in a book so she can see what we all do in Thailand. I already miss her a lot...

My lovely sweet dog Jordy was a centre of the trip. I miss him a lot because I can't ever explain to him why I am not there to take care of him and share cuddles. Well it's good to know that he does seem to still like me. (I have to admit that I worked hard on that one by bringing dog cookies over from Fang ;) He actually was really sad when I left with all suitcases and I bet you that he knew...

Nice to be having breakie in the kitchen in Boksum with my mummy and siblings. My mum must have been overworked after my departure because she was just cooking and making everything cosy! I already see her and my dad in February in Fang so that is good to know. Not too many tears (more) about not seeing them for so long.

My dad and I went out together to do some shopping and looking around. Always fun because we like to look at the same shops. Before we met up with mum and Rikkie we already tried out the beer.

My parents were of course very happy to have all kids home at once and we had the best time all together. Thank you all for the best time!!! It was truly amazing and I look back with the best memories! Thank you for everything!

Holland 2

I had not enough time but I was so happy to visit friends even though only for once. Paula with her son Hugo! It was so fantastic to meet the little man! He is doing very well and I got a smile... Paula is a great mum and it's beautiful to see her so very happy. It's too sad that I am so far away from them.

I went to Klaziena and Romke and saw their fantastic home which they build by their own! It's a farm style house and all the months of work are visual in every bit of the house. It was good fun catching up!

With my sister and my parents we had a great day out in Groningen where we met dear Frank in the pub, oh well where else would you find him ;) He is nearly done with his masters and I'm very proud of him.

We had a wonderful party in Boksum with all the family and friends from the wedding and those who weren't there. It was soo much fun that I didn't make photos at all! This here is a photo from ladies who bought a scarf from the FLOW project! I will have to show the ladies in the camp this photo so they can see where their product have gone to.

On my last day we met Robbert and Margreet in the Ierse Pub to say goodbye. Never fun but that's what happens in life if you choose to move so far away. AJ was the whole week in Boksum so I got to spend a lot of time again. He is studying hard in Gent so we won't have him over here for quite a while i'm afraid. AJ, Fang is missing you already!!!

refugees keep coming from Burma

Source: TBBC - Thailand Burma Border Consortium newsletter August/ September 2008

New arrivals continue to enter Thailand – some forced to return

On July 17th, a group of 75 new arrivals including students from Mae La Oon and Mae Ra Ma Luang camps were sent back to Burma by Thai authorities.
Currently, there is no system in place to determine refugee status in Thailand.

The father of one of the families that was sent back explained why they had to leave their home in Karen state to seek shelter in Mae Ra Ma Luang camp.

“Our village was surrounded by different armed forces and there were often skirmishes near the village. The armed groups often harassed the villagers: they had to work for the soldiers and if the villagers couldn’t work they had to pay money. Beatings of villagers were common as well as destruction and theft of food.
In December 2007 during one skirmish between armed groups bullets were fired in to the village and one child was shot and killed. A girl aged about 12-13 years was raped the same year”.
The violent situation became unsustainable for the family; both Burmese and Karen armed forces recruited soldiers and the family was asked for their oldest son. The father had to pay them for not taking the son.

The family says that they understand the Thai Authorities position in not wanting more people to come into Thailand. “But right now, it is very difficult to go back” the man says.
The family was put on a boat on the Salween River back to Burma on July 17th.
No further forced deportations have been reported since July.

Links to keep informed

Keep informed and get inspired with these great sites:

Irrawaddy Magazine - News Burma and South east Asia

TBBC Thailand Burma Border Consortiom - Aid to refugees camps

Human Rights Watch - Report Burma 2008

Partners ! NGO provides assistence in Burma

Free Burma Rangers ! NGO provides emergency assistance in Burma

Shanland News agency about Shan State

Moringa Tree

My new occupation will be growing Moringa Trees! These trees are amazing rich of nutrition and most parts can be either used for healthy food or medicine.
Tum and Aree have given us permission to use their vacant land and we will start with 50 trees.The trees are growing extremely fast and in six months we will harvest for the first time.
The main idea is to dry the leaves and than give it to the kids in schools who suffer chronic malnutrition and also I want to bring it to Burma where it is most needed.
The Dutchies can check out the nutrition values below:
First picture is about the nutrition values in fresh leaves and the next about dried leaves:

Mothers Day I

A few weeks ago it was Mothersday and the temple school had a special day in the main temple. Mothers came from far to school to receive the wishes of their son when they would pay respect to them. But many boys are orphan and so I had to play mother that day. It was a lovely day and Som happen to be in town as well which made it an even more special morning.
















Many Palong women came from far. Joy's mother even spoke in front of the big group.




After the ceremonial part we shared lunch together.

Mothers Day II

Land for Moringa Tree

Today six Lahu came to work on the land to prepare the ground so we can plant Moringa trees. One day work it was going to be but it quickly became likely five!



















Phi Tum and his dad own the land and let us use it for free. They are happy to help us with the project.
blood foundation thailand

Birthday in temple

The boys from the temple school organised a special lunch for my birthday! It was so nice of them and I even got nice presents!

What an amazing birthday cake this was eh? All those roses of cream...









The boys had a meeting to discuss how to arrange the lunch. There was special food and even cola with ice. When they went shopping for that in the morning before school started, they left the boy with the ice at the shops and than he had to walk a long way with a massive sack of ice in his arms! He was shivering when he got to school, we all had to laugh a lot.

Birthday!

This year I became 28 on the 28th of the 8 month of the year 2008!

My brother AJ was still with us (was giong to stay for only 2 weeks but we were happy he stayed longer!) and Wilbert and Malfrid from Fang and Brennan also stayed longer in Fang. Fang seems to so that to people.... ;)






And a real birthday cake! mmm with ice cream and homemade blackberry sause..





























This Toekejh was inside the house. At first I was happy because in Thailand they say it brings luck but than I really wanted him to go outside so he can eat bigger insects and not die. Wasn't easy to catch him but he is slower than the small lizards. The ladies who came that day mannaged to catch him quickly.

Doilang

Thai-Burma Relations:

Shan Herald Agency forNews

Regional Border Committee (RBC) #25 fails to settle the Doilang border dispute. The Committee decides to forward the issue to their respective governments.

The two sides deploy their troops in 32-square km area at 20 outposts, some of which are just a few meters apart. (Bangkok Post)

Maj-Gen Kyaw Phyoe, who was appointed to his new post in June, succeeding the outgoing Min Aung Hlaing, added, “Just as they (Thailand) have unilaterally taken possession of the Cambodian territory, they are doing the same at Loilang (the 32 square kilometer disputed area between Burma’s Monghsat and Thailand’s Mae Ai).
The time will come when we’ll have to deal with the issue properly.”

The Burmese side, which included Kyaw Phyoe, had demanded “full rights” over the disputed territory.

Update from Fang

Time just slipped away this last few weeks! Time for a quick update from Fang!

AJ is still with us and I am so happy with that extra pair of hands... He has been to Moung Choum with me all days to set up the English learning so I could focus on the renewed XO laptop project (same school). The English learning is received very positive in the school by both teachers and students. The main struggle are the computers which are not being looked after because no one knows how to. It's quite funny to see a 9 year old having a good time on the computer and managing to get into the codes of the pc and mess up everything. He would be a perfect candidate for the sugar environment from the XO! Actually he was one of the group students who got a xo but I had to change the project around because it wasn't working....

So what happened was that the poor kids had to hand in the xo's again and now are doing the English learning. The new group who got the xo's are one grade this because they can use the laptop during their existing classes and use it complementary. The first group used it besides the normal classes and was a group made up from students from different grades. So now M. 2 has started and they are a bit older and it seem to go really well! The xo might have been designed for younger kids but in reality it really are the bit older kids (13,14) who are just fantastic in exploring. I have been amazed how quickly they figure out things and seem to know what they are doing,,, boys and girls.

We are now in Chiang Rai and just bought the class some speakers (the sounds of the xo is poor) so when they make music they can actually hear it. Also I got some memory sticks so they can print out their documents (no printer can easily be plugged in). Further got them all a folder in which they will keep track on their activities, challenges and learned things. Than there is also a folder in the classroom in which they will note how to do things like putting a document on the memory stick or access the mesh network. This will be placed online once the time is there, first things first...

This is the sister of Mongkon from the temple school. I knew it as soon as I saw her eyes (can't see them much on the photo though) because they are light brown.Some Palong people have light eyes, very beautifull.















And here the solar cooker I have been trying to make for a long long time... Well it was ready for a while but the sun was gone since it is the heaviest part of the rainy season. But this Friday I somehow knew it was going to be The Day and I took a day of school and yes the sun came out!!! We haven't seen the sun for weeks so it was really special. Have a look at the report: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=ddjq539f_16hqgvh9fj&hl=en
(I hope I can manage to link the Google Document, otherwise please check again in a few days)

AJ and Ben in Chiang Dao Nest. The best restaurant in the area... nice Farang food!


At the temple school all is well. I will soon post some photo's from Mothersday. It's a big thing here but that soon....
I have been with the teacher Charrin twice to a funeral this last few weeks. First from the father of one of the students. He died of AIDS and his mother will follow most likely soon as well. Anan, the boy is luckily already used to a life as a monk so he has food, a place to sleep and education.
The other funeral was from a relative from Charrin who was murdered. A weird story about that Charrin saw the strangle marks on her neck but the headman of the village denies it and went to get to police alone and forbid Charrin the initial contact with the police. He now believes he paid them money to keep them quiet about the real dead cause. While we were there I was very uncomfortable because the coffin was right next to me in the small wooden house and I really smelled a off smell. But everyone else seem to not be disturbed and enjoyed the lunch right next to the coffin on the floor where the body had laid. When the headman came Charrin became a discussion about the cause of dead and I just wanted to get out of there!
BUT please Amy,,,, this is not something normal here!!!! I just told you that it's perfectly safe,,,, as a farang you are fine!!!!! I hope I don't scare you now....

Further we had Brennan O'Connor here with us as well for the last week. (the photographer who came to shoot for Free Schools project and than as a friend for our wedding) He just came for a few days but (he could have known ;) he was straight put to work. He made photo's from the XO project, English learning and very important from the temple for Monk for a Month. I brought him and AJ to the Shan settlement camp to make photo's for the multi media I want to make for the FLOW (weaving) project. Our friend Noom wasn't there but came all the way from Chiang Mai to help them set up and get someone to look after them. So sweet!

Noom and I drove down the mountain in the afternoon and we kept chatting the whole way. He is amazing with his 21 years how he sees the need for the poor kids in his temple (most orphans from Burma). For Motherday he arranged a gathering to share memories from the boys about their late mums. He want them to know that even though they are no longer in their lifes they still need to be grateful for them. He sais full of passion how important it is for the boys lifes to believe in the love of their mother and that they need to become good boys and men the way their mother would have wanted it. He tells me that the boys are often asking him why he cares so much about them and why he doesn't get a real job in town (since he CAN leave) and he just tells them that all he want is that the boys learn to love themselves and each other so they will be loved and cared for by others. If they don't believe in themselves they wouldn't be loved or believed in by others. All this from a young Shan man from 21 years old who choosen to struggle to get an education and learn English so he can help others...

And than people wonder how it would make a difference to help a few people while too many are in need and can't be helped in the world. Well, I can assure you that the help (maybe in the form of an education opportunity) given to maybe 100 people and if only one person can have the strength, determination, knowledege and love to make his life of service of his own people it has been worth it! That one person who got help from an NGO or a church group and managed to get education can do so much by showing their people that they should have hope and believe in themselves. Noom is the living example of that. I wish that more people would believe in the seemingly small things we can do on this earth in order to equip young people to help them selves.
Like the story from the boy who found on the beach all stranded starfish and tried to put them back in the see, one by one. Then someone was asking him why he would bother because there were way too many for him to help. He answered with surprise and said well, it sure makes a difference to this one, and that one doesn't it? Isn't that worthwhile enough?!

Take care!
Jildou

Ps: Please leave a message!!!!

Bangkok

AJ arrived Thursday in Bangkok as well so we had a nice catch up. Then Ben met up with AJ again in Chiang Mai (I was back in Fang earlier to do the projects). Now AJ is with us in Fang. Unfortunately he is sick...




The night train back to Chiang Mai. Going cheap is not always the way to get a good night sleep... Wow what could than man right under me snore!!!!

OLPC conference Bangkok

Last week I attended the Asia OLPC workshop and conference. It was most interesting to meet the people from OLPC who made the XO laptop and now are trying to get countries around the world to buy it. There were many countries attending the conference who were either already using the laptops are were about to make the decision to buy them. Bangladesh, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, China etc. Many U.N. and U.N.D.P advisers were there as well as people from the educational department of governments. On the photo above you see David Cavello and a representative of the Mongolian government.

The needs were divers and I really wanted practical ideas about how to use the XO in class!!! There where some teachers but than part of a bigger network and me a hands on teacher with only 25 laptops was a bit funny...

On Thursday there was a talk from Nicolas Negroponte the founder of OLPC and MIT Medialab. Great!

Video novices in temple

This week we went with Charrin to several temples. 15 boys from the school came along and made merrit at the temples. They are having a free week because it's the week leading up to Buddhist Lend. The monk from the temple in the video was teaching the boys for a while, he was very fun and the boys enjoyed it a lot.

Ceremony Wat Sribunluang

Update on Darumon:
We went to the hospital and her blindness is treatable! It is a serious chronicle lack of vitamins. Not something from eating unhealthy for a year but since she was not even born. She has to take some eye drops and vitamin pills for one month and than we go with her to another hospital for an operation. It is going to be an issue for her to get enough vegetables every day because the parents are very poor and a bit simple.
I asked Aer why children like Darumon and Darrin are not having enough food and most families are doing ok. She explained that Darrin of course has only an older lady Nappa to take care of her and she is simply too old to work enough. The parents of Darumon don't speak Thai like many other parents what makes it really hard to find work. They already only get work if a farmer in the area need them and then he picks out the people he wants. So is you can't speak Thai you can't put yourself forward and make a good impression. They eat dry rice with some dried chillies every day, if there is rice. Vegetables they hardly ever eat because if there is some money the mother will buy some meat. This is a problem for her health because she can't have her operation if she doesn't get healthier.
It's no solution to support those families myself with either money or food. I will plan a meeting with the school to discuss a possibility to let the really poor kids grow some vegetables to bring back home. It's better I think to let the kids have that responsibility. Because it's on the school ground the teacher can help a bit and they have time enough during the day to attend. I don't see a future in a small project in the village because the parents are not that adequate that they think of themselves to find a solution for feeding their kids. It's good for the kids to learn to be responsible for themselves because really no one else will be.
For now I will bring some vegetables to Darumons family but I keep you up dated about the new idea.

Friday we went to the temple Wat Sibunluang because there was a special ceremony to give merit to the parents from the abbot Dr. Apisit and to his mentor/ previous abbot. The monks, novices and people from the area came to give merit in the temple. Afterwards there was a lot of food, drinks and ice cream.


On the picture above you can see all (bamboo) sticks leaning against an old tree. This is what people do to make sure they have a long and healthy life. Some were big long sticks because than you have more chance! Also people bring a sort of bamboo ladder to the tree for a good life and a good passing to the afterlife.

The place is also the spot to bring broken Buddha statues. To keep them in the house is bad luck.

Further you find there smaller bamboo sticks in a bundle. If people are sick you bundle as many sticks as how old the person is and than place it under the tree to get better.


We had to pose because it was a special day...

















Students sheets to keep track of their progress on the computer.


I just ordered the follow up cd-rom so once some students are finished with the current level they can learn more.



Thursday we drove to Chiang Rai to apply for our visa (again...) but the letter from a certain ministry hadn't arrived yet so we could drive back to Fang. Because we had the ceremony we couldn't stay in Chiang Rai so Friday we drove back to C.R. again! Just on time the letter came by fax and we drove with full speed to Mae Sai where the immigration is. We were told that (if we were lucky) that we would get a visa for a year. If you would see the piles in paperwork; copies of everything and more, both the same copies for me and Ben and then everything in two-fold for some weird reason,,,, you would think we are applying for residency!

The officer scared us big time when he said we only got 2 months... We couldn't mannage to keep smiling as you supposed to do in Thailand and started waving that letter we just got from Bangkok in front of him. Finally we heard that we first get 2 more months so all together that will be 3 since we just had one. Than we have to come back with the new piles of paperwork to get the remaining months of the year! WOW it's a miracle,,,,,,, And the 3 months we got in Vientiane don't even count so we have permission to stay another 11 months!!!!!

English Learning

This is Darumon from Nong Tao, she is 9 years old. As you can see she has a problem with her eye. Unfortuanatly the doctor sais it isn't cataract because the white cloude is not only in the black part of the eye.
When we went to Fang hospital (with Aer and Pui) we heared that there was a waiting time of 3 hours! There was only one doctor and at least 60 patients waiting. I had a solution, I told Aer and Pui to wait and I went with Darumon to the ER room on the other side. There were 5 or 6 doctors doing nothing so I just walked in with the girl on the hand and asked them what they thought was wrong with the eye. There was a nurse all confused but I just put the girl in front of the doctor without giving them a choice. They told us to go to Chiang Mai what we already expected. But were really nice. We need an eye specialist.
Aer and Pui were laughing and I said that being a falang can have it's positive aspects as well! After being stuffed around with the immigration and so on, this is ok.
Tomorrow we go with Aer and the girl to Chiang Mai. Jilly has put us on a list in her hospital to see an eye specialist who will be there only one morning a week. So we will see. Always good to have good old Jilly there! Most helpfull.

Mondays and Tuesdays are set aside for English learning on the computer. Unfortunately 3 more pc's broke down...

















The boys are having lunch. They showed me a nice dish with raw meat... jak,, is most been in the sun in their food container for quite some hours....
I was happy to eat my own lunch.











Ok, got to run,,, of to Moung Choum (pui's school) for the XO project. Then to Nong Tao to bring Nappa some food and supplies, poor lady had 3 operations for kidney stones and struggles to work enough to get by.
Have a good day!

Video English Learing in temple school

The young novices are taking their English lessons really serious... This is not set up!

The younger boys are not shy at all so they are taking "please speak up" this serious...

First days for the XO laptop

The first days of the XO laptop project have gone pretty good! The kids are getting quickly familiar with the XO laptop and seem to explore all the possibilities. We take it easy and give the students time to learn. The young ones hardly have experience with computers so for them it takes a bit longer. The older students are quite quick and managed to start teaching me how to put a photo in a writing document. The young kids are just exited about everything... I can show one students how to brighten up the screen and than he would just glow from excitement and show all his friends. Very funny!

Making photo's is a hit but first we continue with exploring the writing programme. XO has Linux system and does not have Windows because it takes too much space. The XO has only one gig in total and only 700 MB free space. Not a lot but I downloaded so many activities and it's still 300 MB free. I find the Writing programme not easy in use. Letters just change position in tables and I got pretty frustrated.













For the kids the mouse pad is hard to use. It's small and very sensitive. When you touch the sides of the screen with the arrow more options show up long the edges. Pretty annoying.
I had a 6 year old spending some hours with me yesterday and I gave her the laptop. She has little fingers but struggled so much with the mouse pad. It does takes time to get used to it. I showed her different things and she loved the drawings and a letter game where the letter fall out of the sky and you have to type them before they touch the ground. A really good way to get familiar with the alphabet!

Refugees in Thailand

TREATMENT OF REFUGEES_Thailand ranked as one of worst places, Bangkok Post

Friday, June 20th, 2008

Thailand ranks as one of the world’s worst places for refugees due to its poor treatment of Burmese and Hmong asylum seekers and of the long-necked Padaung tribe, according to a survey released on World Refugee Day yesterday. Other countries listed among the worst places for refugees are Bangladesh, China, several European Union (EU) countries, India, Iraq, Kenya, Malaysia, Russia, and Sudan, according to a 18-page report conducted by the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI).

The ranking is based on a country’s treatment of refugees such as giving them the right to earn a livelihood, physical protection, access to the courts, and freedom of movement and residence in the country surveyed.

USCRI country director Dares Chusri said Thailand’s ranking fell from the previous survey, particularly in terms of refugee freedom and residence, due to the forced deportation of Burmese and Hmong asylum seekers and the Padaung tribe, who fled their homes in Burma to escape armed hostilities between government troops and ethnic rebels more than 15 years ago.
Thai authorities moved the long-necked Karen people from their present village in Mae Hong Son’s Muang district to a new holding centre in the same district last year.

Around 7,500 ethnic Hmong living at Ban Huay Nam Khao camp in Phetchabun province have been forced to relocate to a barbed-wire camp by the authorities, who have also started to repatriate many of them back to Laos.

The USCRI surveyed a total of 60 countries which together account for 90% of the refugees in the world.

Unlike the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), which has recognised an improvement in Thailand’s refugee policy, the USCRI viewed that refugee rights were still not well-protected here.
Last year, up to 22,000 refugees, mostly Karen, left Thailand to resettle in third countries.

The UNHCR has also recognised Thailand’s efforts to treat the refugees better with the issuance of identity cards and the inclusion of refugees in the national HIV/Aids prevention and treatment programme.

The UNHCR, however, shared NGO concerns that no major progress has been made in development of self-reliance, and access to the labour market and opportunities for higher education, which are still limited.

There are around 145,700 refugees camped along the Thai-Burmese border and some 50,000 outside the camps plus many hundred thousands of asylum seekers in the country.

ACHARA ASHAYAGACHAT

Posted in Other Migration Issues in Mekong

Shan people raided in Fang

Shan migrant workers in Fang raided

Newly settled houses of Shan migrant workers in Chiangmai's Fang district were raided by the Thai authorities yesterday morning and 19 people have been detained at the Fang police station until now.

http://www.shanland.org/
18 June 2008
By Hseng Khio Fah

Officials from Royal Forest Department, Immigration Police, Border Patrol Police and local Thai troops raided the community which is settled in a lychee plantation, near Wiangwai village, Mornpin village tract, and arrested both those holding red-edged green ID cards issued to alien highlanders and those without any ID.

Around 50 people were taken to the monastery of Mornpin for interrogation. The authorities asked, “Where did you get permission to seek asylum? Why did you come here? What are you doing here?

Those holding labour registration documents were released and the rest were taken to the Fang police station.

Until now, there has been no information from the authorities whether those 19 people will be released or not.According to a villager, the authorities are still raiding nearby Banlan village today. The reason for the raid was not disclosed, although according to some official sources, the land in which the Shans had settled was owned by a local drug trafficker who was recently arrested.

It was the second time of this year that the Thai authorities raided Shan migrant workers. The first time was on 3 April when a community of foreign highlanders in Sor Por Kor 4-01 land at Moo 18, Inthakhin Subdistrict, Mae Tang District, Chiang Mai was raided and 60 people were arrested.

Hmong refugees fear forced return to Laos

MSF has been trying to get the world to react on the forced return of Hmong refugees to Laos. In Laos the Hmong are facing persecution ever since they sided the USA against their Vietnam war against the communist. (Cambodja, Lao and Vietnam) Since 1973 the Lao communistic government is ruling and the Hmong are not safe.
Please read the Briefing Paper (see link) for background information.

Medicins Sans Frontieres MSF
Field News
March 17, 2008 Thailand: Small Group of Hmong Refugees Returned to Laos, Heightening Concerns

Press Release
MSF Calls on Thailand to Halt Forcible Return of Hmong Refugees to Laos

Briefing Paper
The Situation of the Lao Hmong Refugees in Petchabun, Thailand

Slideshow
Fearing a Forced Return: Lao Hmong Refugees in Northern Thailand

“I never said I wanted to go back to Laos—no one has told me why I’m on this voluntary list. I don’t want to go back to Laos—I’m afraid of what will happen to me if I go back there.”
-Young man, 27, registered on the list of voluntary returnees

“I don’t know why I’m on this list, but I do not want to go back to Laos. If I return to Laos they’re going to kill me.”
-Man, 50 years old, head of a family of 9

On Wednesday, February 27, 2008, four ethnic Hmong families from the Huai Nam Khao refugee camp in Thailand were sent back to Laos. This confirmed fears expressed by Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in October 2007 with respect to the Thai government’s plans to forcibly repatriate 8,000 Hmong before the end of 2008. The refugees are currently confined to this camp in northern Thailand’s Petchabun province and claim to have fled violence and persecution in Laos.

According to Thai authorities, the four families of Hmong refugees sent back to Laos in February from the Huai Nam Khao camp were registered on a list of voluntary returnees. But statements from witnesses in the camp do not corroborate this account. On that day, Thai soldiers examined their registration cards and screened them. They then separated 12 people from the group and had them board military vehicles. According to these witnesses, several people were clearly being forced to board the vehicles.

“A mother of 5 children ages 2 to 15 was compelled to board military vehicles, even though her children were still in the camp,” said Gilles Isard, MSF head of mission in Thailand. “It’s hard to believe this woman was voluntarily returning to Laos without her children,”

MSF was able to interview four families registered on this so-called voluntary list of returnees. Their statements disclosed that none of them had expressed the desire to return Laos. Indeed, they fear for their safety if they return. There has been no independent assessment of the safety or conditions under which these refugees are being repatriated to Laos.

Between December 2007 and January 2008, Thai soldiers conducted a screening process of the Hmong refugees in Huai Nam Khao camp. The purpose of this operation was to separate refugees fleeing persecution in Laos from those migrating for economic reasons. It was conducted with no third party involved and its results were not communicated to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) or any other international refugee rights organization.

It is urgent that a third-party organization, such as UNHCR, be allowed to judge whether repatriation requests made by the Hmong in Huai Nam Khao are valid, ensure that their rights are respected, and that any repatriation to Laos is voluntary, all of which should be performed in accordance with international standards protecting refugees.

Since July 2005, MSF has assisted the Hmong refugees in Huai Nam Khao in Petchabun province. MSF provides medical and relief assistance to the 8,000 refugees, including health care, psychosocial care, food, relief supplies, water, and sanitation.

Parents meeting XO Laptop project

Aaike handed out the laptops to the kids to be hold on the groups photo. Coming Thursday will be the real start of the project.






Nearly all parents managed to come to the meeting. I didn't expect that because they of course are working. They have given the responsibility that their kid buys or makes a bag for the XO laptop. Also they need to bring some extension cords for charging the 20 laptops. This to get the parents and students more involved and to create a sense of ownership.






The boxes with the OLPC XO laptops were very carefully opened. Of course this laptop is very durable and because it doesn't have a hard drive, it doesn't crash easily. Also you can put in in water but all those things we didn't tell the kids and parents! ;)








The parents waiting before the meeting. There are 7 Thai students, 7 Shan (Burmese refugees), 4 Palaung and 2 Lahu (hilltribe) students in the XO laptop project.

Parents meeting XO Laptop project

Groups photo from the students who are going to be part of the XO Laptop project and their parents.

XO Laptop conference Lampang - OLPC

Last weekend we had a conference about the XO Laptop - One Laptop Per Child (OLPC)- in Lampang.
Ben, Jo (Aaike), Pui and I undertook the long car drive down to Lampang. It was nice to spend time like this with Pui. The other teacher from Moung Choum came from Chiang Mai and met us later.

It was for Ben and I more the case of just being there and making contacts because we couldn't follow the Thai language... The main facilitator was Professor Paron from the Mongkot university in Bangkok. He decides where the laptops are being places and we have nothing to do with that project but we were nevertheless invited to come and learn together.
The other schools which are having laptops are very different schools than Moung Choum because they already are following non- traditional education (some are privet schools) and are familiar with constructivist learning. But we know that the XO laptop is really made for schools like this, in a rural setting with not a lot of help from the government like city schools. The school would not score well in the national statistics because the combination of Hilltribes, Burmese refugees and rural Thai people. Last year only 5 students continued their high school education after grade 3. Let's see what this project can mean for this children!




All the teachers were from all over Thailand. We stayed with all teacher at the SIAM cement factory where they have a lux resort for guests. Siam cement sponsors a lot of educational things and looked after us very well. Ben, Jo and I stayed in the VIP apartment so we felt we were on a nice holiday. The food was great as well!








Khun Pui and Jo at a workshop to learn more about the XO laptop.

Visit Enrica and Rob

My cousin Enrica and husband Rob came to visit us. We stayed with them in a fantastic resort for a night and did some fun trips in the area. Great to se them again!
Here we were in Mae Salong, high in the mountains.








The rain has started early this year...














The Golden Buddha statue in the Golden Triangle.

Visit James and Emmelyn

James (Ben's brother), Emmelyn and Ben enjoying a beer with the view on The Mekong river at the Golden Triangle. James and Emmelyn visited us for a few days and we had a great time. We had a nice time catching up with them in the Golden Triangle and Mae Salong.

The view over The Mekong is just beautifull. Many fisherman working or just resting in their boats.
















With a boat we went over the the other side over the river, to Laos.













The two brothers.


















Palaung weaving.

Volunteer needed in Thailand!

Fang, Chiang Mai, Thailand

We are seeking a volunteer English teacher for a minimum of 2 months in a school in northern Thailand.

The volunteer will support a group of 23 students with an age ranging from 8 – 12 years old who are taking part of a project-based learning program, using OLPC XO laptops. For this project the students will come together every day to work with their XO laptop and learn English. The children will be doing creative learning projects covering their school subject such as maths, writing, art, biology and music. An important part of this project is that the students need to be engaged in the English language that will open up their possibilities of using the laptop online.

To make the laptop project successful we need the help of an enthusiastic teacher who can provide lessons for these children. With lessons we do mean fun activities and active interaction. It is most important to get the students exited about learning a new language and develop a intrinsic motivation for learning. We look for a teacher who is aware that children have different learning styles and is able to adapt lessons and activities to the needs of the individual child. So this is not boring ‘chalk and talk’ job but a chance to make learning fun and active!

There is help from the local teachers as well as from the project facilitator. The work is in a supervised environment yet with a lot of room for personal input. The local teacher has great English skills and will be available for translation and help whenever needed.


The XO laptop project has also a need for involvement from the volunteer teacher. Even though the first task is to teach English, it would be desirable to support the local teacher with ideas for projects and creative ways to get the children excited to learn and explore.

Concrete tasks will be:
- Prepare, plan and guide lessons.
- Plan language activities and games.
- Support the local teacher in developing simple projects about e.g. animals, different countries, nature etc.

The candidate does not require teaching qualifications but should have an interest in education and a basic knowledge of computers and the internet. While not required to be a native speaker they should possess good English skills in speaking, reading and writing. Most importantly they should posses an enthusiasm and resourcefulness to engage children. The candidate will be given lodgings and will receive support and instruction from both the local teachers running the project as well as the project facilitator, Jildou Brouwer. All up the position is for 25 - 30 hours per week with plenty of free time to explore this beautiful area. A scooter is provided for transport. This is a great opportunity to be involved with an early implementation of the world famous OLPC children’s laptop. What we learn from this project could well be useful be for future projects around Thailand and even the wider developing world in an ongoing effort to help children develop themselves through the great power of LEARNING.
For more information, please don’t hesitate to contact Jildou Brouwer at: jildou.brouwer@gmail.com


For those who would like to learn more about the XO laptop:
The XO, also known as the $100 Laptop or Children's Machine, is an inexpensive laptop computer to be distributed to children in developing countries around the world, to provide them with access to knowledge and opportunities to explore, experiment and express themselves by using constructionist learning. The laptop is developed by the One Laptop per Child (OLPC). For more information about One Laptop per Child go to: www.laptop.org

English learning at the monastery

The last few days I spend on the monastery school to start the E-Learning project with English software. It was quite hectic because a lot of the younger boys never used too often a computer. There were 8 different classes over the 2 days and I was running around every first class to get them to sign in but it was sooo funny! Just to type their name in English was problematic for the young ones and because two boys are sharing a computer they kept combining their names instead of having one account each. They are most exited. Now we need to keep encouraging the students to speak up and repeat the voice they hear. They are like any other student here too shy to speak up. The younger boys are less shy and practiced with full enthusiasm.

Yesterday evening I went with one of the Sister from the church to a Akkha hilltribe village. There is one family with a severe handicapped boy. He is partially blind and can't communicate other than pussing his sister or uncle in the direction he wants. He bangs his head a lot and dribbles all the time. He loves music and that keeps him happy. He hardly sleeps and that makes it real hard for his family who are working on the fields every day.

One of the boys in the village got shot dead not long ago because he had a fight with one of his classmates. The boys father is a policeman and lend the boy his gun!!! But the shooter shot his brother instead. Just horrible.
To tell an other policeman story; last Sunday there was a memorial service for a western priest from Fang who was killed on the road by 3 drunken policemen.... I tell you, the police here are the worst. They drink like crazy and feel far too superior. Anyway, the policemen of course got in no troubles whatsoever and even worse, they used the pictures of the accident, of the just killed priest, for posters to show around town what happens if you drink and drive!!!!

Taking stock

Our friends and family already heard the story but for those who didn't, here an update for where we are at.

In a nutshell, all our worst fears about Jon Peters have come true. He has completely abandoned the project, reneged on his agreement to us, failed to pay wages and expenses and worst of all trashed the hopes of the poor and vulnerable people who were led to believe that help was on it's way.

We are however moving on with a number of inertesting projects and doing our best to follow through on helping the people who had been promised so much.

Now we are geared up for a new start with the learning projects as well as with monasteries and tourism that will provide us with some income. Besides that we continue to do non-profit activities as before but we need to look for funding.
25 Laptops were already on it's way when Jon Peters abandoned the project and they will arrive in the next few days for Pui's school in Moung Choum. But now we are left without financial support as well as no people to take on the OLPC project.
So if anyone is interested (or you know someone who might be) in deploying OLPC laptops in a school as a volunteer based work experience.... you are very welcome to get in contact with us. OLPC is world wide known and will look great on your cv for sure!

So, that's it for now... All is well and we are full of positive energy to make the best out of the remaining part of the year. I will keep you up to date!

Love Ben & Jildou (Dao)

English camp

We organised an English camp together with Charrin from the monk school from the monastery Wat Sribunruang. For the boys it was a few days of camping in an national park with lots of activities. For most boys it was the first time to be on such a trip.
The boys from this school are here because they are too poor to get a regular education. They are lucky to have this opportunity in life.
We had lots of fun the days together. Charrin said that the boys were very exited afterwards to keep studying English during their holidays.


We camped at the Fang hot springs with it's beautiful surroundings.



















I had a full programme with many games and activities.













We now will need to do a bit of fundraising to be able to organise another camp for them.

English camp 2

Some Lahu children from the mountain of the national park were working to collect bamboo. For them no school or English camp. They were curious and watched us for a while doing games.

















The life of these boys is very quiet and they are not allowed to do sports. Activities like this are fun for them.












On is a great guitar player. We had fun singing songs together.

















Here the group had to guess what the boy was doing. Practicing verbs but more so the acting because Thai children are mostly too shy to speak up let alone act something out.

Album release from Moments of Inertia

To everyone who appreciates some good music:

Ben and his mates from the band 'Moments of Inertia' have finally finished recording their album! This is something to celebrate because a lot of time, care and dedication has gone into the whole process and the result is just fantastic. I have been listening to all these songs for years and now all of you are getting a chance too... I think they are great...

Go and check out their site and listen to some samples!!!

Moments of Inertia debut release Myths & Miracles was launched on April 30, Earth Day, 2008 on their website

www.momentsofinertia.org.

The website is currently playing samples of every track, which you can listen to before downloading.

We invite you to visit the site, listen to the music and download the Album.

The band write all their own songs and there is a 'depth of meaning' in the music and a 'spirit of optimism'.

This is a fully independent project so we kindly ask you to forward this email to anyone who might enjoy hearing some good new music...

Many Thanks in Advance

MOI

Keep in the loop about the situation in Burma

The demonstrations in Burma last September are now ended by the strong force of the military army but many monks and civilians have never returned back home. When this is no longer on our news bulletin it get easily forgotten...

Nothing has changed for the people. All we can do is to keep growing awareness about the tragic situation.

Were we are, in Fang northern Thailand, many Shan - Burmese refugees - are coming over the border to find a safe place for refugee. Earning hardly anything for dangerous work, whenever there might be work available.
Children are growing up in places like Lak Teang, Piang Luang, and supposed to be lucky to be in a relatively safe place. But they are without parents or other family. No papers, so no further education.

Let's not forget them, they need our help.

PLEASE watch this You Tube video; The first 18 minutes are a journalist's footage of a tracking through the jungle along with the Karen army along destroyed villages. A group of Karen people are trying to flee the Burmese to get to Thailand. Then there is information about the regime and the life in the cities. Just watch it to learn more.

Burma's secret war:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-YVdpQHdqo&NR=1


Today's article from the Bangkok post:
http://www.bangkokpost.com/topstories/topstories.php?id=126892


Some more video's (press photo's compilations with music):

Campaign for a free Burma:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fbm8VTKI4NE

Free Burma:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXukjFnbnrI

Library for the monestry in Ban Lak Teang

We met a young teacher who is raising funds for a new library building for his novice students. Ben and I have received already many funds from our contacts for our directly related projects so we can't ask for more again.

So now we are trying to tap in to new sources of enthusiastic people to team up in helping the people here. I put this information on the blog so that if anyone likes to be part of raising funds for the library they can contact me.

I just send out an email, of which partly can be read under this, to two couples we have met while visiting Ban Lak Teang. Darrin and Alison came with us to the monastery and we had a wonderful time talking and learning about the area. Chas and Alison stayed in the same guesthouse and together we spend some evenings around the camp fire. They have showed some interest in trying to raise some funds if possible back in their country, USA and England. We'll see!

Good news is that Ben and I just got (another) donation from the family Van Marle and from another lady, both from the Netherlands. This is exiting! Thank you all!!!!

- - - - -

The Library for the monastery in Ban Lak Teang:

The Shan are from Burma where they are not safe like any other minority group in that country. For many years they have needed to flee from the Burmese soldiers. Horror stories about the soldiers that they will take away the boys and the men to force them in the state army. Girls and woman are taken for forced prostitution. Other people would either be shot or get lucky to get away and move to safer areas. It is a heartbreaking situation.

A few facts from Drum Publication Group:
“United Nations statistics show that as many under-fives die each year in Burma as in Sudan. More children in Burma are malnourished than in Somalia and Burma has more orphans than Afghanistan.
Educationally, half of Burma's children fail to progress beyond primary level. And yet Burma gets aid inflows that are 75 times less than Mozambique and 26 times lower than nearby Cambodia.”

The area around the village Ban Lak Teang in sub-district Piang Luang is populated with Shan people from Burma. Some live in houses and have identity cards because they came to Thailand many years ago. Then there is a group who lives in a settlement camp and they do not have identity cards and are not allowed to work illegally. They are allowed only in that small area but at least they are relatively safe from the soldiers.

The school in Lak Teang is a monastery for young novice boys who are there for the reason that they often have no where else to go to. All the boys are Shan and many are orphans or have only one parent who can not take care of them or the parents live in Burma where it’s not safe and were they do not get any education.
The novices become novice for the sole reason to live in a safe place, receive some food and education.

Noom and Lar are two of the five teachers working at the school. They both are very smart young men and would do well in any city because they have had a good education and speak English very well. Noom and Lar are very dedicated to help their people and have chosen to stay here with the boys instead of getting better paid work in town.

Noom is trying to raise money for a small building of 6 by 9 meters (20 x 30 feet) for a library/ study room for his students. Now they have no books and only a few old study books. Once they have a (not leaking) building they are sure to receive book donations from people.
His plan is to spend 200 000 Baht on the building and 50 000 for the workers. We have spoken to both a Thai and a Western builder here and they calculated that they can do it all for 200 000 Baht which is 6400 USD. This would build a rather large, weather resistant permanent building. So far Noom has raised 65 000 Baht or 2100 USD, so that is a very good beginning.

Because we, Ben and Jil, are living not far away from the village we can follow everything that is happening. We would ensure any raised funds would go to the right ends.

We hope that with your help we can make sure that this library gets build!


Visit Noom's blog where you also can find his library project proposal:

http://noomhkurh.blogspot.com/

To read an article about the history of this interesting area:

http://www.prachatai.com/english/news.php?id=342

To view photo’s from the Monastery school, see this online album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jildou.brouwer/MonestrySchoolBanLakTeang

To view photo's from the whole day trip (including settlement camp and weaving shops), see this online album:

http://picasaweb.google.com/jildou.brouwer/BanLakTeangTripWiangHaengDistrict


Warm Regards,

Ben and Jil (Dao)

Visa trip to Vientiane, Lao

We just got back from a trip to Vientiane in Lao to get a new visa. We only got one for 3 months so we are not ready yet... beside an extension we also need a work permit what is a pain in the neck. Luckily we have wonderful help from Paul from the Khomloy Foundation in Chiang Rai.

Vientiane is an amazing city! As soon as we walked around on the first evening to find a place to stay, we were in love with all the French colonial style buildings what gives the city a real charm and a feel of class to it. It's not big what makes it comfortable to get around and to get to know everything.
During the journey we met a American and we had a nice dinner together on the Mekong. It was wide now but a lot of dry sand showed how big it would become during the rainy season.


We had soon discovered the one bad side of the town and that are the police man! Wow after driving on our rented bike for a few minutes we were taken of the road because the u-turn we made wasn't right. The man told us he was going to keep the bike and so we had to walk that day until we could pick it up and pay,, hi hi hi hi. He was laughing all the time and thought it was most amusing. We produced some sheepish laughs ourselves because that's what you do in Asia.
We got away from them WITH the bike but I had to drive because Ben's licence was stolen a few months ago. With some shocking starts I managed to drive of with Ben on the back while we were still smiling.
In the evening we were caught again and this time we were charged with driving to red pedestrian (by any other red light you actually can turn right any time with care,, except this one); no licence and driving through after the whistle of the police. Well, we didn't see no police man , yes we heard a whistle but we saw more traffic and we really thought we didn't do anything wrong! This time the fine was 200,000 Kip (only 20 Dollars) BUT we had to go to the police station to face the charges on Monday,, that day was Friday.... We explained in Thai that we had to go back to work and really couldn't stay. After quite a while he knew we were not going to leave and that I really wanted back my Dutch licence. So the charges changed into less bad once so we didn't have to show up on Monday but we still had to pay the fine. Ben went to find a ATM machine while I was kept there. The police man was getting really friendly and started to chat away and took of his helmet and did his hair. I was smiling a bit and tried to keep him in a good mood. The other police men were chasing people on and of,, what a business! Ben took a while but than we were excused to go... Never again we will rent a bike in Lao!!!! Just use the special tuk tuks I guess.

Back in Udon Thani in Thailand we wanted to take the night bus to safe some money. On the station we were told that two buses are leaving daily,, one with toilet and one without. When we asked to the ticket salesman we were told that there was only one bus so that night we came with our luggage but saw that there was a better bus for the 12 hour trip! Ben was furious because the already very dodgy man had lied because there were two companies and he sold only for one.... Not that he didn't have a enough business,,, there was a queue of people hoping that people didn't show up. Ben normally very easy going in these situation but he insisted on getting back the money. Unfortunately the other bus was full so within a few minutes we were back in the tuk tuk to the hotel. We than decided to fly back.....





We met Joff from Melbourne in Udan Thani what was a rather surprise. We weren't sure were he lived in Thailand with his Thai wife and baby but there they were! Very nice to catch up.
Udon Thani is not really recommendable for a visit we think, it's a soul-les city with so much prostitution and a certain type of Falang man. We were happy to come back to Chiang Mai and now to Fang!

We saw the Rambo 4 movie and knowing I just never watch anything violence, I would tell people to watch it. It's set in Burma and is focused on the raids from the Burmese soldiers on the Karen villages. Just horrible, horrible hearth breaking. But that's what's happening there! Of course the Rambo aspect has made it a bit more Hollywood action but this happens there to Karen, Shan and all the minority groups on a daily bases.

Project ideas from the novices

I visited Charrin and his students at their novice school at the monastry. What was going to be a short visit became, as I could have known, a whole afternoon. Charrin was most exited to let me ask questions to the students about their choosen projects. The students want to start working on as soon as possible. I was impressed to see their enthusiasm and eagernes to learn and most of all their choice of interests. The 25 students are divided in 4 groups and each group has a project leader.

The first project is going to be about Buddhism because the students want to tell people what they have learned so far. Leader Lan wants to go on a fieldtrip with his fellowstudents to visit the monk universtity in Chiang Mai where they hope to learn much more from the monks studying there. I think that's a great idea!

Then there is a project about rubbish. First the leader Non want to learn more about the different kind of litter and what is good or not good for recycling. They have the phrase to safe the world but I suggested to keep it simple at first and to set up a recycle system for the monastry. Then the people living around will slowly learn as well. They are very exited because they are very worried about global warming and the burning of rubbish in Thailand. Most people get rid of their rubbish by burning everything and that is of course very damaging. In the dry season it gets besides the dust very smokey and many people suffer breathing problems.

The third project is about projecting the Thai jungle. The students from this group came up with a brilliant idea to safe tree using their 'power' of being a novice monk. They know that if you tie a monk robe around a tree that no one will cut the tree down out of respect for Buddha. Also they want to plant new trees but are not sure yet where.

The last project is about finding ways to learn English. From all the students from all the different schools learning English is their main wish to do with the XO laptop.
Once all the groups presented their ideas I suggested them to make a plan of approach. For them it's hard to now know how to get started. I can't wait that AJ gets back because all this needs to be guided because the teachers have hardly experience on a practical level. I need help!!

First we need to give the students a crash course surfing the internet because they haven't learned it yet! It's hard for me to guide them online because they need Thai websites to find information for their project and I can't read Thai well enough....

Visitors from Canada

We learned that Roger hasn't a easy job; to make photo's you rely on a few hours in the morning anda few at the end of the day so the sun isn't too bright.










Our friend Sarrayut in his village.






AJ making sure that the sound is recorded from the profile interviews with the children. The boy were curious of the laptop and the whole proces.



Profiling a boy at Ban Luang school.

Profiling Ban Pakorn and Ban Luang

Last month Ben, AJ and I went in the morning to Ban Pakorn where we met Andy and Wero. Andy lives here and work with the local government as a Peace Corps volunteer. Andy teaches English at both schools in the villages nearby and know the kids and the school well.

Both schools were great! Nice to have spend the day here and have worked with the kids. We heard from the teachers that they were really nervous for the interview on video. They all did a great job I have to say!

On the photo you see AJ behind the table with the omputer to record the sound .

Interview Lahu village Nong Tao

Last month we went together with our friend Pui to the Lahu village Nong Tao which is located only a few km from the border with Myanmar. The small village is surrounded by mountains and orange fields. Beautiful! Ben and I have worked here last year with another project, Free Schools, where we maneged village schools for the hill tribes and Tai-ai. Nong Tao is one village where is a school and because of that a great starting place for this new project from Elevator. 15 from the 25 children from Moung Choum school who we profiled are from this village. They are soo exited to be part of this new project!
Above you see the village headman Jala. The village has both Black and Red Lahu living in it and Jala is Black Lahu.

In Lahu villages the houses are made of bamboo and stro. There is electricity and the water comes from a river out of the mountains.Pigs and dogs are in high numbers and give a lively feel to the place.









The children from the Free School (most of them are Red Lahu) performed a dance with a rythem played on drums. It was the beginning of the Lahu new year which will last 7 days. Partying, dancing and drinking will be continuing for all those days.








Teacher Aer invited us to have some food at her house. In the photo you see her husband and son.




Here you see the setting from the interview with Jala the head man. It went well and we will continue filling in the profile forms ourself. We can ask for more details in this way and we have all the anwers straight away in English.Pui was of great help. On the right you see the head man of Moung Choum who is again the leader of Jala. He was very helpfull. A great afternoon!

Fang and work

Shan hero's

We just came back from a wonderful trip to investigate several locations for the project. We took the scenic drive to Pai and then to Mae Hongson. Pai was nice to have seen because it's famous among the backpackers. We loved Mae Hongson city much more though, beautiful mountains and all was green.
We were meeting several people to find out more about the area which was great. Fantastic people and great places we have seen. The villages we visited were in the sub district Poo Ling and were all Karen. The Karen are an ethnic group out of Burma. Some villages have been in Thailand for many years but there are still people arriving from Burma because they flee the military regime. So some of these people have ID-cards and many don't what makes life really hard.
Poo Ling consist of 12 villages and they are all at least 20 minutes away from each other. To get to the area seems not far, only 46 km, but because the road is a mud road and it's soo steep it takes more then 3 hours! I was often very scared because the road was so small and straight next to it was most of the time a deadly cliff. In the rainy season the road is inaccessibly.
The villages are fantastic, clean and within the lush trees. The people hardly have money but that isn't needed because they live of the land. Unlike ethnic groups around Fang they have plenty of fertile ground to have fruit trees, vegetables gardens. Many cows are in neatly fenced patio's. The woman are weaving so they have clothing, blankets and bags. The houses are made of wood rather than bamboo so very comfortable. The man are good blacksmiths and use certain irons parts of cars to make knifes and other tools. This material is taken out of the city.

See here an online album to view photo's from this visit:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jildou.brouwer/MaeHongsonTrip


After trying to sort out our visa, what hasn't worked out yet, we went to inspect another site; Ban Lak Teang in Piang Luang in Wiang Heang district. We had a very curvy mountain road to get there but nothing in compare to the challenge in Mae Hongson. We took just met friends with us and we made it a nice trip. The first hour there are only Lisu (Hill tribe) villages in this remote area. After that there were mainly Shan people living there. Ban Lak Teang is right up the border with Burma. We visited a novice school with all boys from whom the parents either died or are stuck in Burma. The kids here have a relative safe place to live and to get some education. The monastery is in the village where only Shan people live. Some live there for a long time and have ID cards and some live in a camp nearby and are unlucky not to have any papers. They are stuck in the camp and work just like the Shan here in Fang for very little money in dirty and dangerous jobs. The teenagers try to find work in the city were they can earn a bit more but without papers they will only find dangerous construction work and the girls often end up in the sex trade. We heard some hearth breaking stories about girls being stuck in Bangkok in the sex industry with no way out. Being kept in dark rooms and when they try to escape the boss will send in a group men to do a groupsrape. The people who shared these stories about what happen to their relatives can't do anything because they are illegal themselves.
The camp looks very nice and the people have made it a actual real cosy place. In the first instance it has the look of a hill tribe village because of the bamboo huts but it's much cleaner and there are many little gardens with herbs and vegetables. They have no land to grow crops outside the camp. The children are going to school in the village sponsored by an international NGO.
There are not many organisations helping here because it's not an official refugee camp because the Shan are not recognised as refugees, so many organisation are not allowed to give aid and support. This is absurd and it leaves these Shan people as the most funerable people in Thailand. Karen, Karenni and hill tribes have the title refugee as where appropriate and so get help from international NGO's and very important; attention from the press. The Shan are really forgotten people.
Ben and I have had a lot to with the Shan this last year and our hearths are with them. We found this place because it was mentioned by TBBC (Thai Burma Border Consortium) as a settlement (not a camp) at the end of their list of refugee camps. Only a few organisations under which the Jesuits are giving support to these people.

The most exiting thing was that the reason I wanted to visit this site, was because I came across a Blog, while gathering information, from a young man called Noom. He seemed to me most inspiring because instead of going of to the city to work (he had some good education and papers so many options) he has decided to stay and help the boys at the monastery to provide them with education. He would get payed hardly anything, but there he is, together with another hero called La, working for his own people in order to help kids in need who are in the same situation as he was as a young boy. To now work as a teacher he provides that what has saved him as a young boy; shelter and education in order to get a future. THESE ARE THE HERO'S OF OUR WORLD!!!!

Visit Noom's blog:
http://noomhkurh.blogspot.com/

To read an article about the history of this interesting area:
http://www.prachatai.com/english/news.php?id=342

To view photo's from this trip, see my online album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jildou.brouwer/BanLakTeangTripWiangHaengDistrict

Palong village Huay Chonu

Photo's of rural Northern Thailand

Back to normal life in Fang

WOW!!! What a few months Ben I have had! Me finishing work at Tzu Chi school, finish work with Free Schools, start new work with a very new project, having over 50 people visting us from Australia and Holland for our wedding, honeymoon with the whole family, Ben's bike accident... And that were only the few highlights. So I just don't know were to start!

The wedding was just amazing!!! It started kind of more than a week before when my parents and my sister and her boyfriend arrived in Chiang Mai. We celebrated a special new year and off we were back to Fang to prepare the last things of the wedding. Well, last things is not appropriate here bacause we had actually a lot to do! I wrote before how hard it is to plan something here in Fang so all had to be done in the last week! So my poor family came straight from work into even more work. But we managed to have two absolutely fantastic days with all our family and friends! Unbelievable it all was and really everyone just loved it and that is what it was all about of course!

I can't upload some wedding photo's because they are too big. If you want to have a look anyway please visit our online photo album.

Day 2 - the actual wedding day and visit to villages and school performance
http://www.mijnalbum.nl/Album-LXCXUACW-Foto's-van-Feesten-Bruiloft.html

Day 1 - the day before

http://www.mijnalbum.nl/Album-IQRFBKTD-Foto's-van-Feesten-Bruiloft.html

Sunday 6 January, me and my family came to Chiang Mai and we had a last minute emergency shopping (me, my mum and sister) because I had not much to wear for the festive days around the wedding. In the evening we had a dinner with only family. Ben was pretty hangover after his bucksnight the night before.
Monday morning we met all the guests at a hotel were the bus was waiting. We started with a delay of more than a hour because the bus was constantly sent away so some people lost the bus! It was actually a great way to start the day because it was very funny.
We went to the elephant camp on the way to Fang and everyone had a ride. Then lunch and we arrived in Fang in the late afternoon. Dinner was at Ritzy's and with the special cocktails stall and the massage ladies the evening was great!

The next day was the wedding day and we started of to visit a temple. It was not a visit as planned but a whole ceremony! Quite something. Then we we were expected at Moung Choum school were Pui had organised a dance. It was a whole production and just amazing! 4 different tribes did their dances in their tribal clothes. After we went to Huay Chonu (Balong tribe) to visit another show and to give the guest the opportunity to visit the Free School and the village.
Lunch was catered up the lake with a view over the Thai-Burmese mountains.
The actually church part was in the late afternoon and was really nice. We walked to Ritzy's and there we had more cocktails, punch and massage ladies. Tum, Arree, Sa and Pot did a great job managing all this and the evening just flew by. The speeched were amazing and funny and great video messages were shown on a projector along slideshows from my family. The dancing was fun with a lot of Dutch songs and the Loy Kratong balloons were a big hit!

Our trip after the wedding went first to Mae Salong (in the mountains with the anti communist Chinese settlers) with still a large group of family of friends. This was perfect to catch up a bit more and to relax after all the exitement. Then we went to Burma for a day and to Chiang Rai. There we stayed in the resort The Legend what was a special treat... Lazy days at the pool and talking about how just beautifull it has been. Then we went to a Thai resort in the hills what was a absolute recommondation,, huts on stelts above a river and just nature.
Then to Lampang were we were going to settle for a few months for the new project but in the end plans changed... Still nice to have been there. Then it was really time to say goodbye to my sister Rikkie and Joost and my parents. So quit it was the weeks after!

Ben and I started work what was full on from the beginning. What was going to be a laptop project became soon a holistic economic devellopment project. Things have been changing all the time and that is hard I have to say. Big ideas out of an office are somethimes hard to connect to the reality here in the North. We will see how things evolve and we will do our very best to help these great people.

Soon more but at least were updated now..... ;)

Good Bye

After the speech I spoke to all the children. In the photo you see how strict the school is; all standing in the right pose! hihi












At Malfried's house Christine and I baked cookies for Christmas but they were eaten long before...












Malfried and I at Ritzy's.














Som now really leaving,,, nice big bus eh?


















Here we are in Chiang Rai working on the new laptop project. An office was set up on the balcony overlooking the mountains and river.

Tzu Chi

The children had bought and made many presents for me to give me on my last day. So sweet cards that it was hard to say goodbye to all of them!










One of the classes.... many photo's were taken in the last week!












The Taiwanese teachers... Kate is actually the accountant but does a lot of work for the teaching side of the school as well; Wandjun and Amber. They are a lot of fun!










Terry, the student from the English competition, prepared togther with Kate a speech! In front of many students he delivered a very sweet thank you speech.










Suri's school is going well. A lot of girls everyday!

Beautiful Fang

Som Deaw left with a big bus to his new school. He already visited Fang a few weeks later.












Here you see the Sisters from the church. On the left is Sister Salome from India and on the right you see Sister Tess from Phillipines. Lovely ladies...










Darrin had to go to the hospital for a check up for her TB. All is fine! unfortunatly she had a cough for over a month and first the doctor said that all was well and when I asked her to listen it was still ok,,, only when I asked again about the rattling sounds it suddenly was bronchitus... just shocking.








Aer's school is going great! The do some performance in front of the class.

Fang

Life is still treating us well here in Fang. The rainy season has finished and Ben is dutiful watering the grass at home with a new sprinkler. Yeh, a real houseman. He is working hard to finalise the handover of the project to Mirror Group. It is going to be less 'hands on' because they are not going to visit the schools each week and that worries me a bit but we just have to trust all will be fine.

Last week we send of 18 kids to school for the first time in their life. This was made possible by the generous donation of my neighbour in Holland. Ineke Vereecken and her Soroptimists club. (http://www.soroptimist.nl/) We are so happy for this because we started of a new pilot with the 6 Lahu kids who are now going to school because of sponsoring from Free Schools. We of course have done this with the intention to slowly expand this but there is no more funds from Free Schools for this. But we just wanted these kids from Ban's school to go to a real school and these ones really needed some help to attend a day school. So the contribution of the soroptimists came at the right time and now we can pay for the car who drives them from and to school. The school is not a government school but the Shan school from Terry Brown I wrote about before. This school is from a NGO for the Shan, Tai ai or Burmese people living here. They learn Thai but also get educated about their own language, history and culture. Most adults are wishing to return one day back to Burma/ Myanmar but most children like life in Thailand because they grew up here. So these kids are now attending that school and are part of that same community which is important. The only disadvantage is that they don't receive papers but by doing a state exam that barrier is over come. With the mirror group involved they can advise the students and parents about this and make it happen. The parents have often no Thai language skills and are not able to get such things organised.
Soon more about the kids and their stories...

The big thing this month was the visit from Paul, Ben's brother, to Fang. He is a pilot and had only a few days in between flights but made the big effort to come and see us. Wednesday last week Ben picked him up in Chiang Mai and we had a nice cup of tea late at night when they got to Fang. The next day, I had to work unfortunately, the brothers went to pay the teachers at the day schools and just hang out together to catch up. I left school early what is most uncommon and we went together to pay the salary of the evening school teachers. We met Kristina and Jon as well for dinner and went home not late to have some time together as well. Paul and his wife Karolina can't come to the wedding because they are expecting their baby on the 7th of Jan! A real shame that they can't make it because we spend some real good time together back in Australia and they are very dear to us. We wish them all the luck for the last month waiting and the time around the arrival of the newborn!

Ben and the other band members of Moments of Inertia are really exited because the recorded songs are now being mastered back in Melbourne! So every week we can listen to another finished song and it's really exited because they so sound good, real good.....

My work is going really well and I get great experience as a educational consultant ;) I teach less hours and are now busy observing the teachers and giving them feedback and talk with them about the observations and the written reports with the aim of improving the teaching standards. Not an easy job because there is not a great deal of self awareness regarding their skills and techniques and no one really understand about 'reflecting' and 'critical thinking'. I do my best to help them see their 'blind spots' and help them grow as teachers. Days are really long and still there is no change in the schools policy about having a break to relax a bit... :( The Thai friends think I'm crazy to choose to work at this very strict school but I think the experience has been most valuable. I have all freedom to do and try what I think can help the school which is great.

The wedding is all organised and now we need to look after the small details. The bus is finally confirmed, last week it was not yet possible but this week it was ok!.. Still all is a bit unknown but we have Som Deaw as our wedding planner so all will be fine. He even delegates things to other people, we just love to see it all coming together.
I had a Thai dress in making and yesterday I organised another one which is more suitable for the evening. I went with Kristina shopping for fabric last weekend in Chiang Mai. She was so sweet to have patience with me and my not developed sense of fashion... knowing she was a model and is right out there with the 'cool trendy people', she just adapted to my more simple style. Just great! She bought me brides magazines to pick a dress which I like and that one will be ready in in a week. My friend Malfried, from Fang, went with me to the shop to explain in detail what I wanted so now we just have to wait!

Take care dear friends and family and we will see most of you really soon now!!! We can't wait!!!

Som Deaw's party

A black page in the history of Fang: Som Deaw is leaving...
Som (left) is given a new position in a small school in Uttaradit, 4 hours south of Chiang Mai. Not just a simple new job, no he is the new principle! Even though every body in Fang in really sad about him leaving, we are all proud of him too!
But Fang without Som just doesn't work... he knows really every one and is involved with everything! From all the activities at school, the temple, the police station to sort out the youth who made trouble, he is working for the radio station and he is a professional MC at the weddings and openings of new places. An 'alrounder' so to say, - Ben says he is the Eddie McGuire of Fang. We will try to get him back!

Here you see Mister Chai (trainer from Free Schools teacher training); Mister Sawat (one of the top leaders from the district of education); Ben and Som.
We got a phone call while in Chiang Mai that the next day there was going to be a party and that it would take place in our house. On the day we arrived less than half an hour before the first people arrived. Well, you can say a lot about the Thais but they pulled a great party together. All was brought in from food, drinks, ice, tables etc etc. So before we realised what was happening a privet restaurant was set up in our back garden!

All the English teachers and other colleagues were present and it was a great night.
Som had good bye parties started probably a month before his actually departure! Lunches and dinner... every day... people arranged it all for him...








Here is Mister Tum, a very dedicated teacher from a school far away from Fang. He will be at the wedding just as Mister Chai will be.










Ben and Som enjoying the whiskey soda and the conversations with Mister Sawat.

www.laptop.org

A week ago we met Jon and Kristina from Canada. Together we went on an amazing journey to find the only 20 laptops from OLPC in Thailand and while on the way we met the right people and things just kept coming. We came up with many ways to get this special laptops into the hands of children because that's what it's all about! The laptops are a tool for education to help children to learn, explore and become their own teacher. The pilot projects around the world have been a success and the educational professors are raving about it in all continents. Some of you might even have heard something on the radio or on tv.
Maybe we can find a way to work together on this project combining all our skills.




We had many discussions and the ideas kept evolving into even better ones. We will see were it will lead, for now it's just very exiting to imagine what we could do for many kids in the world.
Have a look at the website from the the people who are developing the laptop,,, it's worth it,,, the vision is just great!
http://www.laptop.org/

English Competition

And guess who won......???
YES MY STUDENT!!!! He is number one from the whole Chiang Mai province and deserved!
He needed to talk for a few minutes about a subject. Because Ben saw at another teacher and student preparing in a school in Fang making a whole presentation as well as a text, he told me to do the same. So with only two days left I made a new text for the boy to study and collected all things for a presentation. It was about health and food so I made plastified pictures of cheese, meat etc and had real eggs, tofu, fruit and vegetables in bowls and serving trays. A neat collection it was. But one thing I didn't know was that there were two categories in English; one with only speaking and the other was more a presentation with a simple use of English. So we ended up having a perfect text plus a presentation!
Terry, the student, is really good at English but only finds it hard to write. He understood it all and together we made the text the way he liked it. Unlike the other contestants he knew what he was talking about and that made all the difference. Most students studied hard to learn a text by hearth but had no understanding at all and used words I had never heard about. So the questions afterwards were answered very well by him! He did a great job!

Here you see Terry presenting!
One funny thing I just have to tell: I told him to bring two boiled eggs to schools so while he was practising the text he made a bend and looked rather shocked,,, what happened was he forgot that he had put eggs in the pocket of his pants and worse, he had forgotten to boil them!!! So of egg was cracked and was running down his leg... I couldn't help myself and laughed very hard. He tried to clean things up but we got him some other pants. Lucky the cook brought us that afternoon new eggs who were boiled a long long time.

Many schools presented themselves and made the nicest 'rooms' with materials used in school, art work and fun things to do. It was a kind of fair.














Many schools came with a big bus with students and teachers to enjoy both days. Unfortunately my school is very different,,, Terry was alone stuck with me and a Thai teacher! Not much fun there! I tried to feed him ice creams to make it a good day...
On the photo you see Thai dancing. The competition was so big,,, there were nearly 50 categories! art, music, dance, language, maths etc etc. Just great!

Loi Krathong

A few weekends ago Ben and I had to do our visa run, buy the first bit of alcohol in Chiang Rai for the wedding and other things in Chiang Mai. I got two days of work and on Thursday we started our trip to Taizilek in Burma. We had to ask Som Deaw some things so we went into town first and ended up watching a parade of nearly 3 km long going trough whole Fang. All the schools, clubs, offices and young and old were joining. This because of a special Buddhist day just before the festival Loi Krathong. No camera of course but never mind.
We couldn't find Som Deaw but suddenly we heard his voice and there he came by in a parade car reading out loud the Buddhist story. At the temple Ben enjoyed the food cooked by many ladies who were more than happy to feed the big Farang! The elephant was also still around with the most beautiful ornaments and 3 people on top in Thai style. It's amazing how they can make things soo pretty and of such a class.
The photo is taken in Chiang Mai were Loi Krathong festival went from Friday until Sunday.

So after the parade we went passed Mae Salong to book the hotel for after the wedding and had a quick coffee at our friends coffee shop. Nice to see them again! It was fun to take a different road to the boarder at Mae Sai but it was a real adventure. Nice to walk around the market in Taizilek and we bought some cs's and DVDs.
Then we stayed the night in Chiang Rai after we got some alcohol. So lucky to have a car..... We couldn't have done any of this!
In the photo you see a lady lighting the big balloon like thing you send up in the air to let go of all your worries and fears. The sky was for all the evenings full of lights, really beautiful. But well, the amount of rubbish coming down out of the sky is another story... hihi




All the evenings in Chiang Mai was a long parade. Stunning it was. A nightmare to drive through Chiang Mai,,, we rented a motorbike because a car is a bad idea anyway, but we just couldn't get back to our place because all the streets were blocked. What would have taken us less than 10 minutes took an hour and half.




You see that there is amazing creative talent around...

Chiang Mai - Doi Sutep

On sunday we went on a short tour to Doi Sutep. It was a cool morning and the mist was hanging low above the trees and hills.











On the way up there is some nice scenery.

















A real old Pagoda high up the mountain dating from hundreds of years ago when Chiang Mai was just starting to become a city.


Mister Ben!















This photo was taken in Taizilek in Burma. The market looks nice but one street away and it's pure poverty.

Thai food and friends

On the way up to Doi Sutep there are two villages to stop. The first is a giant tourist haven with crowed by Farangs coming out big tour busses and the second is a village with a market were the locals go to. Also Thai tourists are going there and it is really nice.













This is Aa and his girlfriend Aew. They live in Chiang Mai but we know Aa from when he was still in Fang. He is on another photo from months ago. Here we had some lunch on Sunday after our trip up to Doi Sutep in the shopping centre Airport Plaza. There is this great food court on the ground floor worth checking out.

Good old Fang

How we love Fang and how we love The King! May he live for many more years. It was His birthday last Wednesday, 5 December, and there were celebrations everywhere.















Nice drive around Fang. I had to get of the back of the bike to get up the hills!













Scenery behind Pui's school in Moung Choum.












Meet the friendly gecko living on the outside of the house. He likes to make a mess inside the laundry shed. Keep your nose closed when you go inside!

Christmas at Malfried's

Our friend Malfried (left) and Christine are both from Norway and working as missionaries in Fang.
Malfried is absolutely crazy about Christmas and for weeks now she plays Christmas music and last week was The Day for the decorations. Ben and are were invited to be part of this ceremonial happening. First we ate delicious taco's, from Chiang Mai,, and than it was time to set up the tree and all the other things. Now Ben and I have a small tree at home with lights and I have to admit it is really nice and cosy...









The area were we live is also really nice so we don't need to go away every weekend.

Mae Salong en Chiang Rai

So lucky we are! just take the bike and drive of for a weekend away. Toothbrush and a set of clean clothes in the basket in the bike and off we are. You see the picture here and will understand why we love to go away!

The photo is taken in the new coffee shop from Mii and Thon in Mae Salong. They have done such a good job, Ben and I did not have too much faith building a cafe out of the old shed what it once was but we were pleasantly surprised.





Thon and Mii in front of the coffee shop.











Ben trying out their new Aussie barbie! I thought at one stage that the whole place would burn down when the pork set on fire. We wanted not to cut the vet away because the Thais like it like that,, well never try this at home...

We had a lovely night!






This is our friend Elin from Brazil who visited us and on the picture we were in Chiang Rai were we went to see her. She is working on a recycle project at the Mirror Foundation which is going very well.

She will leave for Mexico too soon... I will miss her!





Back home the bike was in need of a wash.

Visit from Mirror Group

The Mirror Group from Chiang Rai will hopefully take over our job when we will be leaving Fang. The group is based in Chiang Rai and in Bangkok and supports hill tribes in many ways. They help people get their ID card so they can get education and medical help; have many projects in the villages like eco-tourism, garbage and recycling, home-stay for tourist; support artists; education etc etc.
The group has only one foreigner working and this is Paul (on the right). In the middle is Thelly is volunteers and helps out a lot. All other people are Thai which is another reason why this will be a good change for the project! These people know more, speak the language and have more resources and are long term committed.
A fantastic group who steps in where the government fails.


The children from Me Pa Py with our friend Elin. Elin we met in Bangkok and came to visit us in Fang. After that she went to Mirror group to set up a project for recycling garbage. She is a lovely girl! We met up a week later in Chiang Rai again.











Teacher Suri prepared a good show for our guests! She got from the local bank free t-shirts and shorts so they all have a kind of school uniform!











After the singing they marched back into the school area.










Two boys who are not really in school yet but like to hang around and wait for their sisters. Some children

Our visit to Bangkok with a mission

Last month we went to Bangkok for a holiday of course but the main reason was to obtain documents wich would allow us to get married in Amphur Fang. I asked for the afternoon of from my work in Tzu Chi and with the car we drove to Chiang Mai airport. Not a good idea... now we really now that Friday is one of the busiest times to drive there and it ain't fun!!! Lucky enough I knew the way to get to the ring road but of course I was never that sure so that was stress full enough. Than the ring road was the weirdest thing in Thai traffic we have ever experiences (besides the chicken, dogs, people driving on the wrong side and drunk drivers). All the time there were two separate lanes but you never knew which to choose to not end up of the ring road so every time it was a guess to choose the left or right lane. Than the lanes would either suddenly end so you had to just stop and to try to get into a fast driving other lane. Than there was this system that halfway on a stretch of straight road the road would change direction,, meaning you suddenly saw headlight straight in front of you!
Well Ben made us survive this adventure but next time we take the bike!!! He thought that Parish in peak hour traffic was bad but now he no longer thinks so.

Anyway we needed to go to Bangkok to get our wedding paper from both our embassies. To marry in Fang we need permission from the embassy and a special letter. After finding first the Australian one we were of good hope and trust all would be fine. No queues or other unexpected things and a translator was only a block away and could do the translation straight away. So than we came to the Dutch embassy what became a different story...
A large queue full a Thai girls with some men with them who looked rather suspicious. They were trying to get work permits. Well after a while we passed a nasty nasty secretary and we came to a nice Dutch lady and we thought we would be enjoying holiday soon. Within a minute we were disappointed because the Dutch embassy wants all possible documents you can get from Holland. So belasting dienst,, income,, everything from the gemeente etc etc. And also things from Australia because yes it was true that I didn't really live anymore in Holland. Well to make a long story short the only hope was to go back to Fang without the papers and hope we would have a person there who was friendly and not strict with rules.

Still we had to get the already translated documents from Ben certified in another government office. Took only an afternoon because there you can pay more to get things done quick.

In Fang we went with our friend Som to the Amphur District Office. Som know everyone in Fang,, really funny! Everyone we ever meet knows him and that makes us friends straight away! So coming in the office he goes straight behind the desk to the biggest desk in the back (highest rank will be there) which Ben and I thought was a good sign. We already started discussing if we should sign the papers if now they would except our incomplete documents. Optimism is good but it doesn't always helps so we were disappointed and not even we could solve it with some cash.

Now my Parents need to get all the documents after I legally appoint them. And then we have to go back to Bangkok! Hopefully I get some days of work because embassies are not open in the weekend...

So we do our best not to disappoint all our wedding guests by not being able to get married!!!
We will keep you up to date!

Further Ben renewed his Irish passport to have the option to live and work in Europe. Really lucky he got it. Actually to pick it up from the post office was not that easy because he lost his wallet with the pick up paper in it. And I tell you,,, the people there are just not human, just impossible! But it took litterly hours for him to sort it out....
Nothing here in Thailand goes fast!

We were sure that the rainy season was finished but the rain has started again! Yesterday and yesterday before it just didn't stop at all! so after we got some errands done we came home to watch a long movie. Really nice.

We had many home cooked meals last week which is nice for a change. One night we ate at Malfrieds and we got left overs for dinner for the next day. Than they came over to our house and Ben cooked a delicious curry which we ate yesterday as well. Today we will cook as well because I was so happy to find eggplant (aubergine) on the market.

Oh I also bought my wedding dress last week. It was rather easy. I already had a sort of pencil picture from a dress shape and I only picked out the fabric and that was it! I hope it will be nice because they will only make it in a months time... dressmaker is very busy...

Further no news here!!!

xxxx

OHH and also we bought wedding rings in Bangkok!!!

We were in China town but there were only the really cheap soft gold ones with hard edges etc. So after a kind of tense time looking around a man 'accidental' bumped in us. He had the story that the gold wasn't good and I was only happy to get back up from that fact and I was happy that he could tell us were to go. Ben was suspicious straight away so we didn't get into the tuk tuk who miraculous just happen to stood there as well... We went in another tuk tuk to the place and we bought rings there. They had to be made so we could pick them up a few days later.
Back at home we felt a bit silly for not having done any researched etc and when we went on the internet on the morning before we went back to the shop. We read all the stories about scams but they were mainly with gems. But we were all fired up before we got there of course. The rings looked really nice but we asked how we knew for sure of which component the white gold was made of. We got a certificate but that was just a piece of paper and could be put with any other ring. They thought we were really difficult but in the end Ben managed to get a massive discount! Ben always manages to do so! So now we are happy and we will have see if the rings will start rusting when we will wear them....

Bangkok

In Bangkok we spend the day and evening with our friend Som Deaw from Fang and his friends from Bangkok. Pokky on the right spoke with Ben several times on the phone to practice his English. His wife Eaw on the left with their daughter Fa. Lovely people!










On of the highlights of this trip was the German Brewery. As you see on the photo it is a massive place where you eat, chat and watch live shows the entire night! We were so impressed with the shows,,, it was just as good as Cirque Du Soleil!!!! but than there was more variety like rock bands, theater, drama, Thai dancing and much more...
Go there if you get the change! We were the only farangs in the crowd of easy 3000 people!






















During our week in Bangkok we also met Yai and Jim. Normally we only see them when they visit Fang so it was a nice surprise! We had a delicious Italian meal together and went to a night market so the girls could have a look around. Jim and Ben took it easy on a terrace.








AJ friend Jeab in her travel agency near Khaosan Road. She made a really nice shop, very clean and well organised!
We went together on a cruise over the river at night time. A great way of getting introduced to Bangkok with a safe distance from all the cars and craziness.

I liked Bangkok more than expected. Unfortunately I came down with sinuses and my longs were sick too... The pollution is so bad! But you can get anti biotic over the counter in Fang so I was well soon enough.

Bangkok mix

Wood carved Buddha images for sale on the market.













A Spirit House with many colourful offerings.

















The Bridge over the River Quai. There was an impressive museum. Shocking what all happened there...








And than the Cats.... Yes they won the grand finals this year!!! We had a great time in a pub in Sucomvite in Bangkok. Bartel, Ling and the brothers Ablet were absolute champions!
GO CATTERS, GO!!!

Floating Market

The floating market is one a the bigger tourist attractions close to Bangkok. We went that day on a tour to go there as well as to the Tiger Temple and the bridge over the River Quai. To go with an organised tour is sometimes the only way to see many things in one day!
Ben even went to see a snake show while I stayed longer at the market. Funny that they have that option,,,, many men had quickly enough of the market and had a nice escape!











Before the tourist came this was a normal market were the locals sold and bought there crops and other products. Now it is one big show though a pleasant one! You can buy food from the canal-vendors and there are many stalls with souvenirs.














I liked the souvenirs a lot, they are really tourist souvenirs so very different than a normal market. Nice change for me so I bought a bag and some things I can't buy in Fang.














The food was beautiful to look at, all nice on display in the boats on the water. When I would tell the banana lady in the market in Fang what the price of a bunch of bananas is at this market,,, she would not believe me!

Trip to Ratchaburi

Later that day we went to the Tiger Temple and the Bridge over the River Quai. The Tiger Temple is a place were monks take care of wild animals. It started of with a few sick and wounded tigers but soon many animal thought of this place as a safe place to live. Now there are tigers, buffalo's, wild pigs, horses, goats etc. etc. I just love to be surrounded by many animals but sure,, Ben was right we do see those wild pigs and buffalo's every day here in the villages. The tigers were the main attraction because you could make a photo with one of them. We didn't do it because the queue was so big!










Mr. Ben!





















This pig was having his daily beauty bath before dinner time...

















We found a tiger away from the crowd so we have a photo! I was amazed by how large these animals are! Absolute stunning...

Changes

I have to apologise for not writing so long.... No excuse but we had a bit of a moving time. To make a long story short: To create some income I started to look for work and found a job as an English teacher. I started work a few weeks ago at a privet Taiwanese Buddhist school from Tzu Tsi foundation. It is the first school in Thailand but in Taiwan there are many schools and also hospitals build by this Taiwanese foundation. They are dedicated to help the poor and sick and help all over the world with aid relief.
My job is to work together with the English teachers and create some sort of remedial lesson plan. Eventhough I'm struggling myself with the English language, the school think I'm of great help and I have to tell them again and again that I'm not a native speaker! The English of the teachers in whole Thailand is really poor you have to know.
It is a school I never seen before,,, no breaks for the teachers (on my first day I asked when the teachers will have a coffee break so I can meet everyone,,, I was looked at really funny and was told I can bring my coffee from home and drink it at my desk!) , The 10 minute lunch for the teachers is eaten in silence and according strict rules. But even though the rules, the children are very out of control because all is reacted upon with Love and Peace and no consequences for bad behaviour . So copying homework and cheating is rather normal,,,, So I think the kids feel unfortunately with their new teacher who brings in some new rules...! It is just very different than in Australia or Holland what makes it a good experience I guess! My Taiwanese and Thai colleagues are really nice and slowly I manage to have a chat with them all.

I will keep you up to date with my adventures at school and of course as well with the project. Ben is now visiting the schools on his own but I will join him on Mondays when I have a day of work so I can assist the project. So for me a change in our life here but it hasn't made any difference anything for the project. I can work at Tzu Tsi and still help all the teachers from Free Schools so all is well.


At the school from Ban at the orange farm all is going great! The teenagers are still coming every day and that is something we didn't expect. These Tai Ai, or Shan people are really motivated to learn.
They are the newest migration group who have arrived in Thailand and have no rights at all. They escaped from the military junta and now live in Thailand but are not excepted as refugees. It is completely out of line with the human rights Geneva Convention from 1951 how these people are treated. But as long as there is no media covering these issues, nothing will change.


It was my birthday not long ago and Ben took me to a beautiful resort where we enjoyed the pool and the green tropical surroundings. It was not so hot so we stayed a bit too long in the sun not realizing we were getting fried! So for more than a week after that we were sore and sorry!







The beautiful surroundings in Mea Salong. This area has a rich history with the famous opium trade and was home to the Shan drugs lord Kung Sa. After our wedding in January we will have a tour to this area as it is only 1,5 hour from Fang.








Smaller but more touristic than Fang. 'I'm just looking' doesn't work here! You always end up buying something. Anyway I think that is fair enough.
This lady is a Akha hill tribe. In this area you can find many Akha villages.

Teacher Training

Early this month we have had the teacher training for all the Free Schools teachers. It was a great day and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves while having a full planned day with lessons and case studies.
I prepared together with Chai most of the content for the day. Besides all the good things we have observed in the last months we also came across some aspects which needed improvement. Chai the trainer did a good job and the teachers had a active 'school day'.
Because everything was in Thai we didn't know if the lessons came really across and would be taken back to to schools. We were more than pleasantly surprised!
As soon as the schools were visited the next week there were big changes already!!!!
Some teachers who before were mainly focusing on quietly writing, were now active and the students were having a great time at school. Also the numbers of students have increased in one school. This only because a few changes made by the teachers in their attitude, way of planning or a new way of looking to the needs of these kids!
Ben and I are very exited as well as the teachers! I am very proud of them because most of them have not received much education in their life and to see the changes in some schools....... AMAZING!


From left to right, top row first:
Surree, Aer, Bii (assistant of Ban), Suwannee, Jildou, Chai
Front row:
Kung, Dee, Niem, Pikun, Yohn, Ban

Montly report August

Free Schools World Literacy (Thailand)

Monthly Report August 2007

It is fair to say that August has been an eventful month for the project here in Thailand. During this time we have conducted the first teacher training culminating in the event that took place at Fang government school on Saturday 1st September. Also this month things have been set in motion to ensure that the Mirror Foundation will take over management of the project during the next few months.

We have been anticipating the idea of bringing all the teachers together for training since we first arrived here in March. It was clear that many of the teachers were lacking some basic skills and knowledge. So it was with great excitement that we appointed Mr Chai, a government teacher from neighbouring Mae Sai, to the role of Teacher Trainer. We had meet Chai several times at the English camps and found him to be a great teacher and communicator and importantly his English is excellent.

So the training process began during August when, over the course of 3 evenings, we brought Chai to each of the evening/village FreeSchools to meet the teachers and observe them in action in the classroom. From this Jildou and Chai then worked to create a plan of action for the training. For the purpose of offering background knowledge and for the benefit of future teacher trainings I have attached Jildou’s Programme outline and the Training schedule to the email which caries this report.

The training on Saturday was a great success. It was the first time that the teachers had ever been gathered together. We were missing only 2 teachers due to other learning commitments. Fortunately they were Chantana and Poy, - two very capable teachers. The teachers all enjoyed meeting each other and while the training programme was packed there was also some time for getting to know each other. We feel a lot was achieved through this coming together.

This week Chai will begin the follow up visits. These will be longer, more intensive sessions with the teachers during class to help them implement the classroom techniques that have been learned at the training. Finally we will conclude the programme in six weeks when in the middle of October we will again bring the teachers together for a wrap us session. This will focus more specifically on teaching Thai as a second language and we hope it will be an opportunity for the teachers to be introduced to representatives of the Mirror Foundation.


We were first introduced to the work of the Mirror Foundation (www.mirrorartgroup.org) through Brennan O’connor, a photo journalist who has been donating his professional services to both organisations in Thailand. The relationship developed when Sue Tennant visited their base near Chiang Rai and meet with Paul Garrioch, an Australian volunteer. The Mirror Foundation have been working with Hill Tribe people in this region for 10 years and are highly suitable to run and manage the local Free Schools project. The schools will be managed by a Thai national and Paul will be responsible for the relationship to the Canadian and Australian organisations. The hand over will begin in October, though Jildou and I will remain in the area for some months after that so we can expect a smooth and supportive transition.

Around the schools the only change is that teacher Boom is no longer with us. Boom was teaching at Huay Patchu which was another village that had 100% attendance at the local government school. It is also a school where numbers have been low for months despite meetings we had with the village Chief. Boom has a day job at a government school so this was not her only source of income and she is understanding of the reasons why this school is not continuing. We encouraged Boom to find another village or orange farm where many children do not attend school but she was unable to do so. In the meantime we will keep looking on her behalf.

This is indicative of the change here this year since the Thai government decreed education for all, with or without Thai I.D cards. It is harder to find whole villages where children do not go to school and the future direction of the project here may do better to focus on Government school scholarships for the severely disadvantaged than expanding the village classrooms.

Burmese refugees

From: Austcare organisation



" Due to continued conflict in Burma, hundreds of thousands of Burmese have fled across the border into Thailand to seek refuge and to escape military attack, forced labour and forced relocations. About 140,000 Burmese refugees live in camps in Thailand along the Thai-Burma border, many of whom have lived there for up to 20 years.
The border is covered in landmines, which claim an estimated 500 victims each year. These landmines are laid by both the Burmese Army and anti-government forces. It is reported that the Burmese Army lays mines close to villages to prevent people from returning to their native villages after being forcibly evicted.
Many refugees in this region regularly risk their lives to cross the border in order to visit with their families, seek food, hunt and trade. Burmese school children often cross the border into Thailand to go to school in the refugee camps, since Burmese border provinces lack a good education system. The local host communities in Thailand are poor and face a heavy burden, shared by Thai government authorities."



Here a link to an article about the resettlement of a Burmese refugee family.



http://www.theirc.org/news/a-burmese-refugee-family0521.html

Some more photo's

Time goes fast

Here you see teacher Aer and Chai talking about what can be improve in the lessons at the schools.


Last week has been a full week with many good things. First of all we have been busy setting the ground work for our coming teacher training. We looked around for a while for the right person who could understand what we wanted to achieve and who would be able to provide the right training for our Free Schools teachers. Just when we started to worry that it will never happen things started to take shape. With our Western attitude we are so focused on doing everything quick and we have to adapt here in Thailand where things just go with a slower pace. So we have secured the services of Chai who has committed to the training project. Chai is a government teacher whose English is wonderful, allowing us to communicate at a high level. He is very perceptive and has already visited some of the Free Schools in preparation and can see each teacher's individual needs. We are both very excited about his involvement. Chai will visit each freeschool and observe the teachers and spend time with each of them. Then to plan and provide the 1st day of teaching. After that pay a follow up visit to each teacher and individually assist with implementation of learned techniques. Then to prepare and provide the second day of training in early October.

The Thai learning habits are very passive. The teacher is telling the children what to do and the children learn passively without to much active input in lessons. What we see in some of our schools is that children hardly speak and that is of course rather important in learning a new language. They should start straight away with repeating after the teacher the language sounds, letters and words. One of the Nong Tao Six students is struggling a lot at the government school and the teacher is frustrated that he doesn't answer her at all. His behaviour is, for me personally, easy explained knowing that the boy hardly ever speaks out loud in Thai. Copying all the letters in his notebook is one thing but trying the reproduce the sounds is something else and is much more difficult.

I went Friday again with Darrin to the hospital so she can be looked at by the nurse and get more medicines for her TB. She seems to be doing well but the poor girl is always so nervous to go. We always go to the market afterwards to buy some fresh vegetables, some fruit and some chicken for her and her guardian mother. Her diet is really poor but she really needs fresh food to fight her illness. Was a good day.

The roof of Poy's school is finally fixed, or so we hope and we will see if it holds on our next visit when it will rain. Our friend Sarayut took on the job and fixed the few wholes and as well the tables for the children. To do the job he took 2 other men with him so it was quickly fixed. Ben went along to guide the workers but I'm not sure if next time there is a problem he now would be able do the job himself... :)

Further there is a newsletter from the organisation in which they now have written about the project in Thailand. I could not place it on the blog and could not find a link but I will soon get it so you can read it if you like.

This week was for some our Free School Government students a very exiting week. In every district the schools compete between each other with dancing, drawing, singing etc. Two schools, Huay Poo and Huay Nam Yen, in the Thaton district had their day on Tuesday and Ben and I went to have a look. It was great to see the students so exited and all did very well.

Teacher Suwannee from Huay Nam Yen with her Thai dancers all dressed up in Northern Thai tradition.

Monthly Report - July

FSWL - Thailand Monthly Report July 2007

July has been a landmark month for Free Schools in Thailand. The FSWL sponsorship pilot project is now 1 month old and already the results are very encouraging. Furthermore we have been able to grow the numbers of Shan students by nearly 100 through the replanting of 2 evening schools which have both flourished beyond our expectations.

We are thrilled as to the progress of the ‘Nong Tao Six”, - the six Lahu students from Aer’s village Nong Tao whom have been the initial recipients of the FSWL sponsorship program to Moung Choum government school. The six bright faces decked out in their new uniforms had their first day of school on Monday the 2nd July. Apart from being a little nervous they were mostly excited to begin this grand new adventure. This month we have had weekly visits to see them at school to observe how they were adjusting and to check with their teachers as to their progress.

Darrin Sompet Girl, age 12
See other attachment for more information about Darrin. What we can add is that she has already moved up to grade 2! After just over a week she showed her teacher that she was ready to make the step. We are all very proud of her.
Nanga Jala Girl, age 12
Because there are too many children in her family she couldn’t afford to go to school. She is going very well and is able to follow the lessons well.
Naying Jaaie Girl, age 10
Her father was a Thai soldier who never stayed with her and her mum. When Naying was very young her mother left her with her grandma and to start a new family. She has never seen her since. Her grandma is too old to work and can not pay for the school fees.
Naying is bright and happy to be at school.
Darika Suriya Girl, age 8
Darika has only her mother left. Again her father was a Thai soldier who doesn’t even know of her existence. She looks like she has been at that school for a long time; she just fitted in right away and made new friends.
Channon Krongkrawpana Boy, age 8
Family is too poor to support him. Channon is struggling a bit with the Thai language but has showing some good social skills by making contact with the other kids.
Tatphon Jaopongpai Boy, age 8
Family is too poor to support him. His father is not functioning well. Tatphon is struggling with the lessons as well with the social interactions with his class mates. He is not talking to other children and is not responding to any question of his teacher. We suspect that he experiences a severe culture shock and has a much poorer understanding of Thai than the other 5 children. In the village he is one of the leaders and at school he experiences the opposite, which offcourse must be quite stressful. We are very happy that his mother actually came to school to talk to the teacher. She hardly speaks Thai and can not help him with his learning but the fact that she is supportive is great to know. Tatphon will start this week at the kindergarten to get extra help with the alphabet and to gain confidence with speaking. While the younger children will have a nap after lunch, he will get one on one remedial teaching. We are following him closely in his learning but even more important in his emotional development so we can make decisions such as placing him in kindergarten for more care. We do trust that he will settle in slowly and will start to make some friends.

Having learned of the situation of the Shan people in this region we had been wanting to increase the number of Shan students in the program overall. Teacher Dee, who is herself Shan had been teaching on weekends at a remote Lahu village where for a number of reasons the student numbers were dwindling. So together we launched on a search to find her a new school where she could give assistance to her own people. On the 3rd of this month, with Dee we held a town meeting with the villagers at Ban Denluang, a Shan village with an old monastery on top of the hill. With the monks and village leaders gathered round we gained assurance that they needed and wanted a Free School in their village. All the children not attending government schools gathered round and there were some 40 children in total. This village also borders a Lahu settlement and we extended an invitation to them to join the classes. So with kind permission from the monks to use the monastery we all decided to commit to the new school and on Thursday 5th July we kicked off.

It was an immediate success; the Shan students were very willing to learn, Lahu children joined the throng together with monks from Myanmar and Shan adults wanting to learn Thai. Immediately there were over 50 students on the books! Visiting this school in such an extraordinary location overlooking the Fang valley adorned in brilliant monsoon green, seeing the children learning side by side with their parents all eagerly studying Thai language in the hope of a brighter future, it is very hard not to be uplifted on the wings of renewed optimism. It is a beautiful sight and surely now one of the jewels in the FSWL crown.

A similar story also with teacher Ban on the Moung Choum Rd. Several months ago Ban was told to leave the premises of the school by the landlord, - a lychee farmer who, coming into lychee season, didn’t trust the children not to pick all his fruit! So for 2 months Ban has been holding class in the open garage of a kindly lady who has allowed it to be used for the school. Now that monsoon season is well and truly upon us it was time to find something more suitable and sturdy for Ban and the students. Again with the help of Pui, we found a new building on an orange farm just a few kilometres up the road. Once again this relocation proved an immediate boon as many more students were attracted to the class. There are now regularly 50-60 students at this class and again they are predominantly Shan people. Ages range from 4-20 and one older lad, Bii, has taken it upon himself to assist the younger students which has been a great and necessary help to Ban. They now have 2 classes operating with the basic level students in one section and the more advanced students adjacent.

At government school Huay Luwang we have provided 8 boys and 7 girls with school uniforms which we personally delivered. These are very poor hill tribe students who seemed very happy to get into their clean new outfits. This school is going very well and our Free School kiddies are working very hard on a dance performance for the region coming up in August. We will be sure to be there with the camera!

Both of us again participated in English camp for the local teachers, this time in the neighbouring district. Jildou spent a day preparing the lessons and activities and together we taught the group. We value the experience and although we are unsure as to how much English was learned it remains an important aspect of relationship building in the region.

Wilbert’s tour groups are back on again. At Bird’s Bar in front of a small group of two families, a very nervous Jildou did an admirable job of presenting the Free Schools project and we raised 2100Baht. There will be more opportunities to do this over the season and hopefully with bigger groups.

This month also saw a small increase in the salaries of our day school/government school teachers. They now receive 2800 Baht / month which is more in line with our evening school teachers. All the teachers were grateful for this realignment of wages.

So it’s been a busy and rewarding month with lots of progress. Free Schools is now providing an education to over 350 students in this region. We now look forward to August and the challenges and opportunities that it brings.

Warm Regards,

Jildou and Ben

Lahu village - Nong Tao

This is Misii, always happy!




Girls are having the responsibility to look after their siblings.









The mother of one of the girls in Free Schools is curious what her daughter is learning in school.

Fang july

Palong girls in their colourful dresses.












This gecko lives on the walls outside our house. He is doing a good job eating all the bugs! Inside we have an army of smaller house lizards who are taking care of the smaller insects who sneaked pass this big one.




Ben teaching at the English teachers training week in Mae Sai district. A lot of preperation





Jildou handing out some uniforms at Huay Luwang school to some of the poorest children in the Free School class.

Website for more info Hilltribes

Here a link from a website where you can read more about the various Hilltribes. If you click in the right top part of the home page on 'The Tribes' you find an explanation about them.

http://www.hilltribe.org/


If you like to read something about the Palong (also called Palaung or Ta-Ang) go to the following page:

http://www.peoplesoftheworld.org/text?people=Palaung

Shan students in Ban's and Dee's school

This is our teacher Dee whom I wrote about before. She just started a new school with mainly Shan students in the temple from the village. It's a great success and we love to visit. The students were all waiting to show us their work they have done lately and were very proud to show their first attempts to learn to write. On the left you see Dee correcting work and next to her a adult who is also taking this opportunity to develop literacy. She is a serious student and is coming every day. She is a lovely person.

The next photo shows another adult attending Dee's school. He is learning together with his daughter.






This is the new location from teacher Ban! Finally, with the help of Pui, we found a orange farm with a more suitable place for her class. The orange farm also has many Shan workers who are now attending the school as well. None of these Shan people has received education before so the adults, teenagers and children are all learning together. Some of Ban's students who studied with her in the old location are learning in a separate small group because they are a level ahead.
In de previous post (under this one) I collected some reading material about the Shan People. A lot of people think they are a tribal group like Lahu or Lisu; they are not. The Shan or also called Tai Ai are the Burmese refugees fleeing their regime in Burma or now called Myanmar. So for some background info read the following text copied from a web site.

Background Shan people

The text below is taken from the site from the SWAN group; Shan Woman Action Network. The organisation has one of their 12 Shan schools nearby some of our schools and we made contact with the headmaster Terry Brown who comes from Myanmar/ Burma himself.
Free Schools is now supporting 6 children with their transport cost so they can go to that school.

http://www.shanwoman.org/ :
The Shan State is over 64,000 square kilometers in size and forms the eastern part of the Union of Burma bordering China, Laos and Thailand. The people of the Shan State, like in other areas of Burma, suffer from abuse inflicted by the Burmese military regime, which according to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch Asia is amongst the worst in the world. The abuse inflicted on the Shan people by the Burmese military has forced many people to flee for their lives to Thailand.The Thai government, however, does not recognize the Shan people as refugees and unlike the Karen and Karenni refugees, has not allowed them to set up refugees camps along the Thai-Burmese border. Consequently the Shans are forced to enter Thailand illegally, which leaves them extremely vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. Despite this, Shan people are still coming to take refuge in Thailand. The estimated number of Shans working illegally in Thailand is at least 300,000. Among them are many girls and young women who have been trafficked into Thai brothels, where they face a wide range of abuse including sexual and other physical violence, debt bondage, exposure to HIV/AIDS, forced labor without payment and illegal confinement.

Shan refugees fleeing from civil war and ongoing human rights abuses are not recognised as “refugees” in Thailand. They are thus being denied safe refuge and assistance from international aid agencies. Most vulnerable in this situation are the children. As their parents are forced to find work as migrant labourers, often illegally, many of the children end up receiving no schooling whatsoever. Since they are not recognised as “refugees”, they have not been allowed to set up camps and consequently proper schools. Technically all children in Thailand have the right to attend Thai schools. However, there are many difficulties accessing them. Parents doing the “3Ds” job (Dirty, Difficult and Dangerous), are paid so little that sending children to Thai schools is difficult to afford. Parents are often on the move due to the irregularity of work. Also, having illegal status, and confined to the workplace, parents are afraid to leave their work-sites to arrange schooling, fearing arrest. Even if children manage to attend schools, there is a risk to young girls whilst travelling to and from school of being abducted and trafficked. In addition to all these factors, Thai schools teach in Thai only, which Shan children usually do not speak. With children mixing and learning from Thai people, it is possible that Shan language and identity may be lost. The Shan refugee community has strongly expressed wishes to preserve their language and identity for when all Shan people return home.

To all readers of the Blog: Please leave a message

Please leave some sort of comment or message after visiting the Blog.
Just write something about what you have been up to, it doesn't need to be related to the blog at all. I look every day!
Leave you comment by preference in one of the last posted blogs, those are the ones on the top of the page. Click on: 'Leave here a reaction' under the photo's and the text. Than choose 'anonymous' to keep it simple and don't forget to end with your name with your message.
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Love Jildou

A mix of photo's

Jildou, Poy and Ben. Poy is a Free School teacher in Huay Chonu, Palong tribe. During the day she is a kindergarten teacher at Pui's school in Mouang Choum. In the weekend she continues her studies (last part of high school) so she can get e real degree after that.












I think we live in the most beautiful part of Thailand!!!































Evening school in Me Pa Py, a Lahu village, with teacher Suri.













Jildou at teacher training a few weeks ago at Som Diau's school Banwiangfang in Fang.
This week we will prepare to do another teacher training camp in another district. We train the teachers from about 12 different primary and secondary school in the aria. Only some can speak reasonably English so it's not a easy job. But they see us as real professionals so we shouldn't worry to much! Last time I got a serious question about where I went to university to study the subject we just did 'critical thinking',,, well I decided not to be honest to tell them that nothing was prepared because we had no idea what was going to happen until just before the start of that lesson! Use your imagination and think critical!!! Great experience I guess.

Son Char - Government School

The government school Son Char with teacher Kung is a school with only tribal children like Palong and Burmese children; called Tai-Ai or Shan. Because of these demographics the quality of the education is significantly below other government schools with mainly Thai students.


Here not all the students wear uniforms or any clean clothes. Because the rules or not as strict it is more accessible for the children to come to school. But with no real rules you can imagine that the teachers are neither having real rules to follow in their teaching position. It still is great that there are schools, but it is sad that these group children are not taken seriously and are not getting a proper education like Thai children. Free Schools has one teacher in that school to look after the young ones and to teach them the Thai language at the most basic level.

Son Char school is close to Pui's school Mouang Choum were the Nong Tao Six are now going to school. That school has mainly Thai students with a much smaller percentage hill tribes and Shan. The quality of education and the care in Mouang Choum school is really good in comparison with Son Char and even though they fall under the same principles etc, the two schools are worlds apart.












So how are these children getting out of the visiouse circle? The teachers say that 'these groups' do not care to be educated and the hill tribes and Shan say that the Thai teacher do not care for them to be educated.
The tribes are only able to attend 'low quality' school for 'their groups' where they do not need need to wear expensive uniforms and buy schoolbooks. But that means there is no up to date material to really educate them. That doesn't give them a great feeling of belonging in the Thai society and it explains why they stay negative or indifferent towards education and to the Thai people.