Monday, May 2, 2011
Forgot to write about Saturday! I went hiking up high in the mountains with my friends Dane and Ben. Dane is working with people learning how to grow and distribute coffee for poor farmers. Ben is working at an orphanage teaching English and learning Thai. We drove on motorbikes way up Doi Suthep (Doi means mountain). Past the zoo, past the palace, past the Buddhist temple. Some amazing views up there. I could literally feel the climate change as we drove. It was so hot and humid at home, but nice and cool up at the tip-top of the mountain. We hiked through the woods, and it smelled so much like Seattle! Downside: it was very wet, so there were leeches everywhere! It was so gross. We’d walk like 5 steps and be covered in them, so we’d brush them all off and 5 steps later do it again. These were teeny tiny leeches so they didn’t drain us of blood or anything, mostly they just got stuck to my sneakers and socks until I could pull them off, but still. Ew.
In the evening, I met up with Gabe and Kristen from church. They had brought me a wonderful care package with treats from the states! Of course, now that they’ve gone, I can think of a hundred things I could have asked them to bring for my classroom, but I’ll just make a list for the next care package. ☺ I took them to the Saturday Walking Street and we got some food, they tried some new fruit and meat on a stick and we did a little shopping. Well, them more than me. Still waiting for that money transfer to hit.
Today got up early to go meet Ning at Wararot market so I could go visit her house. We had breakfast and then met Faa, who was buying food for the week for all the kids at the house. We loaded up the truck and headed out to the house. They live in a massive house with a big backyard and swingset. On the first floor is a tv room, dining room, kitchen, Faa’s office, and the boys’ room.
The second floor has a play room, Ning and Bim (the helper)’s room, and both girls’ rooms (3 girls in each). The 3rd floor has Faa’s room, a guest room, a huge wooden porch swing and a wooden table and chairs. Like, carved out of solid wood, not like we have in the US. These things take a lot of strength to move. We had lunch and I had a long talk with Faa and then with Ning about the history and future of The Garden of Hope, what it looks like, what needs to happen, what Ning’s vision for the kids and Taw Saeng is, etc. It was really great to spend some quality time with them and talk in depth about this stuff.
It was super fun hanging out with the kids and seeing their rooms and playing with them. They are really sweet and fun kids. Another American couple came to talk to Faa about setting up a children’s home through their church. It was nice to talk to them too.
The kids seem really happy there and they love Ning and Faa. I am really glad I got to spend the day with them, now I feel like I have a better foundation of friendship with them, and I know where they live so I can go visit again and see the kids. I just love their kids, they are the sweetest things. I would never guess they came from such hard backgrounds of abuse and neglect. Faa is really doing God’s work there and it’s amazing to me that she is only 29!
Bad news, though. As I was driving with Ning and Faa to the house, Ning got a call from Field about Sophie’s mom being in the hospital. Ning and I were just talking about going to see her tomorrow and then this! She’s at the Mae Rim hospital outside the city because she is hill tribe and it’s too expensive to go to the city hospital. I have no clue what is happening with Sophie during this, if she is staying at the hospital or at home or with friends, who knows? I know she is really tight with Winnie, so maybe Winnie’s mom is watching her while her mom is sick. Ning and I are going to see her tomorrow morning at the hospital I hope. It just breaks my heart thinking of that little girl all alone while her mom is in the hospital fighting for her life.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
OK, I was a little overly dramatic last night, it seems. They let Sophie’s mom go home last night so Ning called me at about 9:30pm to tell me to meet her this morning at 9:30am to go pray with Sophie’s mom at 10. Ning rode her motorbike today though, so she was a bit late with traffic and we ended up heading over about 20 minutes later than planned. It didn’t really matter that much though, because when we got there, Sophie’s mom was up and about, running around cooking! Here I thought she’d be laid up in bed, but nope, still making food just like any other day. Today, Winnie’s mom was there helping and they were tearing up banana leaves to make rice pudding.
Field showed up about 2 minutes after we did and sat down and started ripping up banana leaves! I was like, OK, I want in on this action. So I pulled myself over on the mat and started tearing leaves too. I had to use a leaf that Field had done to match the size, but it’s not too hard to tear leaves into pieces, so I did a fair job of it. Then Sophie ran over with some other chairs and disappeared again. Ning said the kids were all watching tv over at Winnie’s house, so I went over with her and saw the other kids and met Winnie’s little brother who is SO CUTE and has the longest eyelashes! He looks exactly like a male version of Winnie with big eyes and a sweet smile. We came back to Sophie’s house and watched the girls help their moms stuff the leaves with rice pudding to cook in a big pot on an open fire. Quite the cultural experience. All this time, Sophie’s mom is still walking around cooking and doing things. Inna and I said she should be resting, but Ning said that hill tribe people can’t just lay and do nothing, they always need to be busy. I know that feeling. I HATE being sick and not able to do anything. Even when I had a 105 degree fever with dengue fever, I still tried to watch tv and cook food. That did not go so well for me, but Sophie’s mom is a strong woman!
After the pudding was on to cook, their Akha pastor came over, along with about 8 other people from their little community and we sang some Akha songs. It’s cool, Akha is written in English letters! I think this is because when missionaries first came to Thailand, Akha was only a spoken language, not written. When missionaries wanted to translate the Bible into Akha, there was no language to do it with, so they just wrote it down in the characters they knew. I read that this is how the Hmong written language came about, and since they are also a Thai hill tribe, I think maybe the same thing happened with Akha people.
Anyway, we sang songs for a bit, then everyone sat around Sophie’s mom and laid hands on her to pray for her. It turns out that what is happening is kidney failure, and she has to get dialysis twice a week at the hospital. This costs 2000 baht per time. This is about $67 per treatment. This doesn’t seem like a lot, but for people who are living at this level of poverty, it could be a month’s salary. Imagine spending that twice a week for the rest of your future. Of course, dialysis is not a cure for kidney failure, it’s a stop-gap measure. What she really needs is a kidney transplant. This will cost much more, but it will ensure a longer life for her.
After we prayed for Sophie’s mom, someone went to get Sophie and we all prayed over her too. I am just so worried for this kid. I’m really glad we all prayed over her. I don’t even understand a small amount of Akha, but I think it really affected Sophie, since that’s like her heart language. You know how when you are fluent in another language but it’s not your first? If someone says they love you or asks how you are in your second language, it means something to you, and you appreciate it, but if they say I love you in your first language, that hits your heart in a whole different way. I think the same is true for prayers. When our team came in November, I’m sure just knowing we were praying was a big help to them, but hearing someone pray for you in your own language is so much more powerful.
On the way back to TS, we stopped for lunch at a dim sum place. Yummy!!! I got a call from the guy whose bike I want to buy, so I set up a meeting with him at 12:30 and then called my buddy Ben who knows about motorbikes to come meet me and take a look at it as well.
We saw the bike and it’s a British guy selling it, but he’s lived here for 30 years and is now going back to England. He’s selling it for only 10,000 baht, which is a pretty good price for a Honda. It equates to about $333 US. Even if I have to get some stuff fixed on it, it will still be cheaper than getting a really expensive bike. Ben took a look and thinks that it’s enough to get me around the city for a year, but I probably won’t be able to sell it for much at the end of the year. Still, I think it is better to spend a little and not recoup it then to drop a bunch of money on something newer. I think I’ll look at it once more and take it for another ride before I commit for sure. It does feel like a God thing. I mean, Inna just happened to be at the bike shop when this guy happened to be selling exactly the kind of bike I want to get for exactly what I want to spend. Then, he didn’t call me until my money had gotten transferred from the US, so it seems like all these things are falling into place for a reason. Plus, I really need a bike!
Today was day one of phonetics, but I didn’t really do anything with it yet. Instead, the kids made a sign that says PENGUINS! That is our class name so we are embracing it full force. Field had the kids make up a little motion for their group name and it was adorable. The little ones are dolphins and they make a diving gesture with their hands and all JUMP at the same time and dive into the floor. My kids are not sold on the idea of penguins yet, so they don’t really have a motion yet. We’ll work on that. The older kids are all about their tiger name. They love doing the tiger motion, especially Sophie, she was the one to really get the other kids to follow her in doing a big tiger motion.
Today I only had four kids! Wow, what a difference from 10 to 4. They are so good and quiet, I almost didn’t know what to do with myself. We are working on memorizing a Bible verse but we are also starting to work on vowels, so I am going to have them circle all the vowels and we will learn all the different sounds that vowels can make. Should be interesting with my limited Thai to try to explain this. Dude, English is hard! There are so many rules and almost as many exceptions to the rules. We will see how it goes. I also have to keep in mind that I need to come up with a drama for them to do at the end of the quarter to show that they have learned what all the letters sound like, so that will be a nice test of my teaching skills as well as their learning skills, haha.
Forgot to write about Saturday! I went hiking up high in the mountains with my friends Dane and Ben. Dane is working with people learning how to grow and distribute coffee for poor farmers. Ben is working at an orphanage teaching English and learning Thai. We drove on motorbikes way up Doi Suthep (Doi means mountain). Past the zoo, past the palace, past the Buddhist temple. Some amazing views up there. I could literally feel the climate change as we drove. It was so hot and humid at home, but nice and cool up at the tip-top of the mountain. We hiked through the woods, and it smelled so much like Seattle! Downside: it was very wet, so there were leeches everywhere! It was so gross. We’d walk like 5 steps and be covered in them, so we’d brush them all off and 5 steps later do it again. These were teeny tiny leeches so they didn’t drain us of blood or anything, mostly they just got stuck to my sneakers and socks until I could pull them off, but still. Ew.
In the evening, I met up with Gabe and Kristen from church. They had brought me a wonderful care package with treats from the states! Of course, now that they’ve gone, I can think of a hundred things I could have asked them to bring for my classroom, but I’ll just make a list for the next care package. ☺ I took them to the Saturday Walking Street and we got some food, they tried some new fruit and meat on a stick and we did a little shopping. Well, them more than me. Still waiting for that money transfer to hit.
Today got up early to go meet Ning at Wararot market so I could go visit her house. We had breakfast and then met Faa, who was buying food for the week for all the kids at the house. We loaded up the truck and headed out to the house. They live in a massive house with a big backyard and swingset. On the first floor is a tv room, dining room, kitchen, Faa’s office, and the boys’ room.
The second floor has a play room, Ning and Bim (the helper)’s room, and both girls’ rooms (3 girls in each). The 3rd floor has Faa’s room, a guest room, a huge wooden porch swing and a wooden table and chairs. Like, carved out of solid wood, not like we have in the US. These things take a lot of strength to move. We had lunch and I had a long talk with Faa and then with Ning about the history and future of The Garden of Hope, what it looks like, what needs to happen, what Ning’s vision for the kids and Taw Saeng is, etc. It was really great to spend some quality time with them and talk in depth about this stuff.
It was super fun hanging out with the kids and seeing their rooms and playing with them. They are really sweet and fun kids. Another American couple came to talk to Faa about setting up a children’s home through their church. It was nice to talk to them too.
The kids seem really happy there and they love Ning and Faa. I am really glad I got to spend the day with them, now I feel like I have a better foundation of friendship with them, and I know where they live so I can go visit again and see the kids. I just love their kids, they are the sweetest things. I would never guess they came from such hard backgrounds of abuse and neglect. Faa is really doing God’s work there and it’s amazing to me that she is only 29!
Bad news, though. As I was driving with Ning and Faa to the house, Ning got a call from Field about Sophie’s mom being in the hospital. Ning and I were just talking about going to see her tomorrow and then this! She’s at the Mae Rim hospital outside the city because she is hill tribe and it’s too expensive to go to the city hospital. I have no clue what is happening with Sophie during this, if she is staying at the hospital or at home or with friends, who knows? I know she is really tight with Winnie, so maybe Winnie’s mom is watching her while her mom is sick. Ning and I are going to see her tomorrow morning at the hospital I hope. It just breaks my heart thinking of that little girl all alone while her mom is in the hospital fighting for her life.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
OK, I was a little overly dramatic last night, it seems. They let Sophie’s mom go home last night so Ning called me at about 9:30pm to tell me to meet her this morning at 9:30am to go pray with Sophie’s mom at 10. Ning rode her motorbike today though, so she was a bit late with traffic and we ended up heading over about 20 minutes later than planned. It didn’t really matter that much though, because when we got there, Sophie’s mom was up and about, running around cooking! Here I thought she’d be laid up in bed, but nope, still making food just like any other day. Today, Winnie’s mom was there helping and they were tearing up banana leaves to make rice pudding.
Field showed up about 2 minutes after we did and sat down and started ripping up banana leaves! I was like, OK, I want in on this action. So I pulled myself over on the mat and started tearing leaves too. I had to use a leaf that Field had done to match the size, but it’s not too hard to tear leaves into pieces, so I did a fair job of it. Then Sophie ran over with some other chairs and disappeared again. Ning said the kids were all watching tv over at Winnie’s house, so I went over with her and saw the other kids and met Winnie’s little brother who is SO CUTE and has the longest eyelashes! He looks exactly like a male version of Winnie with big eyes and a sweet smile. We came back to Sophie’s house and watched the girls help their moms stuff the leaves with rice pudding to cook in a big pot on an open fire. Quite the cultural experience. All this time, Sophie’s mom is still walking around cooking and doing things. Inna and I said she should be resting, but Ning said that hill tribe people can’t just lay and do nothing, they always need to be busy. I know that feeling. I HATE being sick and not able to do anything. Even when I had a 105 degree fever with dengue fever, I still tried to watch tv and cook food. That did not go so well for me, but Sophie’s mom is a strong woman!
After the pudding was on to cook, their Akha pastor came over, along with about 8 other people from their little community and we sang some Akha songs. It’s cool, Akha is written in English letters! I think this is because when missionaries first came to Thailand, Akha was only a spoken language, not written. When missionaries wanted to translate the Bible into Akha, there was no language to do it with, so they just wrote it down in the characters they knew. I read that this is how the Hmong written language came about, and since they are also a Thai hill tribe, I think maybe the same thing happened with Akha people.
Anyway, we sang songs for a bit, then everyone sat around Sophie’s mom and laid hands on her to pray for her. It turns out that what is happening is kidney failure, and she has to get dialysis twice a week at the hospital. This costs 2000 baht per time. This is about $67 per treatment. This doesn’t seem like a lot, but for people who are living at this level of poverty, it could be a month’s salary. Imagine spending that twice a week for the rest of your future. Of course, dialysis is not a cure for kidney failure, it’s a stop-gap measure. What she really needs is a kidney transplant. This will cost much more, but it will ensure a longer life for her.
After we prayed for Sophie’s mom, someone went to get Sophie and we all prayed over her too. I am just so worried for this kid. I’m really glad we all prayed over her. I don’t even understand a small amount of Akha, but I think it really affected Sophie, since that’s like her heart language. You know how when you are fluent in another language but it’s not your first? If someone says they love you or asks how you are in your second language, it means something to you, and you appreciate it, but if they say I love you in your first language, that hits your heart in a whole different way. I think the same is true for prayers. When our team came in November, I’m sure just knowing we were praying was a big help to them, but hearing someone pray for you in your own language is so much more powerful.
On the way back to TS, we stopped for lunch at a dim sum place. Yummy!!! I got a call from the guy whose bike I want to buy, so I set up a meeting with him at 12:30 and then called my buddy Ben who knows about motorbikes to come meet me and take a look at it as well.
We saw the bike and it’s a British guy selling it, but he’s lived here for 30 years and is now going back to England. He’s selling it for only 10,000 baht, which is a pretty good price for a Honda. It equates to about $333 US. Even if I have to get some stuff fixed on it, it will still be cheaper than getting a really expensive bike. Ben took a look and thinks that it’s enough to get me around the city for a year, but I probably won’t be able to sell it for much at the end of the year. Still, I think it is better to spend a little and not recoup it then to drop a bunch of money on something newer. I think I’ll look at it once more and take it for another ride before I commit for sure. It does feel like a God thing. I mean, Inna just happened to be at the bike shop when this guy happened to be selling exactly the kind of bike I want to get for exactly what I want to spend. Then, he didn’t call me until my money had gotten transferred from the US, so it seems like all these things are falling into place for a reason. Plus, I really need a bike!
Today was day one of phonetics, but I didn’t really do anything with it yet. Instead, the kids made a sign that says PENGUINS! That is our class name so we are embracing it full force. Field had the kids make up a little motion for their group name and it was adorable. The little ones are dolphins and they make a diving gesture with their hands and all JUMP at the same time and dive into the floor. My kids are not sold on the idea of penguins yet, so they don’t really have a motion yet. We’ll work on that. The older kids are all about their tiger name. They love doing the tiger motion, especially Sophie, she was the one to really get the other kids to follow her in doing a big tiger motion.
Today I only had four kids! Wow, what a difference from 10 to 4. They are so good and quiet, I almost didn’t know what to do with myself. We are working on memorizing a Bible verse but we are also starting to work on vowels, so I am going to have them circle all the vowels and we will learn all the different sounds that vowels can make. Should be interesting with my limited Thai to try to explain this. Dude, English is hard! There are so many rules and almost as many exceptions to the rules. We will see how it goes. I also have to keep in mind that I need to come up with a drama for them to do at the end of the quarter to show that they have learned what all the letters sound like, so that will be a nice test of my teaching skills as well as their learning skills, haha.
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