Saturday, September 10, 2011

Thailand - Final Reflections

 Why Thailand?  My friends aren't the only ones who ask me that when I go. Sometimes I myself wonder why I go to Thailand. Those who know me well know that there's very little that would normally draw me to a country like Thailand.  My roots are European and thus in terms of culture and history I'm drawn more to the European culture. I've spent very little if any time studying the cultures of any Asian country to be honest. Further, I'm not one who enjoys the tropics - be they Asian, Caribbean, etc. I suffer in the heat and humidity and the accompanying reptilian and insect life that are found in the tropics quite frankly terrify me. Having lizards of various sizes hovering over my door is most unsettling to me.

In addition, Thailand is as foreign to my culture as it can possibly be. Their culture and history dates back many many centuries. My American culture is only a little over 200 years old, thus my sense of history and time is completely different than theirs. Our alphabets have nothing in common so I can't make out words on signs or food labels and have to hope for English translations to be provided. Their language is tonal - our is, well, confusing (at least to anyone trying to learn it).

So, why Thailand.

There are four very very important people in my life who've been my closest and dearest friends for over two decades:  Jon & Kathy Dybdahl and Vie & Pedrito Maynard-Reid. Both sets of friends have extremely diverse backgrounds - Dybdahls have Scandinavian and mid-west roots, Maynard-Reids have Jamaican and Panamanian roots. But both ended up in Walla Walla and both have a connection to Thailand. 

My first trip to Thailand brought these two worlds together in a beautiful way. This first trip involved a project at Chiang Mai Adventist Academy. Jon & Kathy started this school for the Hmong hill tribe people back in the 1970s. They literally started with nothing. Jon negotiated the purchase of land for the school by working with tribal elders or chiefs (if I have the story correct). They had no electricity or running water when they started. Their two oldest children were born here. Pedrito led his first mission trip to Thailand to Chiang Mai Academy with plans to conduct programs for the school children and to help with construction on a new dorm for the elementary boys. On this trip were Jon & Kathy's oldest daughter, Jonna, her husband, Monty, and their three daughters, Alex, Tori, and Kristi. For me, that first trip was the most meaningful.  Getting to be there at the same time with Jonna while she introduced her family to the home of her childhood was a great experience. All the more meaningful in later years because Jonna is no longer with us.

That first trip also held special meaning because that is when I meant Komchan. The sweetest little boy I'd ever seen, but one who looked far too sad for a boy his age. He was only seven then and I learned that he'd recently lost both his parents and was having to live with his aunt. I became his sponsor on that trip and continue to be that even today. Now when I return to Thailand Pedrito graciously incorporates a trip to Chiang Mai, in part so I can spend a day with Komchan. In fact, even on the years I don't accompany his team, Pedrito makes a special point of spending a day with Komchan - for which I am eternally grateful.

My second trip to Thailand coincided quite nicely with a trip that Jon & Kathy's son, Paul, and his family, were also making to Thailand. By now Pedrito was working exclusively out of Mission College (now Asia-Pacific International University (APIU)). Jon & Kathy started this university as well, with Jon initially serving as President.  Paul and his family spent that summer teaching at the college and their family joined our team in several endeavors. (I'm hoping that one day I'll be in Thailand at the same time as Jon & Kathy's youngest daughter, Krista and her family, it would sorta make the story complete).

After that first year in Chiang Mai, Pedrito has since focused his work on projects around APIU and the neighboring town of Muak Lek. Establishing one place to work and live each year has made logistics considerably easier. And returning to the same place every year allows for establishing long-term relationships with the people in the area.

One of those projects is Mr. Prasarn's farm and working with his wife, Nang. As previously mentioned in other blogs, due to a train accident, Mr. Prasarn is no longer able to work on the farm as he is completely disabled. Thus it falls to his wife to keep it running. They have no electricity and no plumbing. They live off the land. Some students from APIU come out to help with various tasks and that helps keep them going. There's also someone who comes down from northern Thailand and helps out for 3 months each year.

On my last trip to Thailand I worked on the farm and enjoyed the work itself (not the conditions so much but the actual type of work). Pedrito usually organizes at least two main projects on these trips - teaching English at area schools and working on the farm. I'm at a complete loss as to what to do with large groups of children so I always choose the farm. Doing some good honest physical labor is a nice change of pace from my daily job in the States in which I never leave my desk. This trip I knew I wanted to come back to the farm. The projects were completely different - last trip I helped harvest corn and sweet sop. This year we spent the first week trying to rebuild washed-out roads (the second week we focused on the crops - weeding chili pepper and bean fields, fertilizing corn, etc.). The work on the roads was physically exhausting and seemed overwhelming. Then it was discouraging because the rains came and stopped our work on the roads completely. But in retrospect, maybe it all worked out. I'm not sure we could have kept up the level of labor we were putting in if we'd spent both weeks working on the road. It was discouraging when the rains came because we really wanted to see the project finished, but we raised enough money and set plans in motion so that we know that it will be finished even if we're not there.

And that was just one of the amazing aspects of this trip. The bulk of the team worked on the farm everyday. They raised their own money to come on this trip and they came out and worked like beasts of burden every day in the heat, humidity, and torrential downpours. They encouraged each other when the going got tough and just had a great attitude about the whole experience. When it quickly became evident that the original 10 loads of gravel that we'd raised money for was not near enough to complete the job, they pooled their own money together and some called home and raised more funds to help with the project. 

But they did even more - everyone fell in love with Nang. She couldn't speak or understand a word of English, and we couldn't speak a word of Thai. Yet we communicated everyday. Smiles, laughter, hugs, and tears are universal and speak when words can't. At the end of our stay the team wanted to get Nang a new set of work clothes. The pants she wore everyday were mended and remended but the cloth had worn so much there wasn't much left to mend. So they pooled their funds and bought a new set of work clothes. Plus we bought food for her pet dogs, which touched her deeply. The dogs have to live on the same fruits and vegetables that the people live on and that's not an adequate diet for animals who need meat. This team did all of that in addition to showing up and working each day. These were profound moments. Nang cried as we said goodbye - we all cried. There's so much there to do and we provided what seemed like only a drop in the bucket. Yet we know we made a difference.




 Ultimately, I think going to Thailand helps put life itself in perspective. Thailand is a developing country. In terms of technology we had everything we were used to here in the states - cell phones, internet, TV, etc. I personally had hot water for my showers and air conditioning for my room. I was blessed in that respect (especially since the girls staying in the dorm had cold showers every day - for the record, I did offer to let them use mine but nobody wanted to hike across campus to do so - even though mine was sans cockroaches!). But in terms of living conditions, for a HUGE portion of the population Thailand has miles to go. Most people are just getting by. They live in houses made of sheets of aluminum with no electricity or running water. They just barely eek out a living each day - selling food on the street corner or hocking wares at the night markets. But the people don't seem to complain. Would they like better? I'm sure they would. Do they make the best of what they have? Most definitely.

I learn things coming to Thailand. For one - we Americans WASTE far too much. When you live in poverty you use and reuse everything and nothing goes to waste. Second, we Americans have too many options. Just look at our grocery stores. They're HUGE. Look at how many brands and flavors we have just for our breakfast cereals. It's crazy. Finally, I think we in America simply HAVE too much - of so much more than we need. I realize this each time I've traveled, whether it be to Thailand, Africa, or the Caribbean. We simply have too much - and we spend most of our lives trying to get more. Some of the people I've met and worked with these past couple weeks have probably never eaten dinner at a restaurant - even a MacDonalds. What we spend on CDs, or going to the movies, or having a Starbucks coffee every day would provide them with food on the table, or electricity, or some other thing that we would consider a necessity as opposed to a luxury. And a lot of what we consider necessities really aren't. I learn that every time I travel to another culture - I just wish I could remember it longer.



I've been asked why I go overseas and work in a country that has conditions I find unpleasant, people I don't know, and a language I don't understand when I could be helping people right at home. It's a valid question - and it reminds me that I should be finding ways to help people at home. But if I only focused on work here in the States then I would miss out on experiencing another culture and that's an amazing experience all by itself. Learning about other ways of believing and other ways of seeing the world, revisiting what's really important in life -- those are priceless experiences. Getting away from my comfort zone may be difficult but it is ultimately a good thing. Doing it in a place where I find a connection with four of my closest friends -- well, that was just icing on the cake.

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for all your inspiring blogs! And thanks for being such an integral part of the success of this venture.
    Blessings

    ReplyDelete