Meet Nadja, a med student from Holland who is volunteering for the summer with an organization that provides a boarding school and nurseries for migrant families working in villages near the border. I forget the name of the organization, but it's run by a Dutch woman named Astra, who knows pretty much all of the expats in town. Nadja is a fellow lonely soul here in MHS, and I am grateful that I can call her up whenever I am in need of company! (Plus, she has a motorbike!) In this photo, we are having drinks at Crossroads, the only relatively cool bar/hangout in town, where you can always find other expats!
I usually buy dinner from these vendors on my way home from the office. They set up every night along the lake and sell everything from fish, soup, sticky rice, barbequed pork and chicken skewers, fried chicken, noodles, and smoothies to traditional handicrafts and jewelry.
Here's a shot of the vendors in daylight. Note the rainbow in the background! The sun was still shining, but you can also see the darkening sky in the distance.
After I took the picture of the rainbow, I sat in this gazebo and ate my fruit salad (mango, pineapple, papaya, watermelon), which I had bought along the way for 30 baht (~$1), as the winds grew stronger and the storm clouds moved in. When it finally started to rain, I was joined by some junior high-aged kids still in their school uniforms, and we watched it rain over the lake together. It was like a scene out of a movie! :)
I love to see the wat all lit up at night!
This is a view from the other gazebo on the lake. On this particular night, Nadja and I sat here and talked while mosquitoes feasted on us. (It's a hopeless battle against the bugs, but I think I'm winning so long as I don't get dengue fever or malaria!)[Friday, 6/12]
On Friday, Mu Gay and I went into Camp to attend the monthly Child Protection Forum (CPF), which is attended by various camp-based organizations (Karenni Youth Organization, Karenni Women’s Organization, Karenni Education Department, Women’s Community Centre) as well as NGOs like UNHCR, IRC’s GBV, COERR, TBBC, etc. Yuval from UNHCR presented a new initiative for dealing with child perpetrators; I presented the CSO program, particularly as it pertains to juvenile offenders, and then we discussed how the two programs will work together. Our presentations were just the first two items on an agenda of about 15-20 items, but the discussion went well past lunchtime! Meetings in Camp are usually all-day affairs. Part of the reason these meetings go so long is because of the language issues. In any given meeting, it's not uncommon to have Burmese, Thai, and English speakers, not to mention all of the Burmese ethnic languages, such as Karen, Karenni, and Shan.
The meeting was held in a building called the "Child-Friendly Space," which was set up by COERR, a Catholic organization, with the support of UNHCR.
Another shot of the Child-Friendly Space.
A picture taken during the afternoon session, after the lunch break, which involved endless discussion about how to solve the problem of youth escaping from Camp to earn money in town or in the surrounding villages ("illegal presence"), which is also a huge problem among adults--and who can blame them?[Saturday, 6/13]
I woke up early Saturday morning to climb the mountain that overlooks the lake. It was a glorious experience! I think people should retreat to mountains if they want to feel close to God. If this isn't worship, I don't know what is! There's a wat at the top, as well as a cafe called the Sunset Cafe, but it wasn't open yet. I'm told that the view at sunset is incredible, so I will have to go back on a day when it isn't so gosh-darn hot!
The view from the top. There's sleepy little MHS! My pictures really don't do justice to this place!
It was still early morning, but by the time I reached the bottom of the mountain again, I was drenched with sweat, so I decided to cool off at my favorite Saturday hangout--Pok's!
I <3 their smoothies, but they cost a fortune by MHS standards!
It's such a charming little place! Have a great weekend, everyone! Miss you guys! E-mail me your addresses if you want a postcard from Thailand! :)
Keep the updates coming! My mom just informed me that I received a postcard from you about a week ago. Thanks so much! Can't wait to read it when I get home in August.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I didn't know there is music on here and it just started blaring and freaking me out.
Miss you, Sarah! Thanks for sharing these pics! :)
ReplyDelete-Courtney