Reflections

Due to a quirk in the timetable which sees me in a supporting role for Ms Sharp and Tonkin Clarke tonight, I have now been at Triadhos for over 24 hours all on my own.

This has allowed me to spend some time reflecting on this trip.

I have now spent time supporting and working with students and staff from Shepherd Tyson, Alwyn Cameron and Hancock Crowther - and will be with Tonkin Clarke tonight. Each group of girls has their particular habits and inside jokes, but the one thing that I have noted that each group has in common is their overwhelmingly enthusiastic attitude to this whole program. The other staff members and I have been stopped a number of times by the girls who want to tell us how much they are enjoying a certain aspect of the trip. "Keep this in for next year!" they tell us. I even overheard some students talking about friendships issues the other morning - they were commenting that they had had none!

Perhaps surprisingly, the aspect which the girls seem to have valued the most is the Community Service section of the trip. I say surprisingly because it was tiring and dirty work in the pouring rain, which alternated with oppressive heat; the accomodation was fairly basic; a cold shower to wash off the day's sweat and concrete is certainly not one of the world's greatest pleasures, nor is a thin mattress on a hard floor at the end of a long day. Yet, all of these discomforts have been overlooked by the girls who say they want to go back to Mae Tang - that they could pour concrete forever.  There was a real sense of accomplishment as they finished a slab of concrete - progress that was visible making all the difference. They probably could have played with the kids from the Huay Taang school forever too.

Perhaps you could now put the girls to work at home? If pouring concrete is nothing - maybe washing the dishes or cooking your evening meal will be a breeze too!

It has been a real joy to watch the girls as they enthusisastically threw themselves into all aspects of this trip. They have shown themselves to be resilient (continuing with activities in a torrential downpour), risk takers (fried grasshoppers anyone?) and resourceful (who taught these girls to barter?).

Tonkin Clarke, Hancock Crowther and Alwyn Cameron will all be back on site by tomorrow, in time for the Khantoke Dinner, performance and releasing of the laterns they have made. We will travel to Bangkok late Thursday evening, where we will meet Shepherd Tyson - and then - home.

I am sure that you will thoroughly enjoy hearing their stories when we return. What a life changing experience this has been!

Jacqui Cusack

Racing towards the end of our trip

Learning how to cook - Thai style.

Spring rolls - made from scratch.

Thai Green Chicken Curry - made from scratch.

Bike riding to Sri Lanna National Park

The view on our bike ride.

Getting ready to kayak.

Off to the house boat

A shot of the teachers after a  - deliberate - tumble into the water... the kids took this opportunity to take our paddles. 

But more fool them! We simply hitched a ride with a passing boat.

The heavenly view from the houseboat.

Another view from the landing of the houseboat.

Accomodation on the houseboat.

And another shot.

 A woman from the Long Neck Tribe weaving a scarf.

Some of the VSP staff. From left to right: Mike, Nong and Robert.

Snake whiskey - available for purchase in Laos. It promises to help men's health, among other things...

Photo is take while standing in Thailand. The grassy inlet is Myanmar (Burma) and the land behind that is Laos. This is the Golden Triangle

The White Temple - rivals Gaudi's La Sagrada Famiglia in Barcelona for it's audacious art

Releasing lanterns into the night sky at the final dinner at Triadhos

Fireworks to end the evening.

Northern Paradise

What an amazing couple of days we have had. Every day spent here feels like 3 days rolled into one. We have just come back from the Golden Triangle- one of the most interesting places to visit; with its history of opium growing and selling, the country is rich with stories and political intrigue. We spent the first day of our trip up north cycling to the Sri Lanna National Park- a stunning paradise. The program said an ‘easy ride’ … perhaps if you were Cadell Evans. After two hours on the hard bike seats the trip took it’s toll on a few of us and one by one we dropped off and ended in the support car. I too succumbed, not to physical exertion, but the butt numbing pain of the seat! We then lunched before kayaking out to our house boat- nestled 7kms further down the lake. Every moment was a scene from a movie- the still lake with warm waters, the surrounding mountains with their mist and lush green jungle. Once we reached the houseboat the girls spent hours diving off the platforms into the water and laughing and screaming. That night, after another amazing meal, we sat quietly as the lights swayed in the distance from other boats and the half moon looked on. It was idyllic.

The next day we took a long boat back and then headed further north to Chiang Rai. Here we met the mighty Mekong River for the first time and followed it up to the boarder. On the way we visited the Long Neck Karen tribe- which was for the most part intriguing and disturbing. We stepped into a purpose built village- all for tourist to come and take pictures of the tribe and buy their wares. Your daughters have certainly held up the Thai economy on this trip! And quite honestly it was like a human zoo. In contrast the Akha tribe we visited later in the day welcomed us into their village and explained their customs and daily life, but it was like stepping into another time, rather than a museum of oddities. That night we reached Chiang Seng and supped near the Mekong, whilst looking over and Laos.

The next day we took a boat over to the Laos Island and shopped…again. The girls saw weird and wonderful ‘aphrodisiacs’ in pickled jars, fake Chanel bags and more local wares. It was a thrill to be in another country… technically. We then went further up the river to the Golden Triangle where Burma, Laos and Thailand meet and then on to the Opium Museum. Being a teacher I have seen my fair share of Museums and this was really impressive- it took the students on an interactive journey through the history of Opium and the drug wars, to the economic and social effects of heroin use with quite moving testimonies and case studies. It left an impression on the girls. On the way back to Chiang Mai we stopped at the Wat Rong Khun White Temple- which is Thailand’s answer to Spain’s Gaudi! A surreal and outlandish Buddhist temple.

The trip was ended with a Khantoke dinner and lanterns, fireworks and fire-breathing! We are now packing to go on the Barge and contemplating out final days here in this amazing country.

Marian Haddrick

Down and Dirty at Community Service

In the mist of the hills. We felt like we were in Forks (Twilight reference for those of you who have suffered from your daugter's obsession).

Making bamboo frames for laying the concrete with the enthusiastic assistance of the local school kids.

Smoothing the concrete after it has been poured. A very tricky job.

A well earned ice cream break - the Principal of the school.

Nightly transport back to the accomodation from the working site. It rained every time we used it.

Making breakfast. Who needs a toaster?

Some local students and Ms Cusack.

Our work here is done!!

Attitude with Alwyn

 


  


Barge: TukTuk ride

Barge: Ayutthaya Ancient City

Jungle Cooking, gathering long beans from the Organic Farm

Barge: Market gathering for communal lunch activity

Barge: Ayutthaya Ancient City

Elephant Nature Park

Elephant Nature Park

Organic Farm at Traidhos

Elephant Rescue Park

Pun Pun Organic Farm





   



Children in the Mist

Sheppard have just arrived back from our community service project at the Huay Taad School in the Mae Tang area. The school was built by the Ramin Tea company – the surrounding hillsides on the mountain are covered with tea bushes and the tea is sold by Ramin to Lipton! The tea company funds the school in order to give back to the community that picks its tea. Not long ago the school decided to build a basketball court, however, they ran out of money. So we spent our community service building the court. Hancock lay down three slabs of concrete and we just completed laying down five slabs- so the court is well on it’s way to being finished by the end of the fourth groups stay. The labour is intensive- we are digging the sand and rocks for the concrete (thank god they have a mixer this year!) and then we lug it via buckets to the slab we are laying. The girls worked in all aspects of the job as a team- building the bamboo frames, mixing the concrete, laying and smoothing it out and also finding time to play with the local children- who helped too. We were fortunate that so high up in the mountains it was cool weather and not the sweltering heat of the jungle.

It has been a particularly funny week- full of pranks, teen romance and giant bugs. Each morning that we arrived to the work site a stray dog had walked across the slab we laid the day before, but one morning we were presented with some Thai graffiti! Inscribed in the semi-wet cement was a declaration of love for one of our girls- telling them “ I love (insert girls name here) very much.” The village boys were quite smitten with our girls and found any excuse to visit them and help with the project. The flirted by throwing small rocks at our girls and then giggling and they really enjoyed the water fight on the last day of work.

Our Thai guides have a great sense of humour and are really like big kids. They took a lot of joy out of finding a particularly giant bug or spider and scaring the girls. All the insects up in the mountain have a case of giganticism and are everywhere; in the bedrooms, bathrooms, where we ate and anywhere else! Now who can say that they have had breakfast with a giant Tarantula in a plastic bottle sitting next to them? Ms Cusack and I discovered a huge pre-historic Slater like beetle that when you pressed its tail it glowed… none the less we did not want it in our bedroom.  I do not think I have heard girls squeal so much and so often as this last few days. But our girls got them back; buckets of concrete or water over one guides head, hiding their possessions so they thought they had Alzheimer’s and last night the girls left a present of their filthy work socks from the week in one of the guide’s tent. Everything was taken in good humour… for most of the girls.

This morning before we left we went to the village for a ‘tour’ and then attended mass at the Baptist church… two hours later the service was still going and it was like nothing I had ever seen before. The girls saw is as a real experience and were very patient- but quite a lot of the congregation was asleep or chatting amongst themselves as the time ticked by.

We were sad to leave today- we had been up in the cool misty mountains and had made some new friends. The vast and stunning views sped behind us as we weaved our way back down the mountain and the calls of the children that ran after our trucks followed. The principal had said in broken English “When you go back to Australia, you in my heart. I no forget. Sad.”  And he and the village elder gave us a bag of avocadoes as a gift… it was such a genuine act of gratitude and so very Thai.

Marian Haddrick

Largin it on the Barge

Preparing Alms for the Monks



Jumping Ship



A school visit





Chatting with a Buddhist Nun

Joyful Days

Viengping Children's Home

Dishing out the talc

Getting the talcum dished back!

Monk Chat

The Principal of Bang Pang Hang

We cant show you the girls faces, but these are the umbrellas they painted!