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!

Ma! The rain's a comin!



Walking to Bang Pang Primary in the Wet



The past few days have been all sorts of wet. And we have been treated with a minor tropical storm and flooding. Traffic has been a bit chaotic and we have had to walk when the buses couldn’t go any further- the students have taken it in their stride and have enjoyed the cooler weather. Singing in the rain- “Under my Umbrella” has been a favourite.

Yesterday we had the fortune of visiting the Vienping Children’s Home- a government run orphanage in Chiang Mai. The children are mostly abandoned and the majority are girls. They have a great educational program there and children stay there until their late teens. Adoptions are common and after spending time with these children you can see why. They were affectionate, playful and the girls just loved them.

We had a lesson in Thai Massage, visited the Big Market- where China meets India, chatted with the Monks and then the Night Bazaar- where the girls used their pro bartering skills… some of your daughters are quite ruthless!

Today we visited the Bang Pang Hang Primary school that we worked for last year on Community Service. It was such a joy to return and see the Sala we built last year still standing strong and being used. The 2010 Year 9’s had raised money last year by knitting a blanket and then raffling it off- I bought the money with us and it went towards a much needed fridge and sports equipment. We couldn’t lug the fridge up the boggy hill roads today, but we brought the sports equipment along and had a great time with the kids. The school’s Principal was very grateful and he was so glad to see us visit again this year.

One of the fun games we played with the children was ‘Pass the baby powder’. Sitting in a circle they passed the powder around and when the music stopped the person holding the powder got to smear it on another persons face. It was hilarious- no language needed for “Who looks funny with a powder face?”

We then visited Mok Fa Falls. Due to the rains it was raging! This is a massive waterfall on a dry day, but it was enormous and powerful today- far too strong to swim under like last year so we played in the river lower down and ‘rode the currents’. Ms Cusack and I both took large tumbles on the slimy rocks- sliding down like a water slide- a source of great amusement for all. We both agreed that we both felt like we were five again and loved it.

Hancock arrived back to Triadhos today and went straight to the Night Market and Tonkin arrived back from the Barge. Amazing photos to follow…

Marian Haddrick

Hancock - Community Service Project in Mae Taeng Area

Our Community Service Project this year, involves the building of a basketball court for the Huay Taad School. So here are girls preparing the footings for the cement slab

Using all manual tools it is quite a labour intensive exercise

Children from the school help out

A game with X Man at the end of a hard day cement mixing is lots of fun

The beautiful landscape enhanced by low lying cloud

Breathtakingly beautiful, this is a place of serenity and peace