Mai Chai Bouey Kem Me: Don't Use Chemical Fertilizer!

The food/agriculture unit homestay has come to an end.  These last six days were filled with excitement and unbelievable experiences.  I cannot share everything from this past week, but I’ll go over the highlights.

First stop, Roi Et province.  We stayed in a village that was in transition from non organic to organic farming, so almost every family had pigs to make their organic fertilizer.  We got a tour of some farms, and they really tried to make it interactive.  So, I got to plant a banana tree!  (picture included). 

Before heading to Yasothon province, the location of our last homestay of the unit, we stopped in Masaharaka to  observe our future families protesting the use of chemicals in farming.  The speakers brought some to tears as they spoke of the horrors that have come as adverse effects, and the passion of these people to protect their livelihood was an unbelievable thing to watch.  Wearing green, just as the organic market they participate in is the Green Market, the street was flooded with signs and images of pesticides.  This peaceful demonstration showed more than just what chemicals can do—it showed the importance of community.  These individuals came together for a cause, and their community is shown through both the market and the signs floating down the street.

I loved my family at this homestay.  Paw and I were surprisingly able to communicate a lot and so I got to learn about both he and Meh’s farming practices and lives.  Both have lived in the village their entire lives, and have been farming organically for 12 years now.  We took the tractor out to the farm and came back with a bounty of delicious treats.  A green papaya for Som Tom, a local dish, long beans, peanuts, sugar cane, okra, and my favorite—passion fruit.  I got to learn about the different type of rice that he grows, and then that day we stayed up late and helped prepare for the market.  Weighing peppers, sorting veggies, carrying coconuts, and watching as Meh prepared the banana leaf wrapped coconut, rice, banana snacks.  We woke early (4:00) to meet our parents at the market, and help sold their rice and treats. (My time at local farmer’s markets paid off, because I would not allow for bargaining).

 

Our week came to an end after our last exchange with a local government official who was very passionate about hating TNCs.  This past week was a great first unit trip—personal connections were formed and we got a real insight into the issues.  These next 10 days in Khon Kaen will be rough because I can’t wait to get back into the villages.

(Oh! I almost forgot… if you put a green mango into a box for a few days, it ripens perfectly!  It’s a very useful skill when mangos are not in season) 

Laying the Bricks for Photography

 Nic Dunlop, a photographer came and taught a photography workshop—so I thought it only fitting that I show what I came up with.  Out instructions were to take an establishment shot, a profile, a detail shot, an action and then a fifth of any of those.  We had to tell a story, no children and no monks allowed.

So I headed off through the streets and decided, despite the heat and blaring sun, to venture down the street I had not been down yet.  I first found myself in a neighborhood, then at a resort, and finally I came upon a bustling street with lots of excitement and potential subjects.  All the pictures were to be of the same subject, so I wanted something new (and boy did I find it)

 I came upon this brick building in construction and thought, why not?  There was a young guy working the brick pulley, and seeing as I had never seen this orange contraption before, it fit.  He spoke a little English, I speak a little (real little) Thai, so we were kind of able to communicate.  He had decided I was going to come back later when he got off  and hang out with him and his friend…I knew I had to come back to get more pictures in the afternoon, so I did as the Thais do, and smiled.

I took a few good shots, and got my establishing shot (pictured right), but needed more for sure. Only problem was, I wandered to get there—needless to say I got lost coming back.  I was uncertain if I could find it again.  I did though, and it was worth the walk.

My friend from earlier in the day was gone, so I wandered around the construction site.  I then saw this woman on the stairs, asked if I could take her picture, and afterward she directed me upstairs.  I scaled the edge of the building (for like 2 feet) and spoke with three women, in broken Thai and English.  One may have told me she wants an American boyfriend…but I am pretty sure she had kids… I don’t know.  Language barriers.

It was an amazing experience, and although conversation may not have been perfect, I think I was able to capture my experience through the photos.

A Week That Felt Like Class, Including Saturday and Sunday

Our week of background lectures comes to a close today, and in our "alternative education model," it wont be returning. To talk about all of them, being four-hour lectures each would both bore you and possibly imprison me in Thailand.  I will draw attention to some of the highlights though.  The Thai History and Politics lecture was so intriguing.  This country has such an interesting past and present—it is truly captivating.  The first lecture we had, on Human Rights was given by the most amazing woman I have met here.  I should set the scene…

When we have exchanges (I’ll get to that later), or lectures we are told to dress in “polite” attire.  This means skirts past the knees and covered shoulders for girls (or our nifty, yes NIFTY, school uniforms).  Our lecturer, the Chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Commission on Human Rights, walked in wearing jeans and a jean jacket that faded into lace at the bottom.  And let me tell you, not one of us doubted her for a second.  She spoke with such confidence and passion for the subject, and to put it bluntly- she was a total boss.  I learned after the lecture she was once at a big party with Henry Kissinger and happened to be next to him on the buffet line.  So naturally she took that as her opportunity to tell him everything she thought he had done wrong.  I could not stop writing as she spoke to us, and her wisdom on Human Rights was profound to say the least. 

The second half of the week was spent on our “mock-unit”, which is on HIV/AIDS.  We had an exchange (a question and answer forum structure) with TNP+, which is a network for people in Thailand living with HIV/AIDS.  After the question answer period and an activity that demonstrated the spread of the virus using water cups and food dye, we got to visit a home of a person living with HIV/AIDS.  What an experience.  I must say first, that in a country where the culture seems to avoid the topic of sex, its is amazing how open both the organization heads and the individuals were with us.  In small groups at the home visits (the house I went to is pictured), we were free to ask all questions and I was overwhelmed with knowledge.  The juxtaposition between Montclair and the community I visited were so drastically different.  Here, the “norm” is to be ostracized, whereas at home neighbors seem to do anything they can to help.  The man I spoke with knows that the disease cannot be transmitted through objects, but still insists on having separate soap, and cups, and plates from his family to ensure his two daughters’ and wife’s protection.  The struggle to fight the silence surrounding sex is obviously a struggle for education, and it makes the condom caravan at school seem like a godsend of information.

In other news, there is a family of geckos living in my room.  I’m not too concerned because as a friend put it when I was initially freaked out, “They are more afraid of me than I am of eating shellfish.” 

And how do you turn a mango yellow? …more on that to come.

I Want to Hold Your Hand, and Get Back on the Bus

The Beatles had people in complete awe of them, wanting nothing more than to be near them. Now, I would not say I have John Lennon status here in Thailand, but at school in the village the children certainly wanted to hold my hand.  In fact, all of us had 3-4 Thai kids ranging in age from 6 to 13 hanging off of us at any moment in time.  For our third day in the community, instead of Thai class, we had a “Thai Fun Activity”, consisting of us playing games with kids at school, and then us teaching them an activity.  Thank you summer camps because we all quickly agreed to teach them “Baby Shark”, and out second was “The Banana Song”.  If you are unfamiliar with these, I highly recommend learning them, because just as I thought they would never come in handy again—I was mistaken.  They joy that came from these kids was indescribable.  Later at our homestays, we had kids doing the hand motions, asking us to sing it again.

My homestay could probably be best described by the final night.  Until the last night it was a lot of observing and eating.  I didn’t really feel a strong connection to my family, and it was not the easiest three days of my life. It did however have a very happy ending on our last night when the entire village gathered at my neighbor’s house and we had what I am calling a block party.  There was music, all the students ate a meal together prepared by many families, and we danced into the night (meaning like 8:00 because that is normal bed time in villages)

These past few days in Khon Kaen have given us a time to actually explore the city and get a hold of public transportation. Saung Taos, which are “buses” where you sit on benches on the flat of a pick-up truck with a roof, have been an exciting way of exploring.  For instance, last night as we tried to get to this Italian place for dinner, we were supposed to switch buses.  This of course we did not know, and ended up past the slums and far from the city.  As the Saung Tao slowed to a stop the nine of us looked at each other, and got off hesitantly as we were kicked off by the driver.  The fear started to set it for sure but luckily, there was one store with its light on, and the two women in the pharmacy spoke a little English.  We had them call a cab for us, because we had NO CLUE where we were.  Seeing as cab drivers have numbers but do not answer their phones, we were stuck.  At that moment, another Saung Tao drove up and we had the women ask them to drive us to the hotel down the street from the restaurant.  At the price of 200 bhat, it was totally worth it.  So our personal taxi Saung Tao drove us back down the shady roads, and the night concluded with a delicious pizza.  (I absolutely LOVE Thai food, but as a true American, I really missed pizza).  Another adventure, another night in Thailand.