How it happened

As mentioned in the previous post, a prominent monk was killed the day before yesterday. I went to the service to pay respects (you get none if you give none). I met his brother who told us what happened. Many people owe the temple money and they decided to clean up their finances and the monk was the only one who knew all of the information. One man apparently did not like this idea and hired a assassin. The assassin's brother over heard the conversation but did not know who was to be killed.

The monk was to have a meeting with a banker (who I also met last night), but the banker was late. The monk went to the bathroom where the killer was waiting. He shot him from a few meters away as he was leaving the toilet. The bullet went through the heart and he quickly bled to death.

After the murder, the brother of the assassin told the police of his suspicions. Unfortunately, the assassin had escaped. The police and army are looking for him but he has certainly fled to Burma by now. Two rebel groups along with the internal spies (who are everywhere) in Burma have said they will try to capture him but it will be difficult.

Will there be justice....we will see.

Justice along the border

A highly respected local abbot, Luangpor Uttama, died of natural causes a couple of months ago. People came from all over Thailand to mourn this great man. An interim abbot or head monk has been overseeing the temple and the ceremonies along with the royal family of which Luangpor Uttama was a friend.

Last night, the 68 year old interim abbot, Phra Kru Kanchanasitthisarn, was shot and killed. They do not know who shot the abbot except that he was Mon (an ethnic group) clothing. The reaction here is a bit strange...sadness, of course, combined with resignation. I have heard it a few times, "This is a border area, the killer will just disappear."

It remains to be seen if the killer will be found, but what is clear is people that my friends, who are from Burma, have lived with such limited rights for so long that they do not trust any government institution to protect anyone, even an important monk.

Stuff we learned this year by BBC

The BBC has an interesting story about 100 things we learned this year including:

• The lion costume from the film The Wizard of Oz was made from real lions.
• The Pope sometimes wears Prada shoes.
• Coco Chanel started the trend of getting suntans in 1923 when she accidentally got burned on a cruise.
• A cow gives off enough methane gas in a day to fill 400 liter bottles (no more complaints about me!)
• A polar bear would beat a lion in a fight (this sounds like the sort of research done at Moe's bar on the Simpsons)

Either way, a fun list is here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/index.html#a007948

I used to think....

I remember a few years ago when I used to have my sanity and I would see people driving in the back of pick-up trucks and think "What Idiots! Don't they get how dangerous that is?"

Yesterday I was making my 3.5 hour (each way) trip to the dentist in a truck I borrowed and a guy flags me down. I stop the truck thinking he would want a ride. When I stopped (why do I do these things?) the guy speaks to me in Thai and happens to use 3 of the 10 words I know. Yes he wants a ride and he wants to go to the same city as I am going. He says in broken English "bring 10 friends?" Then, a whole group of kids jump into the back of the truck.

We rode the hour and a half to the town with the guy trying his best to make small talk. This involved calling his friends, telling them he was sitting next to a foreigner, a lot of laughter, a couple of times practicing the sentence with his friend on the phone, more laughter and then a question like, "Where you go?" It turns out they were a group of university students on holiday. At the end of the trip they were quite pleased to get such a long ride to their location and they decided to take many pictures of me.

You may think 9 people is a lot of people in the back of a truck, but the other day I counted the number of kids getting out of the back of a pick-up truck (which serves as a school bus). It had already made two stops and there were 41 children packed on it.

Christmas Sangklaburi Style

There are a surprising number of Christians here, cosequently, they do celebrate Christmas. The local church had a Takraw tournament. Takraw is kind of like volleyball with a woven bamboo ball. You can use your whole body except your hands. The men have amazing agility and are able to "spike" the ball over the net a tremendous velocity.



The night featured a little festival at Baan Unrak Children's Home. It is always fun for me to hang out with the kids and see some traditional Karen dancing.

Helping old Burmese soldiers

A long time ago the Brits controlled Burma and there are still some soldiers who are alive who helped them. An NGO is providing funds to help support these soldiers. A series of miscues required a dozen e-mails and caused months of delays but they are finally getting money. My friend Joyti had just given this man his money...about $200. Quite nice that they have not been forgotten.

Finally!

We finally broke ground on the new bathrooms. They are digging a new septic tank in the foreground and the holes for the footings in the background. Still not sure where the money will come from to finish, but it is good to get started!

Some kids

I was over at the temple where we are working on the project and struck up a conversation with a couple of boys. The boys are from Burma and their parents had sent them to the temple for three years. They were very happy to live at the temple because, despite the enormous deficiencies, it was much better than their life with their family. With their family they could only work on the rubber plantations and could not go to school. They said all they want is to learn to read and write like other children.

Doin fine

Sandy's mother had her surgery and, outside of a good bit of pain is doing fine.

It started with a little cavity

I had a cavity on a tooth with a crown. They had to take off the crown to fill the cavity and then they decided I needed a root canal (4 treatments for this). Now the cavity turns out to be just under the gum so I need oral surgery and then a months recovery then I have the new crown. Looks like I will be staying in Thailand for a couple of months.

The best news!

I saw my friend talking to the little girl I wrote about whose mother wanted her to come work with her at the brothel (http://steveandsandy.blogspot.com/2006/11/pay-her-off.html).

The little girl ended up working tending cattle and my friend said she was filthy and emotional. They talked her into coming back with them for a little beach holiday with some of the kids she used to be friends with.

30 minutes ago went by his place to see how she was. She had showered and was absolutely beaming. She still has the most beautiful smile and was laughing like before. I just hope she stays after the vacation is over.

1/2 way there

The project I am working on is evolving. I decided to reduce the size of the bathroom I am building and now I am going to finish the dining room, kitchen and build a water storage tank so they will have water all day (they only have it a few hours a day now).

Thanks to donations from Anita, Mandy and Mirco I now have half the money for construction of the project.

Thanks to all!

Double Whammy!

Yesterday I dropped Sandy off at the airport early in the morning. I took the busses (7 hours) to return to my house and found our dog missing. I am not sure where he went but I will miss him (and Sandy too!)

Good bye at the school

The school had a big goodbye party for Sandy (and a little bit for me). All of the kids made cards, they had cookes and drinks for all the kids, had a slide show of Sandy and the different classes. They gave us some presents and sang to us. A really touching end to Sandy's teaching experience.

How to keep 'em begging

I had assisted in making arrangements to get rice for the kids at a temple months ago. The donor approved the rice after a few weeks.

The donor works through another NGO (Non-Government Organization) to transport the rice to the groups. The NGO's supervisor was out and nobody could decide to bring the rice to the kids. After I made many visits over 2 weeks, I finally got them to bring the rice. The rice was not edible because it was full of bugs.

I contacted the donor who asked the NGO to check on the rice. The NGO promptly forgot to do this. I went 2 days later and they said they would go the following day...which they did not. Finally, I told them we could go together the following morning. I showed up at the appointed time and the man had not gotten approval go (he has no papers and there is a checkpoint between our town and the temple). He made some calls and got the approval.

We finally arrived at the temple and he saw the rice and sure enough he agreed...can only feed the spoiled rice to pigs. The bags had arrived with many holes so the rice was going everywhere (and of course providing easy access for insects). The temple changed the bags because of the mess the broken bags were causing.

So...60 bags of rice were delivered, some spilled, some was eaten even though it was spoiled. 52 spoiled sacks of rice should have been replaced but they said they could not take the bags because they had replaced the broken bags so it could be other people's rice and the weights were not precisely the right amount. Soooooo....they only delivered 8 new bags. This should last a couple of weeks while we try to sort it out.

Until the new bags came, the kids kept begging for food.

Scaling back

I was hoping to build bathrooms that would provide enough space for well into the future and do some other small projects around the temple (finish the kitchen and dining room and repair an additional bathroom). It looks like the majority of the money will come from my own pocket so I need to scale back on what I am doing. Right now I think I will make smaller new bathrooms and that is probably all I can do. It is too bad.

Saying goodbye

Sandy has told the kids that she is leaving. Tommorow is her last day at school and some kids have already said their goodbyes including P0n. One girl wrote a little card to Sandy that had two hearts and read, "I give to Sandy I love Sandy". Nice.

Thanks for donating

I just wanted to thank Clayton, my parents, my nephew Joseph, and my friend (who I always thought was a loser but turns out to be a pretty good guy) Andy. Your donations to help the children at the temple are greatly appreciated.

Forgot the beds

I just realized that I did not put any pictures of the beds that are being made from the donations gave me in the past. They are two seperate beds that can be bolted together. We waited until the work was done on the home to start them so they would not get damaged being moved around. Either way they are most of the way finished and the kids have started sleeping on them.

Thanks to everyone who supported this project.

Strange Ballons!

I forgot a funny thing at the World AIDS day march. One NGO was giving away condoms which immediatly became funny ballons for the kids. I am not sure this is what was intended, but at least the kids are becoming comfortable with using condoms.

First donations

I have gotten the first donations for the bathrooms...thanks! (I wrote about it initially here: http://steveandsandy.blogspot.com/2006/11/you-gotta-do-something.html

I am still well short of having sufficient funds to complete the project so if you are interested in donating from the US please look at the instructions here: http://steveandsandy.blogspot.com/2006/11/if-you-want-to-donate.html

I am trying to make arrangements for international donations. If you do not live in the US and want to donate, please write me at ssnidero@hotmail.com.

Thanks in advance for helping the children here!

Load 'er up!

Selling furniture made in Burma is big business because it is difficult to get wood in Thailand. We frequently see these trucks that are completly overloaded transporting the furniture from our area towards Bangkok. I can not believe they make it up the steep hills that surround our area.

World AIDS day celebration

I attended an AIDS awareness march and festival
on Friday. I am interested in the topic, but I went mostly to support some friends who organized it and others who had children performing in the festival.

The children wore traditional clothes and did traditional dances. I have come to love the gentle hand movements in traditional Thai dancing.

Many women from Burma wear a powder on their face to protect their skin. I found this woman who was selling some noodles particularly beautiful partially due to the leaf design she made on her face.

The first good-bye...to a lovely woman

Sandy will be leaving next week to take care of some family matters. We do not know if she will come back. I will likely have to follow, but I am not sure when and for how long, so we are starting to say good bye to friends...maybe forever. This is the bad part of making so many friends.

Maelake is one of the housemothers at Baan Unrak. She was a student of mine for computers about 4 years ago and a student of Sandy's for English this year.

Because we think she is so warm and friendly, whenever Sandy and I talk about her we always say, "She is such a lovely woman". We decided to take her out for dinner in a normal sit down restaurant to say good bye and give her a little present. One surprising thing from the evening is it was the first time in her life she had eaten in a restaurant.

Strange meeting

I had a meeting for one of the projects I am working on at a temple. The men who I was meeting with were trying to get me to pay for about $1500 extra stuff for the project about 1/2 of which would go into their pockets (this I declined). At the end of the meeting, one man looks to me with a big smile and says, "So, you want to go get a massage by some young girls?" Which part of asking this question is the strangest...

we are at a temple

we are trying to help children (not screw them)

my friend is waiting for me (I can just imagine my conversation with her...Pone Pone can you wait a half hour while I go have sex with a teenager?)


FYI ...I declined the offer

A new roof

My friend Joyti introduced me to a woman and 5 children today. The woman's roof looks more like a strainer than a roof and she has no food for the family. Her husband is in jail (I have no idea why). Not a good situation obviously.

I went ahead and paid for a new roof...it cost less than $20. I have to say that I felt really awkward and got no pleasure in giving the woman money for her roof.

If you want to donate

I wanted to make it easy, safe and tax deductable to donate to the bathroom project I am working on and my friend, Jim, from Whispering Seed has been kind enough to offer his support.

If you would like to donate:

• Go to whisperingseed.org
• Go to the bottom right part of the page and click on the "donate now through network for good"
• Click on "Donate Now" button when the next page comes up
• Leave the defaults ( "This is a one time donation" and"Provide my name and e-mail address to the charity")
• Enter the amount of money you would like to donate
• In the "Designation" box, write "Steve's Projects".
  

Network for Good is a huge organization that processes donations...quite safe and they will send you a tax receipt.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Puking Monks In Stereo

I just made a 3 1/2 hour trip in a van (which is the main bus service to our town) to get some dental work done. There were a group of 4 monks in the back of the van eating all sorts of snacks when we got started. They must not have known that the road becomes very windy and the drivers like to go as fast as possible. 1/2 in I heard arrrrrrrrr and realized a monk was barfing behind me. 5 minutes later I thought the guy would never stop but it turned out it was two of them barfing. This continued on and off for the next 1 hour.

When we got off the bus and went to the bathroom one of the barfing monks (which should be the name for a rock band) walked up to me with a big smile and said "Oh my god!". Quite cute.

Disheartening

3 hours ago I was at the temple where I am trying to build a bathroom when I heard screams coming from a group of children and a few adults. In the center were a pair of boys fighting as little boys sometimes do.

I ran over and pulled them apart and realized that they were not angry.

My friend Pone Pone investigated and found that some people had paid the little boys to beat each other for their entertainment. She had a little meeting and tried to explain right from wrong, but when you are really poor, this concept is a little hard to grasp especially when you can make some money. Click on the picture and look at how intently these little boys are listening. I can not tell you how disheartening this is.

Good news!

Last week was full of bad news regarding other NGO's. This week UNICEF has finally written me about some education matters and gave some good advice. Another NGO is going to help with the new bathrooms.

In addition, my nephew Joseph was the first to give money to help build the new bathrooms. I am very impressed!

Pay Her Off?

I was talking to my friend earlier today about the girl whose mother took her to work in the brothel. She is not working as a prostitute yet, but it is only a matter of time. I gave him one idea....buy the mother off. Give her 10,000 baht ($250) to give her child back and to never try to take her again. It is really wrong...but is it right?

You gotta do something

There are 51 children that need help and I have given up on the NGO's. I want to find a way to improve their situation.

The picture above is the main bathroom that the fifty one children and 10 monks use. As you can see, the roof is falling in, the concrete is deteriorating. You can not see the toilets were installed backwards so they are always a mess.

They have a second bathroom which they use sometimes but it is flooded because of the poor design. The kids do not want to walk in the water so they pee in it instead. The smell is disgusting.

The kids bathe together outside as the picture shows. It is not terrible for the little boys, but as boys get older this is not good. It is also inappropriate for monks to do this.

I think this is just wrong and I want to find a way to fix it. I am going to have the one bathroom made into a clothes washing area and build a new bathroom. It will be enclosed with 8 toilets, 4 urinals, places to bathe. The monks will have their own seperate area. The bathroom with the poor drainage will have a new floor poured with drains.

The total cost of this will be about $2500 US. If you are interested in supporting these kids send me an e-mail ssnidero@hotmail.com

Thanks

Too good to be true...yup

As I mentioned in a previous entry, WorldVision had promised to do a lot of wonderful things for children in this area. I was so happy, but wondered if it was too good to be true. It was.

I took them to meet many projects and they promised to help many children. They missed meeting after meeting but I thought if they will help, it would be worth the headache. I just got off the phone with them. They will do nothing. No clothes, food, schooling....nothing. They truly suck.

Is common sense breaking out?

In an astounding development, the local government reversed themselves and are allowing the kids to go to Bangkok to perform yoga (mentioned in the previous post). I wonder if common sense is starting break out here.

No Papers, no prob....big problem

This Saturday an NGO in Bangkok has their annual fundraising fair that is attended by thousands of people. They invited the kids from Baan Unrak to go and perform yoga (you can see a video of their performance here http://baanunrak.org/Videos.html ). The last few months the kids have worked quite hard and their performance is really beautiful. As you might imagine, they were really excited about this.

Most of the kids do not have papers (either born in Burma or in the hills here), so they must get approval from the local government to travel outside of this area. In the past, they would have had no problem, but with the changes in the government they have tightened up on papers for travel. Unfortunately, the kids were denied permission to travel.

I'll help...just kidding

I have to say I am surprised how many people have promised me to do something (donate, call back with information, call back for meeting) and totally drop the ball. This includes people who I am trying to help, major groups like UNICEF and large companies that you would think would be professional. I am not upset but more disappointed.

Damn!

Last November 14th I wrote in my other blog about a little girl...

"One of the little girls he brought was just learning English and when I said sorry about something she said "your welcome" then she realized she had made mistake and just started laughing like crazy...I guess she will need to review that lesson. Either way really cute girl with a great sense of humour."

I was talking with my friend the other day and he said that the little girls's HIV positive mother tracked her down and told the little girl (about 13 years old) that she needed to work in the family's business....it's a whorehouse. Damn!

Why don't they wear black hats?

There is a Fillipina woman in town who is quite attractive, has a beautiful and frequently used smile, and a quick laugh. She is an an evangelical christian and she opened a children's home a few years back. Except for the fact that she wears her religion on her sleeve (she explained to me why I was going to hell...but with a smile) she seems quite nice.

Attractive, friendly wants to do good things and abusive. I knew of one instance of abuse where she forced a girl to undress in front of all the other children in her home as punishment for a minor infraction. Apparently, this was one of many instances so an NGO took some of the children to Bangkok (local authorities not too interested) and finally got the home closed down. Now the woman is opening a school in Burma to "help" those children. I am trying to prevent her from "helping" anyone else, but it is Burma and it may be difficult.

It is strange to me that a person who obviously came here with good intentions turned out to do bad things. I wish these folks would wear black hats so I could figure them out a little quicker.

Who ya lookin at?

My friend Pone Pone went with me to Burma as I mentioned on an earlier post. I thought it was strange that she would do this since she is really concerned about being arrested or harrased by both the government army and the Karen rebel group. Her family was very upset with her because they are somewhat well known and she is easily identified because there are spies everywhere... everything and everyone is noticed. Being a foreigner, I was at no risk and realistically she was not in a lot of risk, but if you have been persecuted like most Burmese people have been, it does not take a lot of risk to get you anxious.

Pone Pone told me a little story about our trip. 15 minutes after we arrived at the temple, a man came on a motorbike. He wore no uniform, but she immediatly recognized him as a Captain in the Karen army. He did not talk with anyone or do anything except watch her. She said her heart was racing and she decided to act like she did not know him. After 15 minutes, she went up to him and made small talk. She said he got anxious and left a few minutes later.

She was very scared and decided to wait a few days to tell me about the situation. She is really a wonderful woman, but I think she was a bit dopey this time.

Getting a clue!

Thousands of kids in this area were born in Burma or in remote areas of Thailand so they can not prove they should have Thai nationality (these are stateless children). They are often unable to go to public school even though the law requires them to go because the schools are over crowded and they do not have sufficient resources for the children they are responsible for already. Consequently, barriers are erected to keep the stateless or Burmese children out of school.

There are many indendent schools, some are ok some are terrible, that try to help with these children get an education. Children who attend these schools do not get a paper from the government saying they have completed a grade, so if they go into the public school, they must start over in grade 1. There is a law that anyone who attends a registered school here for 7 years is eligible to get Thai citizenship. Going to these independent schools provides the children with some education, but does not qualify them for Thai citizenship.

In a perfect world there would be enough money for all the children to attend public school or a registered school and, ultimately, get Thai citizenship (if that is what they want). Of course, this is not a perfect world especially if you are poor and born in the wrong place.

Everyone wants to do something because these uneducated children grow into uneducated adults who have no opportunities because they do not have Thai citizenship. This creates a permanent underclass that is not healthy for any country.

I had a meeting with a headmaster on Thursday that was enlightening. He supports some independent schools with textbooks and teachers who visit the schools on a periodic basis. He does not need to build classrooms and hire additional teachers. Kids go to grades 1 to 3 in the little independent school (more like a bamboo hut with bamboo desks and a chaulkboard) and go to grades 4 and up at his school. Many more children are in these first three grades because of this. Generally, if children stay in one place for three years, they are staying in place for a lifetime.

This works for him because he can comply with the law, help the children (which he seemed sincere about) and not adding any significant expenses for new classrooms and teachers. An additional benefit for him (which he did not say) is he does not spend money on the transcient children (some follow their families back and forth over the border).

I went to the board of education on Friday (3 + hours each way on a bus...ugh) and talked to them about how I could get it applied elsewhere. It is possible.

Now I am getting a clue...WorldVision will support the families, public schools and satelitte schools provide the education, the educated children are able to get Thai Citizenship (if they want it which most do). It is possible all it takes is some persuasion. This, of course, is true until the new government changes the rules, which they certainly will.

Decisions, Decisions

Sandy is probably going to go back to the US for a while (could be a month could be many months). It is the right thing to do, but it means giving up some important work and a mostly pleasant life. I have to decide what to do. Should I go to be supportive and be with my wife or stay and follow through on some of the things

More Meetings

Had a meeting with a group from World Education. We went to a few schools including the elephant school. I think they enjoyed the adventure of going to the elephant school (which has elephants for tourists) until the long boat got stuck in the river on the way out. We pulled out some oars and made our way out. Either way a good adventure.

Back to Burma

I went back to Burma with my friend Pone Pone and World Education, an NGO that assists people in border regions with their educational needs. The temple/children's home we went to had just finished a celebration and one of the little floats had the insignia of one of the rebel groups which is disliked in the area due to some atrocities they have committed. It turns out they are big supporters of the temple. Of course, the people do not like the government because of the atrocities that they commit. he Head Monk (who we met with) is well regarded in the community so the government listens to him.

The fact that he is respected by everyone means that he is probably more powerful than any politician in the area.

What would you do?

A friend of mine has applied for Thai Citizenship along with the rest of her family. If you do not have Thai nationality, you can not leave this poor part of the country, you have no rights and no police protection. It is incredibly important and it takes a lot of effort to get it.

Everything was going well until a week or two ago when the government officer in charge "lost" her paperwork which agreed to find again for a fee. My friend was outraged by the fact that the officer was asking for a bribe (which is strange given that nearly everyone who has power is corrupt here). She wrote a government officer in Bangkok and they are making a big deal about it. They want her to name the person involved which could screw up her opportunity to get Thai citizenship.

What would you do, pay the bribe and forget the report or take your chances and name the corrupt government official?

Super Sandy!

We were doing our normal walk to the market for dinner an hour ago and I spotted a group of about 10 boys getting off their motorbikes and one had a beer. I told Sandy to be careful. As we were walking by, some of the boys started to beat two of the boys...apparently we walked into a gang fight. What should we do:

A. Keep walking with our mouths shut
B. Keep walking and contact police officials (like they will care about a gang fight!)
C. Scream at them and start to tap the boy who is punching another boy with your umbrella

You can guess which choice our crime fighting friend took. Lucky, they were too busy beating each other to worry about us.

Too Good To Be True?

I had a few meetings with WorldVision this week. They have agreed to pay for 2 kids operations, possibly a woman's operation, schooling for hundreds of kids, clothing for hundreds and assisting with building a bathroom. It could be that all the big problems I was working on could be solved soon....or it could be too good to be true. Either way, a hopeful serious of events and some really nice people who work there.

Getting a little better

Sandy has been sick for a month now but is slowly getting over her dizziness. I have had a couple of small things that have kept me sick off and on... thankfully off right now.

An unwelcome visitor

Yesterday was incredibly hot so I was sitting in my underware cursing my laptop which is finally dying and in walks a man into my house...for the third time. He is the deaf and mute brother of the landlord. The first two times Sandy was home alone. As you might imagine I am concerned and at least a little angry. I scolded him (I know he is deaf and does not speak English but you got to do what you got to do!). Then, I scolded the landlord. We may move out.

I was talking to a friend and she told me about a 18 year old girl who was raped nearby last month. My friend said nobody responded to her screams and the police are not investigating because she is not Thai. Hard to believe, but there really is no justice here if you do not have Thai nationality.

I think it is safe here but I think if we stay in our house we will have to change the locks and always have the door locked.

Words of Wisdom

A very important monk in the area died 2 days ago. I went to the ceremony which runs over several days and will be attended by thousands of people. My friend was introducing me to the new head monk (she spoke Mon, a local language)...this is Steve, is volunteering to help people in the area, he is from America. The monk thought a minute. I was interested in hearing his words of wisdom. Then, he spoke. Fa translated...."He said American...you can fire guns there"; and that was that.

Still Dizzy

Sandy is still feeling dizzy so we went to St Louis Hospital in Bangkok because it is known to be the best hospital in the country. The hospital is quite modern and impressive. The doctor ran a few tests on Sandy and could not make a certain diagnosis, but thought she did not have anything serious and should just rest for a week or two. This, of course, is the remaining couple of weeks of her vacation. At least we know that it is nothing serious.

A'int no dental care here either!

A couple of friends told me the dentist in town is pretty good and I really needed to have crown replaced and a cavity filled. I went and after an hour and a half, they said I needed a root canal also (this was not a surprise). I decided to do it and after another hour and a half, they were finished...kind of. The dentist said, "I could only find 2 of the 3 nerves in your tooth. You will need to find a more skilled dentist in Kanchanaburi or Bangkok." The next day the temporary crown they put on broke.

Since they said it will take 3 or 4 trips, I decided to go to Kanchanaburi since it is only 3 hours away instead of 7 + to Bangkok. Unfortunately, the dentist who can do this work there is out of the office for several more days. Luckily, I have no pain.

Two steps forward, one back in some crap

I have been working with a very poor children's home...no money for food, clothes, education sanition. It has been very difficult because the kids do not have Thai nationality and few are concerned with kids who are in the area illegally.

There has been a lot of progress on all of the issues in the last couple of weeks. I had a big break through on education when I got the support of the local government including the headmaster of the primary school, to let the small children go to the local school (which the law requires but is not permitted anyway). That is until a few days later when the headmaster went to the temple and told the monk that he did not want the kids in the school. I am guessing that he is short on resources and is worried that these kids will not stay in Thailand and will not benefit his community in anyway.

I decided to play stupid (quite easy for me!) and act like I did not know what the headmaster wanted. I am going to try to talk about ways I can help him. I am going to suggest that only kids who are permanently living at the home go to his school. I also have a meeting to find a way to allow kids to go into various grades instead of all of them going into grade one as currently policy requires.

Maybe not so lucky

Cho Cho Aye, the girl who was getting the heart operation, is not quite as lucky as I thought. The operation was to begin yesterday morning (as I mentioned). The doctor did a final exam and said that he could not do the surgery...she needs open heart surgery instead. Of course everyone is very disappointed and the girl is a scared. The operation costs $10,000 instead of 7,000. We are trying to find the money, if we do not, she dies within a year or two according to the doctor.

A little girl in heart surgery

We have become friendly with a family. Nice folks. Very poor. The second youngest girl is 16 years old has a smile that lights the room. She also has a severe heart condition. The doctors told her she would die soon with out an operation. Poor and sick is not a good combination here. Our friend Fa found a donor to pay for the heart operation (costs $7,000 US). I got a message just now that she just went into surgery. Most kids would have ended up dying here in the same situation. If the surgery is succesful, mark one in the poor, sick and kind of lucky column.

Dizzy girl

Sandy has been sick with a viral infection in her ear for 12 days. It is not serious, just causes dizziness. The doctor mentioned in the previous post said to just rest. A friend had something similar and it took a few weeks to get over it completly. The timing is good because she does not miss class because the kids are on holiday. It is not good because we were going to travel.

Devil Eyes

Sandy and I have been sick most of the last week; Sandy with dizziness and me with red eyes and a low grade fever. Some people believe that you can get the red eyes by looking at someone who has it, so it was quite cute to see the kids cover their eyes as a precaution when they saw me.

There is a Chrisitian hospital about 30 minutes from here which, given it's limited facilities, is really good at giving basic care. Sandy and I went there yesterday and were seen by a volunteer doctor from Crofton Maryland, USA... just 20 minutes from my parents home. The total cost of seeing both of us and two prescriptions was $2.50.

I am especially hopefully that we will be well soon since Sandy has time off and I am hoping we can travel during this time.

Santa's Little Helper

The owners of our house have the world's most stupid dog...because of this and the physical resemblance I call him Santa's Little Helper after the dog on the Simpsons. His real name is Kang but it sounds far to strong and regal for such a stupid animal.

I have never seen Sandy as excited to spend time with anyone or anything as this stupid dog. She literally prances up to the dog with a huge smile and gives him this baby/dog talk.

As you may know, we have chickens next door which I despise because of the noise they make. This morning one jumped the fence and was in our yard. This set SLH off and he began to chase the chicken. The young girls who are maids at the main house began chasing SLH. The chicken ran into the house followed by SLH followed by two screaming girls. Somehow the chicken and SLH escaped the house followed by the girls who were now laughing. I found myself cheering for SLH and calling him Kang. At one point he had the chicken cornered and was getting ready to give it a little bite (I found myself smiling at this point) when the girls caught up with the dog and chicken. Damn girls!

Ultimately, the girls stopped the dog and caught the chicken and threw the chicken over the fence. I can not believe it but I am now a fan of SLH.

Food Safety at its finest

How do you take care of meat to be sure flies do not lay eggs or other nasty things? Refrigerate... silly idea! Put in any sort of case?... absurd! Have someone stand with a flyswatter... that is old fashion! Hook up a piece of wire with some plastic tassels on the end to a fan motor... perfect! It does seem to keep the flies away but it is not so good about keeping the meat from spoiling (and smelling like it!).

Miscalculation

Yesterday I went to a soccer game and I saw one of the little girls from the home by herself. She is quite cute, but always a little melancholy. She came over to me and wanted to sit and watch the game with me. I thought I would be a nice guy and buy her a soda. One slight miscalculation...there were 40 other kids from the home at the game and they all wanted soda of course. I figured what the hell, and bought them all soda. I think I was just as popular with the soda vendor as the kids.

An interesting meeting

Meetings are strange when you have no idea about what is appropriate and what is being said during the meeting. I had an interesting meeting today with the community leader, the headmaster of the local school and my friend and translator Pone Pone. We were discussing the future of the kids at the children's home in a town called "Three Pagodas Pass". These children have nothing...no food, very little clothes, poor medical care and poor education. I think that some of the people at the meeting want to help, but others are less interested because all of the children lack Thai Nationality.

I think that we got permission for 12-15 (out of 40 or so) of the kids to go to school starting next year (March). It is not final yet, but it looks good right now. The NGO that is going to provide food support needs to make a longer term commitment before the school will allow the kids to come to school. I am hoping to set up a meeting in another week.

Still on the agenda for the home is more clothes and medical care. I am still working on getting their bathrooms repaired/replaced. One NGO has agreed to help and I am still looking for support from other donors.

With a little luck, things will get better for these kids soon.

Good Timing

I had decided to try to find some support for the homes in the area that are in desperate need and I just spoke with an NGO which had decided to support the temple where the children live that need to beg for food. The monk who is running the temple was not aware that they were preparing to support him so it was a nice surprise for him. It is nice being the bearer of good news. Now I need to find support for their other needs.

Great day

A friend of mine took me to this school that is kind of remote...you have to go by motorbike than by boat to get there. The children can not go to the government school yet so they study in this little bamboo school. 15 of the children live there also. The kids look like they are in pretty good shape.

As I was getting ready to leave, the village head offered me coffee so I sat down and started to enjoy it when I noticed the women next to me wearing western clothes. So I asked one woman if she spoke English which she did. It turns out they were there to make a show for Animal Planet on a female Mahout (elephant trainer).

After the trip, I went back across the river to one of my favorite places...this waterfall that literally spills out on to the dirt road. It is beautiful. You can climb up the many terraces to the top of the water fall and at the top there are all of these beautiful orchids all over the place. What a great day!

Visiting another children's home

I visited yet another children's home yesterday. This one was very different because of the philosophy they use. The children are responsible for many of the day to day decisions for "their community". The community has meetings twice a week where the children decide a variety of things from tasks that need to be done in their community to punishment for children who have acted poorly. They can decide that a child can not live in their community any more if he/she is dangerous to other children. The adults have one vote each, the same as each child. Kind of a shocking concept, but it seems to be working.

In two years, a volunteer from the UK has set up a home which cares for 50 children and a school which teaches and feeds 200 children for free.

Pretty amazing to me.

Chatting with the monk

I met with a monk yesterday to talk about the situation with the kids he cares for at his temple. It is a really difficult situation for the kids and I am going to try to help him in the near future but I am trying to make sure I understand what is happening before I decide how to help.

I went with my friend and translator Pone Pone. Usually I ask a question then it takes several minutes of conversation between the two people before I get an answer to even a simple question. This was quite different. I asked difficult questions and Pone Pone asked him and he barely made a noise and then Pone Pone gave me his long reply. I am not sure but either the monk is a master communicator or Pone Pone is having a little fun by making up answers.

I will write more about this temple and their children later because it is really a terrible situation...I just need to understand it better before I ask friends to help the kids.

How to lose a kidney or two

One of the women who I have mentioned that I have taken to the hospital has had severe kidney stones for the last couple of years. Apparently she did not have money for an operation and,because she is not Thai,she can not get the care through the government insurance. At the start of this year they said one of her kidneys was badly damaged and she had to have it removed which some one agreed to pay for. Now the second one has the same problem and they said that they will try to remove the stones but due to the number of stones it may be too damaged to function. My friend found a donor to pay for the surgery but it may be a little late. It is tough being poor.

Coup Day 2

It is the second day of the coup and I can honestly say nothing seems different...kids are in school, the traffic is normal, the people are somewhat interested in the coup but in the day to day stuff, no difference.

Another bonehead move!

I was traveling to a children's home that is about 50 meters from the Thai/Myanmar border and decided to do a little exploring on the surrounding dirt roads. Some men waved me down at one point and I thought about driving quickly by them until I realized they had guns and I did not. I told them I was going to the temple (which also has the children's home) and they let me go. I realized I made a wrong turn when I saw a Burmese police station. Of course, I had forgotten my money (for bribes) and passport at home so if the police stopped me I had a problem. I decided to go back the way I came and when the same men waved me down I smiled and pointed towards the temple and hoped they knew I was a moron and just lost. Either way, all was fine and I made it back with no problems.

You Call This A Coup?

You may or may not have heard there was a coup today in Thailand. It appears to have the support of the king who is surprisingly popular. You may wonder what happens in our little village when there is a coup. ..not much different. Fewer cars on the street and no school for the kids. Outside of that, all is normal. It is hard to believe there was a coup.

Many in need

I have gone to look at a couple of new children's homes to volunteer at.

Last Friday and Saturday I went to a temple that is about 50 yards from the Thai/Burmese border. It was a difficult situation. There are 60 boys who must go beg for food every morning because the temple has no money for food. They often return late in the morning and can not go to their school (which has 70 children in two classrooms). The roof over the toilets has partially collapsed and the kitchen has totally collapsed. The boys bathe outside with no enclosure. There are 2 women to care for the children in addition to the monks. It is not a good situation. I am not sure what we will do to help, but we will probably do something.

The second home I went to is very different...located in the jungle, it has about 40 children. There is enough food and they do not seem to lack the basic necessities. The women who run it are buddist nuns. The children were having fun and enjoying themselves while I was there. The children (both boys and girls) live in two big rooms, one for boys and one for girls. Not much privacy, and very little light, but not so bad. They need money for food ($100 dollars a month), a battery so they can store electricity from their solar panels (there is no electricity in that area except solar electricity), some mosquito nets so the children will not get malaria and a couple of proper teachers. Again, I am not sure whether we will end up helping them or not, but we will probably help a little at least.

On Friday I will go to a very remote children's home to see what they need and how we can help.

What is going to happen?

I have decided to stop volunteering at Baan Unark. I just decided that the situation was not right for me right now. I still like and respect everyone there...just not the right place for me right now.

20 Years and counting

Yesterday was our 20th Anniversary. Hard to believe.

One of many things I do not know

I was walking in the market in Burma the other day and this kind of rough guy was looking at me. I thought, "this could be trouble". As I passed by him he stepped towards me and I thought something bad was going to happen. Then, he said in perfect English, "you have a nice smile". I guess I know nothing

I have a boyfriend

Update on holding hands with a monk (see below post)

It turns out that women are close physically in Burma not men, so it was quite strange that the monk wanted to hold hands. I am not sure, but I think I have a boyriend. By the way, Yue and Hiroe found this tidbit of information far too entertaining.

My visitors

This week I have had two wonderful visitors from Japan. Yue (with the blue helmet) was a student of mine in Japan and Hiroe is her friend from University. They came to Thailand to learn about refugees and people in need. I think they have been a little overwhelmed by some of the things that they have heard and seen, but I think that they have really enjoyed themselves. I am not certain their parents are going to be so pleased that we went everywhere with three people on a bike but when in Rome...

A visit to another home

I took Yue and Hiroe to another children's home which is very different than ours. The man who runs is with the same organization as our home but he really runs his home on a shoestring and it is in desperate need of money. I will probably try to help him a little on this front. I think that he is probably much more laid back then the women who founded our home.

One thing that was shocking for both Yue and Hiroe was there was a little boy there whose father was Japanese and mother is Thai. They both felt ashamed and were very upset that a Japanese man could leave a child in this situation.

Walking down the street holding hands with a monk

Yesterday I went to Burma with Yue and Hiroe. We made a few stops along the way (see below posts for details). I knew that I had a full day when, at the end of the day, I was walking down the street holding hands with a monk...ok he is not a monk yet (December he will be one) but we were definetly holding hands and I am talking fingers locked together for 10 minutes. I knew that physical closeness is normal for Burmese people so I should not have been surprised. I have never felt so uncomfortable but I figured I should go along with it.

A funny note is Yue took a picture. I hoped she took a picture so I could show it for my most awkward moments on the blog. I asked and she thought I would be upset so she said "no". Later in the night we were talking and she laughed and showed it to us. Quite cute.

I have a technique of getting to know people anywhere...dumb luck. Well not exactly, but pretty close. I just walk around and smile at everyone and sooner or later, someone wants to practice their English with me.

As I mentioned before, we went to a temple/children's home in Burma yesterday and we walked around for one hour no takers. Then, as we were ready to leave, a monk greeted us and invited us into the monestary. We sat and talked about what was going on in Burma and how desperate the situation was regarding the complete lack of freedom and the continuing guerilla war with the Karen Guerillas. He was surprisingly open and told us if the government knew what he said he would go to jail (hence the adjustment to the photo).

Cute kids

As mentioned in the previous post, we went to a children's home in Burma. I used my usual trick with the kids who are a little nervous; I took a digital picture and showed it to them. I have done this many times with kids who have either never or rarely seen pictures of themselves and they are always incredibly excited. In a moment, they go from shy to crazy!

Will that be snakes, big lizard or deer (hoof on) for you maam

Walking through the market in Burma was not too surprising except for this nice group of items...snakes (live), frogs (live), 2 foot long lizard (dead and roasted), deer thingy (guessing here because you can see the hind leg but not a lot more). All of the items unrefrigerated as you might guess. You can click on the picture for a larger version if you like.

Another thing I know

I was driving on my motorbike the other day with a friend of mine on the back. A dog came up and started chasing the bike (not so unusual) so I followed proper Thai motorbike driving ettiquette and I moved the bottom of my foot up like I was going to kick the dog with it. It you kick with the top the dog can grab you and bad things can happen. Usually the dogs know they will get kicked and immediatly back away. This one did not. He got too close and, while driving slowly up a hill, I kicked it pretty good on the tip of its nose with the bottom of my foot. The damn dog did not care...apparently he knows nothing of Thai motorbike driving ettiquette. Either way, I made it to the top of the hill and ended up going down the hill and he got tired of chasing me.

No need to get really sick

I was taking someone to the hospital yesterday and got on the scale for the heck of it. I have lost 30 pounds (about 14kg) since I got back to Thailand. Still not skinny by Asian standards but not a fat pig anymore. I have no idea how I lost it and had no intention of losing weight. The only way I thought I would lose so much weight is to get some nasty sickness; I guess this is the better way.

New Friends

One of the best parts of our life is that we end up making friends with so many people we would not meet any other way. We are hoping to cash in on this by visiting friends all over the world...it remains to be seen whether they will let us visit.

Julien and Camille are a couple from France that we have become friendly with the last few months. It is really rare to meet couples that are volunteering and even rarer that everyone enjoys each other's company.

Julien has just left Thailand to work for the Red Cross in Congo helping children. I think this is a little crazy given the unstable political situation but he seems to be excited about the opportunity. Camille will stay here for a while. They are both wonderful people and we are really luck to have met them.

Another crappy day

Another crappy day. I still love the kids and the friends I have here, but I can not say I am enjoying my day to day work so much. Hopefully it will get better.

Havin a baby

There is a shop that Sandy goes to pretty often and has become friendly with the shop keeper. The lady was pregnant and Sandy asked her when she was going to deliver. The lady said, "Today". How did she know? Her water had broken and she was starting labor. She said she would go to the hospital later...once she finished some things at the shop. We told a friend about this and she said that this is very normal here.

I know the strangest thing

The man who has supervised our workers has not been at work for most of the last month, so I have had to taken on some of his duties. I now am becoming an expert on bamboo bridge making (use the straight ones on the walking surface so feet do not fall through) dirt road repairs (it is all about keeping the water off the road) and grass roof purchasing (stay away from bugs and brown stuff). I am pretty sure I will not need this for my future,

Serpent Head...yum

Following up on the recent restaurant post, I thought this menu was particularly scary/humorus.

I see the light but it ain't here!

We are finally getting the lighting installed in the house in the next few weeks. We have been using "borrowed" electricity. This is reasonably humorous ...we have run a line from a neighbors house to our house and kept the wire in the air with bamboo poles. It is so rickety but seems to provide enough electricity to take care of half or more of the rooms at night.

We are incredibly lucky to have an Italian company that donated the equipment and got volunteers to install it all to European standards (the standards here involve a little skill and a lot of good luck and a few hospital visits). All we need is the electicity from the road (which is 400 meters away). So far so good!

Ok, I am lying about one thing...getting the electricity from the road is a huge problem. Yesterday I had a meeting with the men from the electric company that was just surreal. We arrived at the office and the men are outside by the pool drinking Johnny Walker Black (expensive Whiskey is popular with the rich folks here). You know it is not going to be good when you are sitting with three extremely obese men in towels and they are drinking. The bottom line is they say that even though another children's home we know had to pay a few hundred dollars for electricity, they want over 10.000 dollars from us for it.

We do not have the money so I am trying to figure out a way to let them save face (very important here) and let them back down from their demands. It will be very interesting to see how this plays out.

A lunch worth forgetting

I just finished 30 of the grossest minutes of my life.

I love Indian food and there is a dirty little restaurant that serves something close to it in the Muslim part of the market.

Today I should have known it was going to be gross when I walked up and there was a dog outside eating what appeared to be an aborted doggy fetus. Yummy! I sat down at a table next to a skinny old man wearing white hat and gown with a white beard growing just from his chin (as is normal with many Muslims here). The lady behind the counter, who seems to snarl a little bit every time I sit down, came over and wiped the table with a dark grey cloth that at some point in its life was white. The skinny old man closed one eye and aimed his glass to pour some of his hot tea into a tiny ceramic cup.

The pots of food at the restaurant are prepared mid day and left on the counter the rest of the day (which explains why I was sick for 4 days after I ate here the first time...and I still returned). The lady took a dish, rinsed it in the dirty water where they wash the dishes, wiped it with her hand then she pointed at my usual. I shook my head, "yes" and she put a small amount of food and sauce in a dish along with some pita like bread on my plate. I begin eating and looking around at how filthy everything is. I can not I believe I eat there but the food is delicious. I looked at the skinny old man and he had just finished sipping tea from his little ceramic cup and was holding it a few inches from his face. Then, I saw the capper...he has an incredibly thick string of snot extending from his nose to the tip of his little cup of tea. I had to leave....but I will return for that delicious psuedo Indian food.

I was still shaking my head when I got back to my motorbike and someone had put all their groceries in my basket and next to my tire. 5 minutes of trying to explain to a clerk that I have no idea whose food it was and I was off. Two minutes later while thinking that this was almost a dream, I nearly hit a 2 meter long snake. What a lunch!

A diverse little town

I was walking through town this afternoon and I heard the Muslim call to prayer. This town is amazingly diverse. In a town of a few thousand (between 3000 and 7000 depending on who you ask) there are Buddists (the majority) Muslims and Christians. There are different ethnic groups including Thai, Burmese, Mon, and two groups of Karen (each with different languages).

I wish I could say everyone lives in harmony, but that would be a lie. The biggest tension is between the two biggest groups, Thai and Mon. Both have gangs that are always looking for a fight with the other. Driving across the big concrete bridge between the Mon and Thai sides at night is quite risky because the groups like to throw bottles at passing motorbikes.

Happy Birthday to me!

Yesterday was my 44th birthday. Like most days, I spent much of it working which was ok except that we had some visitors so I ended up tied up with them until 8:00. Sandy and I ended up having some dinner at the hotel across the street. I have had a hankerin for red wine so I bought the only one in town...Carlo Rossi...for $12 (ouch!). I drink so little now that we could barely finish half the bottle, but it was not half bad

Thanks!

Thanks for the advice on the web site. I have updated it using some of the suggestions I have recieved. I still have a few more pics and movie stills to add. Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated.

I liked the photo of me and one of the kids that a friend took so I posted it for the hell of it.

A new web site

I have been working on a website for the children's home. It is not quite finished (needs a few more pictures and it is missing one video. I am interested in your feedback...ease of navigation, feel of site, broken links. The address http://baanunrak.org

No stoppin'

Malake is one of the kindest women we have met anywhere. She is in her mid-thirties, has a degree from a university in Burma and lived in the capital. She speaks several languages...quite a well rounded woman. She has never seen a stoplight. Such a strange world.

Remembering the dead

Two weeks ago we had a ceremony for children who had died. There is one child, Lahachai, that Sandy and I really loved that died (the details are on the old blog here
http://steveandsandy.spaces.live.com/?_c11_blogpart_blogpart=blogview&_c=blogpart&partqs=amonth%3d10%26ayear%3d2005

It is amazing how his death still affects us so much. I still think about him nearly everyday. The ceremony was really difficult for both of us. It was made more difficult by the child who was responsible for his death playing like nothing was wrong. His playing could be a defense mehanisim, but it still upsets me.

Another World Record

As many of you know, I am a world record holder... no need to go into details except it involves squid eyes. Either way, I am always impressed with people who can achieve great things, so, as I was driving down the road an hour ago, I could not help but be impressed by the much dreamed of but never before seen 6 people on a motorbike. It is a little difficult to see in either picture but the two combined provides conclusive evidence. I am not sure if it is evidence of squeezing a lot of people on a bike or me getting excited over something stupid...either way I think it is interesting.

Busted!

The other day I wrote about the fellow whose views on America I disagree with. He read my blog and wrote me a note about it. I guess I should know people read the damn thing...I guess I got busted. I should also note that he is a big help to the home and I like him even though I think he is a commie pinko America hater.

Helping a guy I like and respect

There is really a nice man who work for Baan Unrak. He is really a decent man who has drawn some tough cards. I heard that he was running with some children and a piece of bamboo went between his toes and an inch into his foot. He was refusing to go to the doctor even though he really needed to. He had a day off so I went to his home to check on him and he was at church so I told his friend that I was coming back at 12:30 to take him to the hospital.

I went back and his foot was enormous. I told him he had to go and he did. We got the treatment and the medicine he needed. I have been around poor people enough to know why he did not want to go to the doctor...he had no way of paying for it. We went to get the medicine and pay and as I took out my wallet I asked how much it was. He had this really sad look on his face and said he had no money to pay. When he realized I was already planning on paying he was so happy. I took him home and I looked me in the eyes and thanked me in the sort of way that I knew it was not just polite talk. Best 10 bucks I ever spent.