Sawatdee from Chiang Mai!
We have just returned to the city from our home stays and volunteering in an Ahka tribe village outside of Chiang Rai through the Mirror Arts Foundation.The job was to create a water channel to reduce the amount of flooding and damage from the heavy rains that the village faces.
We woke up early, enjoyed our instant coffee, and then began our day. Our days consisted of raking sand and rocks into buckets, passing the buckets up and down the hills through a fire line, and mixing all our ingredients together to create concrete. We then poured the concrete and had many people smoothing it to build the best looking water channel the village had ever seen! It was hard work but seeing it all completed by the end was well rewarding.
The children of the village were our favorite part of the visit! With in seconds of being in the village, the kids were jumping all over us wanting piggy-back rides and to be tossed into the air by Malick. We enjoyed teaching them basic English words and phrases, but the only phrase that stuck was “Oh my gosh!”
As a group we were challenged culturally. The village had chosen to feed us pork for our going away party and the pig spent the week in a primary gathering area. It was difficult as a group for us to agree on how to feel about the pig’s death. We furthered the discussion by doing a group reading to share our thoughts on how we should, and how we have the right, to feel.
Outside of the village, we went to the Golden Triangle (the borders of Thailand, Burma, and Laos). This is a historic spot for the opium trade that has affected the countries of Southeast Asia. It was a relaxing and eye opening day for us. We also went to Wat Rong Khun (White Temple) and Baan Dam (Black House). The two temples were vastly different but offered such amazing interpretations for us and, of course, beautiful pictures!
We are learning so much each day and having so much fun!
Sophia and Tristan