sustainable development

This past weekend, Chris and I joined three friends (Aum, her boyfriend Gig, and Pae) on a trip to a rural village, Nadau, outside of Lampang. Although we went primarily for relaxation and to get out of the city, we got to learn a lot about local issues through Gig’s work in rural Thailand as well.

Gig used to work for the government in grassroots community development but left to work as a ‘free agent’ after he began to disagree with some of the former government’s politics and stances on issues. One of the projects he’s been involved in is the one we visited, where a group of about thirty people are part of a co-op that produces cotton clothing and housewares (blankets, towels, tablecloths, etc) from start to finish. There are people responsible for planting and harvesting organic cotton, spinning the cotton into thread, weaving the cotton, dyeing the cotton (using natural dyes from local plants and trees), and selling the finished products. We stayed at the co-op leaders’ house, which is a complex of small open buildings in this really beautiful natural garden setting that’s designed by one of the couple’s sons. The different buildings at the complex included a meeting room (also doubling as a dining room/living room), a small shop, a ‘library’/breakfast room, a kitchen, a bedroom for the couple in charge, a weaving room (where all the looms are kept), a garage (where machines that separate seeds from freshly picked cotton), bathrooms, and an adobe house that was also primarily built by one of the couple’s son. All five of us stayed in the adobe one-room house as it was built as a guest house for people who were visiting the co-op.

Gig showed us around the place and during the mornings, I was able to have some conversations with him about social justice. He stated that he was committed to preserving traditional knowledge and was unhappy that much of this knowledge was being lost because many youth were uninterested in learning about this way of life and also because locals thought it was a better use of time to purchase cheaper goods (usually from China) rather than making them themselves. Because of this, many of the fields were left empty because there were not enough people to do the work that was required to maintain them. Also, less and less people were engaging in traditional work (bamboo weaving, weaving cloth, growing cotton, woodwork, etc.). During our visit there, we visited a few elderly couples who were employed by the co-op or others to make traditional objects (like bamboo woven containers). However, prices for these objects had fallen in recent years and I was saddened to hear that this elderly couple only received 2.5 baht per bamboo container that they wove by hand.

Continuing our conversation about the loss of traditional knowledge in rural communities, I asked Gig if youth had opportunities to obtain an education. He stated that it was dependent on the family, and that many youth did have opportunities to attend Rajabhat (basically the equivalent of a community college in the US, but more vocational/technical focused). Although he agreed that it was important and useful for youth to get an education and experience life in a city, he wished that more youth would come back after receiving an education and contribute to local development rather than seeking out desk jobs or other employment in the city. However, it was rare to have anyone come back once they left. It was interesting to note that through all our travels in the village, we rarely saw anyone our age at all (it was essentially all elderly people and young children).

Re: education, I noted that it was important to have ideas of community development and/or social justice present during the college years. Gig agreed but stated that few majors talked about such ideas and that most people went to college to make money. He majored in sociology and had a few profs talk to him about community development but he stated that his friends in the more popular majors of business, accounting, management, finance, etc. never had any discussions about rural or community development. I found this sad, especially in Thailand, where there are still large amounts of rural poor. Even more interesting, I thought it was interesting that Thailand has a pretty robust civil society (look at anti-Thaksin demonstrations, or demonstrations against the Thai-US FTA, anti-smoking legislation, etc.), but wonder where the youth are? Where is the training ground for progressive-minded people? What activities are college kids involved in? (There are few extracurricular activities from my limited experience talking to friends both here and in Bangkok).

Back to the village though. During our stay, we were able to pick cotton, see elderly people making traditional crafts, look at traditional looms, and see villagers harvesting rice. We also had a chance to visit with some local families. Everyone was super nice and welcoming to me after Gig introduced me as ‘the American doctor’ (kinda uncomfortable, actually, but I did get to look at some medical records – written in English, of course, so few Thai people can understand them, and offer some advice). Some of the elderly people tried to chat with me but I don’t really understand Northern Thai so it was mostly smiling and nodding. It was also super hot and I feel like I’m turning into my mom (getting migraine headaches in the heat). Chris was a little grumpy but tried to grin and bear it. After we got home, he noted that he kept thinking that he was really lucky when we visited some of the rural elderly people in their homes (mostly wooden houses on stilts with bamboo mats on the floor). This reminded me of the times I used to argue with Chris about how he grew up rich and privileged and he would get upset and say he wasn’t rich at all (compared to lots of other USC kids he went to school with). It amazed me how difficult it was to convince someone that they were privileged but thought it was easier for me to accept my own privilege because of my parents’ background. Although I have no recollection of difficult times (my parents were still struggling when I was born), my mother would often talk about her experiences as an orphan and I remember visiting her older brother in a Bangkok slum the first time we came back to Thailand. At that time, I was fourteen and thought, we are really lucky to have been born (to my parents) in the US.

During this trip, I was reminded about how little people really needed to survive – not just how little people needed to just survive, but also to survive and be happy.

slacker

ok, i have to admit that ive been a huge slacker ever since chris got here and have basically disappeared off the face of my work-related activities. i've tried to get back into the swing of things today though, and am proud at myself for editing a pretty poorly written paper, writing three work-related emails, and taking out charts i'm supposed to review (even if i haven't started really looking at them yet).

it was a huge relief to be back together with chris and it took almost no time at all to adjust from living alone in my roomy studio apt to living with chris again. he brought our wedding album and all our pics (so ive looked many many times at them and shared them with a bunch of people), nutter butters, and a foam topper for the mattress and new sheets :). he's also more attuned to cleanliness than i am, so the apt has been kept relatively clean between the maid visiting and me cleaning up to make the room presentable for my teacher when she comes to teach me thai. big news in the past few weeks includes:

1) motorcycle purchase. aum ( a nurse from the MA project) and gig (her bf) took us to buy a used motorcycle last weekend. we paid about $500 for a used automatic bike (yamaha nuovo) and it's in super good condition. i just got an oil change and tune-up at the yamaha garage for $7. craziness.

chris almost made me fall off the bike the first day we got it while we were practicing riding around, but i saved myself. he's getting better everyday and is the main driver as i'm scared of traffic and can't really balance him on the back of a bike.

it is REALLY nice to have an independent mode of transportation rather than take songtaews (or red trucks) everywhere. gas isnt that expensive for bikes either (we spend maybe 100 baht a week, or less than $3) on gas a week, vs a little less than a dollar for both of us to go on one ride anywhere in the city.

dont worry, we always wear helmets :).

2) loy krathong

loy krathong (festival of light) was also celebrated last weekend during the full moon. in the north it's also called yee peng and it's a BIG deal. you can read more about the history and significance of loy krathong in this article here. basically, the festival is to pay respect to water and its centrality in people's lives (main theme in lots of Thai traditions, including the New Year Festival, Songkran).

chris and i attended two parades with intricate floats and also made our very own krathong (float) in a lanna village (did you ever have colonial days in your elementary school? this was exactly like that, but nicer - basically, they set up a platform with people playing traditional lanna music, weaving traditional cotton clothes, making traditional desserts, etc. there was also a station where you could make your own krathong). lanna is how northern Thai people refer to themselves and their culture. lan in thai means one million, and na means fields (ie rice paddies)...so one million rice fields (guess what people used to do here for a living). anyway, krathong are really cool and are made from environmentally friendly materials, mostly from the banana tree. the base of our float was made from a banana stalk and then it was covered with banana leaves. i am bad at folding, so chris took cues from aum as to how to fold strips of banana leaves into triangles that are supposed to resemble lotus petals. i assembled the banana leaves onto the base and added some flowers they had there. finally, we topped off our float with a homemade candle and three incense sticks (for the Buddha, the Dharma (the Buddha's teachings, and the Sangha (the monastic order and those who follow the Buddha's teachings). although real thai people probably thought our krathong was really crappy looking, we were proud of it just the same. :)

after making the krathong, we bought a khom loei (or floating paper lantern...you basically light a candle under these things and wait for it to produce enough hot air until it rises into the night air like a hot air balloon...see pics in the slideshow for more) and then drove to the Ping River to float our krathong and light the khom loei. Floating a krathong with your partner is supposedly good luck and will ensure happiness and good fortune together. Before letting our krathong float down the river, we each put a strand of our own hair in it and a coin. Putting your hair in your float supposedly helps to wash away the bad things in your current life and helps you start afresh. You can also pray and/or make wishes before letting your float go in the water. Chris and I decided to wish for a happy future together and good health for both of our families. Luckily, our krathong floated without any problems and the candle did not burn out (it is bad luck to have your candle burn out before it leaves your sight). Hopefully our wish will come true :).

After floating our krathong, we lighted the khom loei and let it go with Aum and Gig. You also get to make wishes and hope that 'badness' floats away with the khom loei. the night sky during loy krathong is amazing because of all the khom loei in the night sky (like lanterns everywhere).

enjoy one of our loy krathong slideshows here :)

Get Your Own! | View Slideshow

3) new work-related project. vit and i went to check out m-plus, a drop-in center and clinic offering free std and hiv testing for male commercial sex workers. the director wasn't there and they weren't really expecting us, so we didnt stay long, but i was able to join a meeting the m-plus coordinators had with rihes (the research institute where i work) this past week. im going to check out more opportunities there next week and maybe will volunteer to teach english (much like i did at empower during my last yearlong stay in thailand).

4) celebrating accountability. chris and i watched election day coverage on cnn all day in Thailand and celebrated the democratic takeover of both the senate and the house. unfortunately, proposition 2 (banning affirmative action in Michigan) passed despite our absentee ballots.


ok, those are the main things for now. ill update more after our weekend trip to lampang with aum and gig :).