off we go

How do I sum up a week in one entry?
Jamie and I arrived in Ranong on SUnday, July 3rd, spent the night in the small town which has a small tourist center, as it is the place to go to renew your Thailand visa in nearby Burma (Myanmar). We were told to meet our United Planet rep at the KiwiOrchid Guesthouse at 10:00 am on Monday. When we got there, there were several other volunteers from many different organizations. Our representative turned out to be a rep named Ralph, from Greenway, a Thai organization funded by a man named Patrick, who is originally Dutch, but moved here over twenty years ago. Intuition was at a peak, and I whispered to Jamie, "we can leave after a week if this isn't what we signed up for."

At the table, we were told that United Planet (3 of us) and Commondo (Dutch- 6 people) would be building a Muy Thai boxing gym, with the hopes of turning it into a community center, with library, etc. The others would be going to the national park and helping making and painting chairs so they could re-open for tourism. Right away, I was thinking that was more suited for me and Jamie, but kept quiet at first. We were driven to the 'volunteer house' where we were told what our schedule would be- breakfast at homestay, Thai lessons for one hour, then work. There was a cultural and educational component, which is one of the things that Jamie and I liked. But the Commondo group had been told they would be doing construction the entire time. SO right away, we recognized that there was lack of communication between organizations, which I think is typical in any country. We had lunch, and asked when we would see our homestays. We were told very soon, and waited, watching the rain, and staring at the mosque accross the narrow road for several hours, doing nothing ,really, but waiting to get to our new homes with our luggage. We asked for the third time, and finally, we were able to go meet our new 'family'.


The drive was wet, the area was wet, and very green because of it. There were marshes everywhere, with egrets and buffalo roaming around. Small houses, some made of concrete right on the land, some made of wood and risen on stilts, dotted the road. Families of three and four traveled past us via motorbike (yes, all of them on one bike, no helmets), most of the women wearing the Muslim headdresses. We got to our home last, a small concrete bungalow resting precariously on the muddy banks of one of the many rivers that made the village of Bang Ben an island. The roof was tin, and everything inside smelled of mothballs. Mami Nom was a beautiful woman, older, non-Muslim, but not quite Buddhist. We heard later, she was actually Lao, but not many people in town know that. She showed us her kitchen, which was out the back door, across some wodden planks, into a shack, basicaly, tin roof again. But the shack was constructed with sticks, stick floor, stick walls. There wre three gas burners inside, and she sat on the floor cooking, talking to us in Thai, while we just kept responing with 'Uh-huh" as if we understood. My bedroom was accesses two ways- one, from the outside, the other, through a small window in the bathroom (yes, that is how I got to the bathroom at night- through the window). The bathroom was nothing I had ever seen before. There was an eastern toilet in the ground (a.k.a. 'squatty pottie'), sovered with a board, and a bucket full of water next to it, with a tupperware scoop floating on top. This is how you 'flush' the toilet- by scooping clean water into the bowl until everything goes down (right into the river, I assume,as all the food and washing did, but I never asked). Nect to the toilet was a cement tub, filled with rainwater from the roof pouring into the gutter, and then running through a pipe, which was interesteing during torrential rain, as it filled rather quickly. Floating in this tub was also a scoop, meant for bathing.
Thais bathe about three times a day this way, and you NEVER get into the tub, as it spoils the clean water. So you scoop water out of the cement, stand next to it, usually next to a hole in the cement wall for drainage (again, into the river) and you pour it over yourslef. It takes quite a while, and was a bit cold. As there were a lot of western volunteers in the area, we could talk about this new experience freely, and one of the English guys coined it 'taking a scoop' instead of the usual 'taking a shower'. Food was good, however, it was often cooked hours before we were ready to eat it, and although it was kept covered and away from bugs, I think this is the reason I have been having some stomach issues. Jamie had them a bit, too. I could write for hours about our experioence with Mommie Nom and her daughter Miss Pen. But I will save your eyes from the reading now, and write more another time, or share with you all in person.

Volunteering- as I mentioned before, MOnday was pretty much a travel day rather than a work day which didn't make too much sense to me, as the other volunteers were there Sunday. We all met- all 26 of us, and our Thai leaders, and Ralph, at the Wasana Resort in Laem Son National Park (the village of Bang Ben is pretty much part of the park). Lucky Jamie and I- we were right next door, and, maybe unfortunately in some ways, spent all of our evenings there as it was clean and bright, and remarkably absent was the smell of mothballs. VOlunteers came from all across Europe, the UK, and the States, which was very fun. We all shared stories and wondered what would happen when weactually started working. Tuesday, after Thai lessons, we drove up to the site for the gym. I have to insert here, that until Thursday, it was raining cats and dogs, which offered us a respite from the heat, and I also found my ankles again. But it was hard to see or move quickly as it was sheets of water. The site was covered with trees- palms, banana, and some other that I would soon find out was poisonous. We sat down in the volunteer house across the street to discuss the plan. I was feeling completely out of my comfort zone, and to make it more strange, Ralph decided I would be the 'manager' and lead the meetings, and make lists of what we needed. This made no sense to me, as we had two building contractors in our group. I think Ralph was trying to have us do 'the teambuilding' thing, but it seemed like a waste of time. He also said we had to wait for the things we needed, which we argued was a waste of time, as we could at least clear the plot while we waited for the proper equipment. So we took charge, and started digging. And clearing. And raking. And sawing. And Jamie and I and a few other....less handy.....dragged branches and logs and things to a burn pile. Again, intuition told me this wasn't good, as when I touched one particular tree, I felt stickiness. A week later, and I have blisters up and down my arms and hands which took 3 visits to the doctor (the one in Bang Ben didn't know English and kept saying chicken pox, and gave me antibiotics for 1.50 US which I didn't take, but will keep in my med bag for future probs if needed)- the doctor at the airport agreed with my personal prognosis and gave me the right topical treatment, and it is still disgusting, but getting better.

After the trees were cut down and dragged, it was time to start digging holes which would have to wait until Wednesday. Then it was mentioned that we would not go to the school Wed- we would dig holes. The group was all on the same page, the leader not. He wanted us all to 'be together' and we decided that 'being together' meant for us that we all did what we felt most useful doing, so again, we took charge and Jamie and I went to the school on Wed. We were told on the spot that we would teach English. The teacher walked out of the room full of 15 year olds, leaving us alone. Um, ok. Now, being a teacher, I was able to handle it well, and Jamie was brilliant at bouncing off me, and picking a few activities that suited her comfort level. It was a great experience- one I would actually hope to do long term in a Spanish speaking country in the near future- but not one we were prep[ared for. ANd then we waited. And waited. And finally were brought back to the boxing gym, where it was still pouring, and everyone was soaking wet, wrinkled and filthy, digging holes. We opted out. The tools they had were primitive at best, and several of us felt it unsafe to handle them in such a downpour. The next morning, everyone came to the table with their frustration, that this was not a priority- to do heavy construction in the poourning rain. ANd as we were all told this was what the Thais wanted, we were all frustrated seeing that there were no Thais working on it. THe other group of 17- the ones building and painting chairs? 11 of them left as there was no work for them to do.

Patrick, the leader of Greenway, came and talked with all of us, and we decided to migrate to the painting group, as that was more our capability. He was fine with that. Ralph was not. The groups decided to merge completely and we went to the beach. This seemed right. The beach was devoid of any humans, as the villagers were completely frightened of the sea. This is where we thought we could make the difference. So we all started cleaning. We dug up fishing traps that had washed on shore 6 months ago, and had been buried under wet sand for months. We picked up trash- old shoes, styrofoam from the traps, ropes, nets. It was a mess. When we all had dinner together that night we felt good. We didn;t build chairs because the Thais were busy doing it, which felt even better, showing us that is what they wanted. But it started raining again, and it wasn't possible to clean as everything blew out of the bags, out of our hands. We sawed apart three fallen trees, but again, too many people for one job. So we left.

Any regrets? No, not at all. We had a cultural experience that will never be forgotten. We met fantastic people from all over the world! We brought our smiles and our dollars to an area where there are no tourists. We walked to the beach every day, with children looking to see where we were going, some adults even coming to see. We showed we cared. I will assume that United Planet and Greenway's lack of communication with each other and with the volunteers was specific to our experience, and remember that both strive to make a difference. For this, I am not angry. But we felt like we weren't doing anything, and would rather see more (which in the big picture means spend more, which was part of the original goal). Hopefully we can get a small refund and redirect it to HiPhiPhi. We shall see when we actually have a chat with UP. And that is how it will have to stand for now.


So here we sit, after a luxurious night of air conditioning, clean white sheets, a tub and shower, and a pedicure, in Chiang Mai. We will go on some sort of Hill Tribe adventure here, after my stomach settles and my weird skin thing clears up a bit. All is well in paradise- being here reminds me how everything is possible. We were in a remote seaside village with no public transport and were told we couldn't get a flight out for a few days. Yet, we made it happen by just saying "ok. but take us to the airport anyway". 4 hours later, 2 plane trips on different airlines, not pre-booked, costing a total of less than 100 dollars, we are hours and hours away, missing some things, grateful for others. ANd with that, I will say goodbye, take care and I do enjoy your emails, so please write!!!

Much love....
Rebecca