The photos in this album were taken on my three-day trip to look into the physical and medical needs of the kids. Ralf, my gracious missionary host and owner of these hostels, and my sister and her husband in California made this trip possible. To them I say "Thablue" [Karen for "thank you"].
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Kailee personally sees to it that her stuff is neatly
packed and sent off. |
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Three red
bags of medicines and used clothes
to bless
the Karen and Hmong kids.
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Mae Na
Chorn Orphanage entrance
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Chanchai
Chaibureeopas aka P'San - Resident manager of Mae Na
Chorn Orphanage. His wife Antima aka P'Aom and neice. The biggest surprise that I got was to find out that these three guys were SDAs [former]. P'san graduated from Mission College at Muak Lek ...course? theology no less, after 5 years there. His niece was a student at the SDA academy in Mae Taeng. We had a great time comparing notes about how we found the truth and now live the truth. HALLELUJAH! (sanbureeopat@yahoo.com |
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Main
building houses the kitchen, offices and
girls'
quarters.
|
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Having
dinner: Kritsada, Panupong, Wisanu, Somkit
and
Aekapop, all active and happy karen and Hmong kids.
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| Morning chores |
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| Food cooking in the kitchen |
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piglets
for future meals. I was imagining
lechon de
leche and I missed the Philippines.
|
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| girls' bedroom |
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Momo - a
Japanese volunteer. she teaches english to the kids.
after introducing ourselves we found out that both of us come from the same church [ecb] and that we would sing in the same choir on Christmas. it was great finding a sister in the mountains. (momo_lydia@hotmail.com) |
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Frauleins
Julia & Stefanie
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Herr
Thomas Singer an Industrial Engineer with a big heart
for the
gospel work. (t.singer79@gmail.com)
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Aids/HIV
info posted around the countryside warning the
residents
about HIV. What it says: Rak cheevit, rak
krobkruai,
yahpathua pai thid aids. [Love life, love family.
Stay away
from aids]
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Pastor
Kuyu. A Karen pastor/evangelist who was
diagnosed
by the local doctor to have cancer of
the
stomach... i thought otherwise.
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The road
to Mae Hae. note the oncoming pickup truck
loaded
with cabbage. this region supplies the whole of
Thailand
with cabbage.
|
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Concrete
floor blocks on steep climbs... instead of the
usual
poured concrete. better traction during wet season.
|
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| The view from the Mae Hae guesthouse |
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Karen
women waiting for their turn with the doctor.
The
history taking was interesting because I would
first ask
the question then Ralf interprets it in Thai
and then
Yatu translates it in Karen to the patient.
the
patient's answers go back through the same way.
I bet the
same thing that happens in gossip happened here.
|
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| Kids watching my every move |
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| more patients |
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a fire to
keep us warm. In December to February icicles
form in
water that is left outside. I was the only one without
socks and
long pants and you bet I was shivering.
|
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12 degrees Celcius
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Breakfast consisting of melamine-laced cookies and coffee.
no melamine in the pop-rice and bread.
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Karen girls having breakfast
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boys eat at the other end of the room
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Pastor Sowi the oldest Karen evangelist alive in the
mountains.
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The kids singing a song for us.
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Yetu the Karen resident manager of Mae Hae Hostel. a very
jolly man
and we bonded immediately like long lost brothers. Thats a karen
shirt made by his wife. he also got my shirt tucked under an arm.
fair trade,
huh?
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Thomas just can't resist the flowers actually all of us were
out of the
pickup picking the flowers and we got a good sized bagfull. they
would be used to make a medicinal cream.
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The road to Mae Hae. the village is 15,000 meters above sea
level.
That's much much higher than MVC.
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awesome views
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Vachiratharn waterfalls
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Mae Chaem city in the valley
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Doi [mount] Inthanon National Park
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self-portrait on the bus to BKK. All the buses that night were full
and there was a 'generic'
[colorum] bus with cramped-in seats that was
conveniently there for all the
excess passengers. I got a seat beside a
shy monk in his saffron robe who was
silently biting a garlic clove, and
the pungent aroma was wafting over my head.
He reminded me of an
enlightened friend in faraway Sydney.
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Chiang Mai as seen on the map just in case you're
wondering where in the world did this story happen.
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