Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter / Habitat for Humanity Work Project in Chiang Mai

Rachel and I were privileged last week to be able to take part in the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter / Habitat for Humanity Work Project here in Chiang Mai. The project was a coordinated "blitz build" across locations in Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and China. In Thailand alone, Habitat volunteers built a new community consisting of 82 new homes for low-income families. (The foundations were done when we arrived; we put up the walls, roofing, windows & doors, etc.) Literally thousands of volunteers took part from all over the world, including President Carter himself, who helped build a house down the street from the one I worked on. We'll post more later, but here are some pictures from the week.

Rachel with part of the team from House 34. These volunteers (and several thousand others) worked through 100-degree heat for five days to build homes for low-income families in northern Thailand. (Check back for Rachel's comments on her experience in the next few days.)

Here's me (back row, fourth from the left) with the team from House 5 on the first day of construction. The new homeowner, Kanchana Nimphisut, is in the front row, second from the left. She worked along with the rest of the crew every minute of the construction process; in fact, I almost never saw her take a break.

Former President Jimmy Carter installs a door latch at a new home down the street from where I worked. Over the course of the week I watched the former president and his wife carry buckets of concrete, stack bricks and sweep floors along with the rest of us. Pretty amazing considering that he's 84 years old. (Reminded me of Grandpa Thompson, actually...)

President Carter arrives at the closing ceremony for the event. Rachel and I sat a couple of tables over from him and his wife (and a whole bunch of Secret Service guys). The closing ceremony featured traditional Thai dancing and a heartfelt speech from one of the new homeowners.

I know this post won't convey the scope of the effort that went into the Habitat work project, or the gratitude that Rachel and I felt to have been involved. Like I said, we'll try to post more later. But the generosity of the volunteers, the spirit of teamwork at the site, and the sheer logistical magnitude of the project were truly awe-inspiring. We've had an absolutely incredible experience here in Chiang Mai so far, and the Habitat project was truly one of the highlights. Check back for Rachel's comments later this week.

First Saturday Night in Chiang Mai

We went to a college campus outside the city for a Lantern Festival. When we arrived at the ceremony site, we saw a huge Budhha on an altar and many monks sitting around the steps of the altar -each holding a candle in their hands. They chanted prayers as we sat and watched along with thousand of other Thais who came out for the occasion. After the prayers, the crowd stood up and lit their lanterns.

The monks directed us to let all of our lanterns go at the same moment. The result was one of the most beautiful sights- thousands of these lantern floating up into the sky at the same time. It is right up there on my list of most incredible experiences of my life. -Rachel

First Home Visit

My volunteer placement is with Christian AIDS Ministry (CAM), which works on HIV/AIDS awareness, education, and prevention in Chiang Mai. As part of their mission, they also conduct home visits to local villages in the northern districts to ensure that people living with HIV/AIDS receive the care and access to medicines that they need. After a week or so of reading materials and getting up to speed on their work, I had my first experience out "in the field".

We began by visiting a slum area here in the city where about 300 people live. The minister and director of CAM was doing a home visit to a woman living with HIV. Since there were a few of us foreigners with him, the woman agreed to tell us her story. A member of a local hill tribe family, she was sold to a brothel near the northern border at the age of 11. Since she spoke Lahu (rather than Thai), whenever she met a man who spoke her language, she would tell him about her situation and ask for his help in escaping. One man finally did help her get out, but the brothel owner found her and sent her to a brothel down south. She escaped again and found her way to Chiang Mai. She now lives in a "home" she put together out of plywood. She has HIV, but is not open about her status out of fear of discrimination. She has taken in a younger woman who is a refugee and also has HIV. They live in the one-room home and make a living from selling items or giving back massages on the street. They use water from a hole for cooking and relieve themselves outside.

We sat there listening to their stories and trying to imagine how they live. As undocumented ethnic minorities and refugees, they don't qualify for healthcare benefits like Thai citizens do. CAM helps women like this get anti-retro viral meds that prolong their lives. The minister offered to pray with the women and asked them what they need. One woman asked for a new home and the other wanted a toilet. We sat around them in a circle, joined hands and prayed with them.

The next morning I arrived at work to find the minister hauling a toilet in the back of his truck to bring to the women. -Rachel

Loi Kratong Festival

Hey folks: I realize Rachel and I haven't (quite) lived up to the "new postings daily" commitment, but I wanted to get some images up to let you know we're still here. The pics below are from the Loi Kratong Festival, a three-day festival held throughout Thailand each year, generally in November. The festival marks a few different things, including letting go of one's grudges and giving thanks to the Goddess of Water. It's also an occasion to set off as many fireworks as conceivably possible, sometimes in the middle of large crowds of people. That part is a little nerve-wracking.

This is a floating lantern called a "khom fai" (please correct me if I have the spelling wrong). It's basically a flaming chunk of banana tree (I think) connected to a thin paper lantern - basically a mini-hot air balloon. During Loi Kratong festival-goers launch thousands of these into the sky. I'll try to post some better pics when I have a chance - seeing them all at once is a pretty amazing sight.

Another part of Loi Kratong: beauty pageants and floats. Some of the floats are sponsored by companies and government agencies and are actually anchored in the Ping River nearby for judging. The floats actually...float. Anyway, the pic above is from the two-day parade to show off all the floats and various beauty pageant winners.

This guy (from a Japanese-themed float) is posing as some kind of devil-guy. Not a pageant winner, but still a cool shot.

We'll be posting more soon, specifically with some info on our volunteer work here in Chiang Mai. Check back soon!

Trick-or-Treat...with an Elephant

So, we ran into this guy on our way to a Halloween party last night.

Yes, that's a real elephant. I'm telling you, this kind of thing just happens in Chiang Mai. So we were like, "Wanna hang out?," and he was like, "Pff, sure." For 20 baht (about 70 cents), we fed him a couple of bamboo sticks, which was like a Snickers or a Baby Ruth for him. Then we headed down the street to our party, which was a blast.

Here he's going for my wallet.

The Chiang Mai crew. (Left to right: Guy, Jodi, Rachel, Jen, Jodi's friend. That's not her real hair color, though.) Good times all around. Getting up for work at 7:30 this morning was, uh, challenging.