Installing water systems,

Creating life books,

Supplying teachers with resources

are the BIG things we do here.

But in and among these focuses, smaller, but still important events and discoveries are taking place every day.

We thought we’d let you know about four of them:

A Walk to Remember

Three weeks ago, our family took a break from our busy schedule and went to a water fall near Mae Sot.  Thailand is filled with water falls… you can climb them…and sit under the water as it pours over your head.  Our intern and I decided to climb a bit further and so we climbed all the way up the side of the water fall to the very top where the land leveled out and we looked over the valley below.  Before us a beautiful scene of nature.  We turned away from the view and began to walk through knee high grass and my intern looked at me and said, “In Burma, we can’t walk like this because there are land mines everywhere.”  A single comment that we’d never hear in Canada as we walk through a grassy field or a mountain meadow.  Yet, here was freedom defined.  The ability to walk unhindered through God’s nature, not worrying about explosions at your feet.

Soccer…Thai Style

We are teaching English at two schools…one of them a Thai school.  Because we are on staff there, Isaac was asked to play soccer with the school team.  He accepted and so he became the “Canadian import” as his coach put it.  Coaching instructions in Thai didn’t work and so hand signals became the only way to communicate strategy.  Isaac was placed at left forward and told to run as fast as he could with the ball and to keep crossing it into the middle.  We’re not sure whether his skill or his white skin made him more popular than even he wanted to be.  He joined the team in time for the championships.  After a 4-0 win and a 2-1 shoot out win (where Isaac scored one of the penalties), they advanced to the next round.  They tied 1-1 and then won 6-0 in the next game which gave them the needed points to play in the city championship final.  Facing the team they tied a day earlier, the atmosphere was tense.  The other team led 1-0 after a penalty shot (handball in the 18-yard box).  Then Isaac set up two beautiful goals and his team led 2-1 at the half.   They hung on in a tense second half to win the Mae Sot City Championships.  One of our worries in coming here was that soccer might be put on the shelf for a year…apparently God had other plans.

Would you Like to Super-Size That?

Before we install water filtration systems, we need to determine whether a school is physically able to use a water system.  The school’s location according to water sources (wells, city water pipelines, village pipelines, or mountain reservoirs) factors into the ability or inability of a water filtration system to work properly.   And so we do water assessments.  We meet with the headmaster and ask a million questions and tour around the school. The assessments become more than questions about water. We talk about the history of the school, how the students are doing, which organizations fund the school, and we talk about food.  Each school must find its own support for…everything, including food.

At one particular school recently, as we asked the headmaster about his food supply, he informed us that the students are eating two meals a day…breakfast and supper.  And the breakfast is not an all-you-can-eat buffet.  It’s rice and curry with a bit of meat sometimes.  As we concluded our interview and walked to the entrance of the school, we watched the students playing soccer. And while they looked liked my own kids, I realized that because of lack of nutrients, they were dying on the inside and no one could see it… yet.   Maybe young and strong now and able to handle the lack of proper nutrition, their bodies would soon break down, unable to handle the strain and stress of such a scant diet.  And this school is not alone.

And so we left and had a good supper at a nice restaurant for a really cheap price and I wondered about the justice of it all.

The Meaning of Christmas

We miss Christmas in Canada.  We miss family, friends, the snow, the lights, and the holiday cheer.  However, I’ve realized that in many ways, we’re actually experiencing a more authentic Christmas than we did in Canada.  Our experiences in Mae Sot remind us of Bethlehem. Bethlehem didn’t have snow.  It was probably hot.  The streets were crowded with people who spoke many different languages.  Mae Sot is a place of poverty and refugees. Jesus was born in the most humble of locations.  As a two-year old, Jesus became a refugee as he and his family fled to Egypt.  His family was poor and on the run.

And so while we’re not home at this special time of year,

we feel a unique sense of closeness to that first Christmas.

We're getting drinking water!!!

Her reaction reminded us again of how much we take for granted.

As we sat on a cement floor in the principal’s office and told her that her school would receive a water filtration system within a month, she whooped and cheered, just like our children would if they had just heard that they were going to Disneyland. The news spread like wildfire around the school. Joy and hope filled the hearts of students and teachers alike.

That was one month ago.

Last week, her school received the promised water filtration system!  Hsa Mu Htaw School now has free drinking water. They were so excited that they held an opening ceremony where they piled all the students into one small room to see the new water system. Then the principal cut the ribbon and each of the children received a special drink, made with the new clean drinking water. Such a fuss over something that most Western countries take for granted.

Kwe Ka Baung (the inner city school that has been highlighted in several previous blogs) was the other school. We were so excited to place two small water systems there so that these inner city school students can drink fresh, healthy water for free. Now, like Hsa Mu Htaw, they are able to spend their money on other important items such as food, rent and teacher salaries. Now, 415 students, including 135 boarding students, will have access to clean drinking water.

Many thanks to Pe Tom – our water engineer, Ly Mei – our logistics expert, Htway – our assistant, Bailtal- our intern, and all the teachers from these two schools who made the first two installs possible.

What a day!

Many of you will remember the video we made that focused on the heart-rending living conditions of the Kwe Ka Baung students (on our September 26th posting). From the moment we met these children and teens, we’ve been planning a field trip for them. Yesterday we took 60 students, their teachers, and headmaster out of the city, into the country and went swimming in a reservoir.  Because Kwe Ka Baung boasts a student population of 420, we’ll take 7 field trips before the end of July in order to give them all the same chance to enjoy the fresh air and countryside.

The students on our field trip were Grade 10-12’s.  We bought fried chicken and sticky rice in the market and used the school vehicles to transport these teens.  With the headmaster’s permission, we’ve taken a number of pictures. Pictures are worth a thousand words.

Take a look!

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

The table is set!

We hope you’ve enjoyed your Thanksgiving Monday. Here in Thailand, where no one celebrates Thanksgiving except foreigners, we managed to find a way to celebrate!

We found roasted chickens in the market (no turkeys up here in Mae Sot!), then prepared mashed potatoes, carrots, and asparagus.  We avoided the frog, eel, turtle, and crickets that were also available for a few dollars. Joining us for this meal were some special guests. A new friend from Bangkok, who is teaching us how to set up the water systems in migrant schools, is here staying with us for a few days and our Burmese assistant joined us as well.

Our wonderful assistant made some delicious traditional Burmese tea leaf salad to go along with our meal.  Our first Thanksgiving in a new country was celebrated with new friends. The weather was hot and humid, rather than cool, and perhaps snowy, but the spirit behind the celebration was the same.  After supper, we read Acts 16 together and thanked God for the good times and the difficult times in our lives. We reminded ourselves to keep thanking Him in both.

In light of the reason for the season, we asked our children for what they were most thankful and least thankful…

Olivia is most thankful for her house that she lives in, here in Thailand. It is a place of security in the midst of many new surroundings (that would be my phraseology…not hers!). She is least thankful for the many bugs that crawl and fly and scare her. She definitely doesn’t like cockroaches (over an inch in length and half an inch in diameter) and she is rightly terrified of the bees…some as big as small humming birds.

Hannah is thankful for her new one-year old friend.  This little Burmese girl lives across the street with her family and Hannah plays with her everyday… holding her and even bathing her from time to time.  As you may already know, Hannah loves babies.  Hannah is least thankful for being far away from her many family and friends that she has left behind in Canada.  She misses all of you a lot!

 Ellie is most thankful for the house we live in and also thankful for homeschooling.  Homeschooling is more relaxed than being at GMS (not for her homeschooling teachers…that’s for sure!). She is least thankful for the heat that continuously washes over her, like the waves of the ocean.

Isaac is most thankful for our Burmese assistant who works with us everyday and also plays frisbee and soccer with Isaac when we’re at home.  Isaac is least thankful for the mosquitoes.  He has the most mosquito bites of our whole family.  They say that eating spicy food keeps them away.  That would explain why they don’t stay away from Isaac…

And in case you’re interested…

Irislee is most thankful that we’re living the adventure that we’ve dreamed about for many years, and for the bed frames that were made for our children yesterday out of old 2 x 4’s and new plywood (so they don’t have to sleep on the floor with the bugs).  She is least thankful for sweating, itchy skin.

Derek is also thankful for the beds for the children and also that he was able to share a message about Jesus, on Sunday, with 150 children (80% Buddhist) at their church/school. He is least thankful for the constant sticky, sweaty moisture that clings to him all day long, no matter what.

In everything give THANKS!

And so, Happy Thanksgiving, wherever and however you celebrate!

The Koch Kamotion

new beds....thanks guys!

This week we began a tour of the SCHOOLS that we’ll be helping.  Kwe Kha Baung School is the one we’ll be coming alongside first (pronounced Quake-a-bo).

While many of the schools are on the outskirts of town or in the countryside, this one is right in the heart of Mae Sot…in the busy, crowded market area.  Kwe Kha Baung also doubles as a BOARDING HOUSE for 135 students.  One word describes this school well…CONCRETE. No grass, no fresh, country air, very little room to run around and play.

While installing a WATER purification system is a crucial priority, so much MORE needs to be done.  When we met with the headmaster of the school, he bemoaned the fact that this is not an environment for children in which to grow up…but what else can he do?

His DREAM is to move the school to the countryside but that’s an expensive venture far beyond his reach.  Ryan Detwiller has created a video tour and so we INVITE YOU to come along with us as we move through the different areas of this school.

Join us as we take you inside a school we doubt you’ll soon be able to forget.

Kwe Kha Baung School, Mae Sot, Thailand from Ryan Detwiller on Vimeo.