Last week and much of this week has been pretty much the same as previous weeks. Making bricks, getting eaten by bugs, sorting clothes for distribution at the local schools, getting eaten by bugs, rainstorms, getting eaten by bugs, singing around the campfire talking about our feelings and how much we love each other...OK, maybe not the last bit. Of course, I wouldn't know if they did do that at the last group meeting, I boycotted on the basis of sheer principle. I've been told throughout my stay here that many activities, including working on group outdoor projects on Saturdays, were mandatory. Yet, people seem to be able to blow off joining in group activities like we had on Saturday, which was pouring cement for a stairways. So, I figured I would blow off the group meeting. Head hippie girl was not happy with me. Oh well, she better get used to it, since I'm going to do it again this week.
Thankfully, I'm in the last few days of my stay at the Mirror Foundation. While it has it's merits in terms of their overall mission and the projects they work on, there are more than a few challenges. Since I don't think I've ever bothered to fully fill you in on what they actually do here at Mirror, I figured I should probably do that now, before I forget.
From what I'm told, Mirror Foundation was started by a bunch of university students that came up from Bangkok. They came up to Northern Thailand to help the various hill tribe people living in and around these parts. Now, the hill tribes (8 different tribes in all) are a collection of nomadic people that have come from Burma, China, etc. The largest tribe is the Akha and most the other tribes speak Akha, though they have their own dialects and own language.
Basically, since the hill tribe people are nomadic, they are not eligible for Thai citizenship, which means they cannot purchase land deeds and they don't have access to many government funding or health care. Mirror Foundation tries to help these people get citizenship. It is apparently a very long and difficult process that requires them being able to prove where they were born and how long they have lived in an area. Its a bit of a vicious cycle since the villagers don't have access to a hospital, they give births in their homes and therefore, have no birth certificate. Get it?
Anyway, that's one of the main projects. Additionally, with Chiang Rai being so close to the Golden Triangle, where the drug trade was extremely heavy, Mirror has been campaigning to help the villagers fight drug trafficking and abuse through education and assistance. Drug trafficking and abuse has been a huge part of their economy, since they can't afford to make a living in other ways. Though the drug trafficking and abuse has been greatly reduced in this area, Mirror has now had to turn their attention to sex trafficking and the rise in prostitution. Young women and girls are being enticed to take jobs as prostitutes to make money for themselves and their families. The stories we hear are awful. In Northern Thailand, it exists, but it is not as open as in Southern Thailand. Occassionally, you will see an old expat with some incredibly young girl on his arm here in Chiang Rai. (We even had a volunteer who was taking young prostitutes back to the Mirror guesthouse the day before he started work. Needless to say, he was gone after they found out.) But apparently, there are children openly for sale down in the islands.
Anyway, the Thai and hill tribe staff members are mainly the ones who work on helping the hill tribes gain citizenship, prevent drug and sex trafficking, while the volunteers get to either do what I do, which is work outdoors and help rebuild homes, provide access to water, cut bamboo, make bricks, sort through the hundreds of boxes of donations, etc. or teach English at the various schools, hospitals, monastaries and child care centers around Chiang Rai. They try to provide education to children who would normally be found working in the fields, taking care of younger siblings or do the other things previously mentioned.
Lastly, Mirror also has a scholarship fund for some of the more exceptional hill tribe students. It allows them pursue secondary and tertiary schools, which here, costs money.
I'm sure Mirror does quite a bit more then the things I listed above. I'm told that they are one of the more successful NGOs in Thailand. But it gives you an idea of their work here.
Personally, I enjoyed the outdoor work. As hard as it was, I at least got to see the end results of my hard labor, most days. Also, I got to make a difference in other ways that bring me great satisfaction. Like I helped raise funds for one of the staff members to complete his teaching certification. (Thank you to all who donated!) I spearheaded getting the Mirror Foundation Scholarship Fund Postcard campaign off to a good start. I got the owner of the hotel I frequent here to sell our postcards in her guesthouses. Also, she said she attends a meeting with other hotel owners, so I may develop into an "in" to other hotel locations. Additionally, I started and have been managing a minishop in the volunteer's office so they can generate some cash flow to buy supplies they need instead of always hitting people up for donations. (The jury is still out on how successful it will be since people seem to think that they don't have to pay for things.) I've also hosted ice cream socials, shaved ice socials and sold french fries to generate money for the volunteer supply fund. Those went over pretty well.
In any event, I hope they can maintain things after I leave...I'm a bit sceptacle since the guy who said he would take over and whom also provided the other half of the startup costs was yelling at me this morning about how busy he is. Of course, he threw in how he needed time to go get his body tatooed, play charades and other games with the volunteers and he needed his own personal time so he can't possibly be expected to count money or do inventory every night. How I really hate selfish, rich kids...Thankfully, I have a backup, as usual. Andy seems like a stand up guy. So we'll keep our fingers crossed.
A funny side note, after I told P'akong about the different things I was doing to bring in money, he told me I should just stay here and he will build me a house. Now, isnt' that just the nicest thing someone can say to you? "Stay here, start a business and I will build you a house."
So back to Mirror and their work.
Definitely commendable. No doubt about it. Execution and organization need some work. Enough said...BTW, did I mention I only have a few more days of cold showers and bugs, before I get to stay in a nice, normal hotel room? I'm so excited... I can't wait. The first thing I'm going to do is take a HOT shower for 30 min or until the water turns cold, then I'm going to run back to my hotel room, crank up the A/C, turn on the TV and watch the one english movie channel. :D
You think I'm kidding, don't you?
