Catch up on the Lifeworks Thailand update #2!
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Thursday, July 24, 2008
LW Thailand July 23th Update
Cason and Tova call in the the first audio update from the 2008 Lifeworks International group out in Thailand.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
LW Thailand Update
Author: Unknown
Location:
Soo after 2 days of touring the city we were ready to do some hands on community service time!! We awoke bright and early this morning and headed off to meet the Khlong Toey youth group. Since we like to travel in style, we took the infamous disco bus out to Chon buri to the zoo!!! There was lots of dancing to be had and we quickly paired up with a Thai youth and began the challenging task of trying to get to know one another via hand signals and drawing pictures. Our day at the zoo was jam packed with games, touring, feeding animals and trying hard not to let the language barrier get to us. That night we even got to go on a night safari and see the largest tiger in the world!!! Don't worry there was glass between us. We also saw hippos, elephants, giraffe, lions, bulls, birds and tons more. It was a great way to bond. And the best part was that night the Thai girls put on a dancing performance for us and we shocked them all with our amazing version of cotton eyed joe. Basically it just turned into an awesome dance party under the stars, can't go wrong with that!!!
Location:
Soo after 2 days of touring the city we were ready to do some hands on community service time!! We awoke bright and early this morning and headed off to meet the Khlong Toey youth group. Since we like to travel in style, we took the infamous disco bus out to Chon buri to the zoo!!! There was lots of dancing to be had and we quickly paired up with a Thai youth and began the challenging task of trying to get to know one another via hand signals and drawing pictures. Our day at the zoo was jam packed with games, touring, feeding animals and trying hard not to let the language barrier get to us. That night we even got to go on a night safari and see the largest tiger in the world!!! Don't worry there was glass between us. We also saw hippos, elephants, giraffe, lions, bulls, birds and tons more. It was a great way to bond. And the best part was that night the Thai girls put on a dancing performance for us and we shocked them all with our amazing version of cotton eyed joe. Basically it just turned into an awesome dance party under the stars, can't go wrong with that!!!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Chilli peppers and Musical Chairs, all with the Thai Spirit
Author: .
Location:
So I hope none of you parents mind that we bring home an extra body in our suitcase because we are totally in love with Thai children. Today we had sports day at the Duang Prateep Kindergarten!!! When we got there we started the day off with a parade around the area, looooots of drums and singing and trying to be energetic in the hot sun. We split into 3 teams (blue team dominated!) and had some great events like the tire pull, water balloon relay, tug-o-war, musical chairs (we were the chairs!!) and a cheer off!! The kids were so cute and everyone had a favourite or two by the end of the day. We even got to serve the kids their lunches and treated them with ice cream, a rare treat for them!! Lifeworks had also purchased rain coats for all the kids (adorable cute hello kitty ones) and it warmed our hearts to see how excited they got at receiving these gifts. After a much needed and deserved lunch break we played some intense games of Mafia and then went out for our home visits.
We split into some groups and were able to take some of the kindergarteners home. Seeing the conditions they live in and hearing some of their stories gave the day and very real and intense feeling. One boy had his father in jail, mother had ran off and he was living with a grandmother who had diabetes (also worked for their only source of income) and a grandfather with heart problems. The grandparents had lived in the slums for 40 years, adapting to the conditions presented to them and living day to day. Another little girl lived with her mother who suffered from bone degeneration and an elder sister - they lived on approximately 50-100baht per day (2-3 dollars US) and were behind 2 months on their rent which was 1000baht because the mother had to pay the electricity and water bills. These children's futures are all uncertain, but they all have educational sponsorships through DPF. The fact that they could go to school and get the chance to be a child was so special and that night we focused on those who inspire us and how we can still have the smiles and charisma that these Thai people exhibit.
happy days!!
.
Location:
So I hope none of you parents mind that we bring home an extra body in our suitcase because we are totally in love with Thai children. Today we had sports day at the Duang Prateep Kindergarten!!! When we got there we started the day off with a parade around the area, looooots of drums and singing and trying to be energetic in the hot sun. We split into 3 teams (blue team dominated!) and had some great events like the tire pull, water balloon relay, tug-o-war, musical chairs (we were the chairs!!) and a cheer off!! The kids were so cute and everyone had a favourite or two by the end of the day. We even got to serve the kids their lunches and treated them with ice cream, a rare treat for them!! Lifeworks had also purchased rain coats for all the kids (adorable cute hello kitty ones) and it warmed our hearts to see how excited they got at receiving these gifts. After a much needed and deserved lunch break we played some intense games of Mafia and then went out for our home visits.
We split into some groups and were able to take some of the kindergarteners home. Seeing the conditions they live in and hearing some of their stories gave the day and very real and intense feeling. One boy had his father in jail, mother had ran off and he was living with a grandmother who had diabetes (also worked for their only source of income) and a grandfather with heart problems. The grandparents had lived in the slums for 40 years, adapting to the conditions presented to them and living day to day. Another little girl lived with her mother who suffered from bone degeneration and an elder sister - they lived on approximately 50-100baht per day (2-3 dollars US) and were behind 2 months on their rent which was 1000baht because the mother had to pay the electricity and water bills. These children's futures are all uncertain, but they all have educational sponsorships through DPF. The fact that they could go to school and get the chance to be a child was so special and that night we focused on those who inspire us and how we can still have the smiles and charisma that these Thai people exhibit.
happy days!!
.
Elephant rides and Crazy Disco Dancing!!
Author: .
Location:
We hardly have the energy to write this, but staff says we must!!! Today was loooong and hot, but also filled with more happy smiles and crazy dance moves!! We took over 100 seniors from the Klong Toey slums to the city of Ayuttaya, which used to be the capital of Thailand and was filled with lots of beautiful Wats (that's the thai word for temples for those of you not "in the know"). In the mornings our Thai facilitators have been giving us language and culture lessons so it was our chance to put those to the test. When we got to DPF headquarters to meet up with the crowd we were immediately entranced by their loving smiles and truly amazed by their never ending energy. Can any 70 year old you know dance for 1.5 hours??? Lifeworks gave these awesome neon green hawaiian style shirts to everyone so we could be seen for miles and then we loaded up onto these two buses that were unlike anything we had ever seen before!! They are called disco buses and they are these non-air conditioned, brightly painted party buses covered in tacky lights and hot leathery seats. There was dancing and singing galore and now we're all making plans to try and bring these crazy vehicles to the US.
In Ayuttaya we visited 4 temples before lunch. It was so cool getting to see Buddhist religious practices and watch these seniors with nothing committing themselves so deeply to the religion. They were deeply appreciative of the chance to get out of Klong Toey and very few of them had ever been to Ayuttaya so it was such a special spiritual journey for them. Unfortunately the heat was very strong and some people got serious heat stroke. OHHH and of course one of the best parts of our day was getting to ride ELEPHANTS!!!! It was a short ride, but sooooo cool.
And then it was back on the buses for a looong ride home and much much much more crazy dancing. It was truly astonishing how much energy these seniors had, but it was so special to see how much the trip meant to them. Many of them saved up for awhile to give alms to the monks and the buddha.
We're thrilled to be back at our hotel now and looking forward to our few days off!!
Missing you xoxo
.
Location:
We hardly have the energy to write this, but staff says we must!!! Today was loooong and hot, but also filled with more happy smiles and crazy dance moves!! We took over 100 seniors from the Klong Toey slums to the city of Ayuttaya, which used to be the capital of Thailand and was filled with lots of beautiful Wats (that's the thai word for temples for those of you not "in the know"). In the mornings our Thai facilitators have been giving us language and culture lessons so it was our chance to put those to the test. When we got to DPF headquarters to meet up with the crowd we were immediately entranced by their loving smiles and truly amazed by their never ending energy. Can any 70 year old you know dance for 1.5 hours??? Lifeworks gave these awesome neon green hawaiian style shirts to everyone so we could be seen for miles and then we loaded up onto these two buses that were unlike anything we had ever seen before!! They are called disco buses and they are these non-air conditioned, brightly painted party buses covered in tacky lights and hot leathery seats. There was dancing and singing galore and now we're all making plans to try and bring these crazy vehicles to the US.
In Ayuttaya we visited 4 temples before lunch. It was so cool getting to see Buddhist religious practices and watch these seniors with nothing committing themselves so deeply to the religion. They were deeply appreciative of the chance to get out of Klong Toey and very few of them had ever been to Ayuttaya so it was such a special spiritual journey for them. Unfortunately the heat was very strong and some people got serious heat stroke. OHHH and of course one of the best parts of our day was getting to ride ELEPHANTS!!!! It was a short ride, but sooooo cool.
And then it was back on the buses for a looong ride home and much much much more crazy dancing. It was truly astonishing how much energy these seniors had, but it was so special to see how much the trip meant to them. Many of them saved up for awhile to give alms to the monks and the buddha.
We're thrilled to be back at our hotel now and looking forward to our few days off!!
Missing you xoxo
.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Welcome to the Land of Smiles!!
Author: .
Location:
Well we are here safe and sound!!! Sorry it took so long to write to you, but life's been busy and fun here in the land of smiles :) We got in really early on the morning of the 13th, but energies were still high at 1am as we checked into our great hotel. We only slept for a bit and then our wacky staff had us up and learning about Thailand and the program ahead of us. We got to go to the Chatuchak Weekend Market were we were thrown head first into thai consumer culture. It was hot, sweaty, smelly and filled with things many of us had never seen before (like fish on sticks and durian ice cream!). Everyone got some great buys, but we were very happy to finally sit down to an air conditioned dinner!! Every night we have a forum and squeeze all together as a group to kind of digest what we experience everyday. Our first night we talked about 1 thing we would want to give as a message to a certain group. We all learned pretty fast that we are an insightful and thoughtful group (Emily was brought to tears!!).
So anywaysss...that was day 1 and then today we got to learn more about our service here in Thailand. We went to the Duang Prateep Foundation which is in the Bangkok slum community called Klong Toey. We got to meet Khun Prateep who became a hero to many of us as we learned about her story and how she started the foundation that helps so many people now. So they fed us a great lunch and then we did a tour of the slum area as well. This was totally eye opening to us as we saw some extremely poor conditions. Tiny dilapitated homes sitting upon waste water, a man on his death bed, children running barefoot through garbage and rows upon rows of cramped, dirty conditions. But the thing that stood out most to us were the smiles plastered on nearly everyone's face. The Thai people, we are quickly learning, are sooo welcoming and kind and their sense of community is unreal. But more to come soon, we miss you, but are soooo excited to be here.
Location:
Well we are here safe and sound!!! Sorry it took so long to write to you, but life's been busy and fun here in the land of smiles :) We got in really early on the morning of the 13th, but energies were still high at 1am as we checked into our great hotel. We only slept for a bit and then our wacky staff had us up and learning about Thailand and the program ahead of us. We got to go to the Chatuchak Weekend Market were we were thrown head first into thai consumer culture. It was hot, sweaty, smelly and filled with things many of us had never seen before (like fish on sticks and durian ice cream!). Everyone got some great buys, but we were very happy to finally sit down to an air conditioned dinner!! Every night we have a forum and squeeze all together as a group to kind of digest what we experience everyday. Our first night we talked about 1 thing we would want to give as a message to a certain group. We all learned pretty fast that we are an insightful and thoughtful group (Emily was brought to tears!!).
So anywaysss...that was day 1 and then today we got to learn more about our service here in Thailand. We went to the Duang Prateep Foundation which is in the Bangkok slum community called Klong Toey. We got to meet Khun Prateep who became a hero to many of us as we learned about her story and how she started the foundation that helps so many people now. So they fed us a great lunch and then we did a tour of the slum area as well. This was totally eye opening to us as we saw some extremely poor conditions. Tiny dilapitated homes sitting upon waste water, a man on his death bed, children running barefoot through garbage and rows upon rows of cramped, dirty conditions. But the thing that stood out most to us were the smiles plastered on nearly everyone's face. The Thai people, we are quickly learning, are sooo welcoming and kind and their sense of community is unreal. But more to come soon, we miss you, but are soooo excited to be here.
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