Thailand Mission and Cultural Trip 2014 - Journal 6

The kids at the Public school where we are doing the English Camp project are simply adorable! And our team members are having a blast with them. Their expression of love is so overwhelming! It was so good to see Rob playing soccer with the boys during the few minutes we were there to eat lunch with the teachers in the team. And even the kids in classes that are not part of the mission project,

flock to us like ants to sugar! That is exactly what I’m looking for as an important part of the outcome for this dimension of the trip.

On the farm we continue to work like beast (good ones of course). I alone did 4 hours of weeding with a hoe through rows and rows of peanut plants. That’s the equivalent of over 40,000 pedometer steps! By tomorrow morning we will finish that section of the land. This is such a huge help for Nang, who is now suffering with knee problems. We also began helping with a new project on the farm – building a chicken coop.

They have lots of chickens and baby chicks running wild all over the farm. They have no idea where the eggs are, and they lose 30 – 40% of their chickens each year. The coop will give them control and they will be able to have an income from the sale of eggs and chickens. We are checking into the cost of the chicken wire, and we will most likely purchase it for them. The rest of the materials are from their land. So you will see Rob cutting bamboo for the roofing.

Today was my turn for a massage. I could have done with a 2-hour massage – my entire body is totally tight and stressed! They have to exert the greatest pressure to loosen those very tight knots! I’ll be back next week for another session. Rob also had a very satisfying massage as well.

The team did the Tuesday night market thing. It is the biggest one in town. But they did not find anything of interest. However, at one stall, the vendor was urging us to sample the fried worms, bugs, and crickets. We passed!

For those who have forgotten, here again is the link to the photos: http://people.wallawalla.edu/~pedrito.maynard-reid/gallery2/main.php/v/pedrito-travels/PedritosTravels2014/Pedritos+ThailandTravel2014/.