First I must correct the spelling of her name. Tasanee Keereepraneed. I had found my spelling from a website that was probably written by another volunteer…and I was told that Thai teachers change the Karen children’s name into Thai names, so often names are spelled several ways.
Tasanee has four children of her own and one grandchild. Two daughters & her grandchild live in Mae Sot which is two hours away. Her only son is in the army on the rescue team (EMS). Chom lives here. Her mother & great aunt live in Ban Tha Song Yang--right down the road. Her son was off duty & came to visit with his sister and the granddaughter. I was very surprised that Tasanee did not jump up to greet them nor did they come running. After they’d been here a while, she wandered over and hugged the baby and talked to her kids. A short time later, she was in her sewing room while they were in her living room. Perhaps it was a cultural thing.
My Grain Bin Classroom
Only 8 children are here after the bus pulls out and I have become their teacher. Their ages are about 1, 2, 3, 3, 4, 6, 11 & 16 so it is like teaching nursery school & one room class at the same time. We start in the grain bin. The walls are bamboo, the roof teak leaves & the floor is made of a very thin layer of the bamboo. Under the building there is a pen for the turkeys. Currently squash & cement bags are stored there. I sit on a cement bag (as I can’t sit cross legged nearly as long as they can) and write on a well used white board. Usually I have one of the little ones on my lap and the others come & go as they like--sometimes with pants on and sometimes without. The younger ones are learning the letters as the older ones work on the sounds. The 11 yr old works on spelling words. The 16 yr old is mentally challenged so I include her with the younger ones which she seems happy about. Next we work on identifying pictures in English & then counting. After about an hour, we move to an outside table to work on printing and I finish up with an art project which they love. Some stay until lunch while others go off to play. It’s a real relaxing and enjoyable way to teach and I’m very excited about the progress each one of them is making!! Who would guess bamboo, teak leaves, squash & turkeys could provide such a nice teaching environment??
Child Care for 3 and under:
Something that just astounds us is how the little ones just have the run of the place which is about the size of 3 or 4 football fields. They run among the rocks, in & around the buildings, up & down the paths with or without pants and without any visible adult supervision. They fall often, cry a bit sometimes, get up and take off again. I’ve never seen any of them go toward the road but not sure why not. Older girls wash & dress them and put them down for naps where often they cry themselves to sleep. During church service they go from lap to lap or wander up front. Christmas (3) even went up to the altar today without anyone acting like that was a problem. Just astounding.
Presents:
How do you accept gifts from those who have so little??? We now have quite a collection of gifts given with loving hands--one was even wrapped up with well used paper and bow. We hug them tightly and accept knowing well that there is much joy in giving.
MuMuSoe, my teacher:
I have been working hard trying to teach MuMuSoe English and today, she worked hard trying to teach me Karen. I always make her watch my mouth and repeat my words and that is exactly how she was teaching me. She walked me around pointing things out and then said the Karen word. I must say she is a faster learner than I am!
Girl’s Dorm:
Last night I visited the Girl’s Dorm and immediately they began to fix me up…they powdered my face, put lipstick on me, combed my hair (I so hope there wasn’t lice on that comb), put a crown and headband in my hair, a real flower behind my ear, a necklace & lei on me and then gave me a plastic wand. Then they proudly put a jagged piece of a mirror in front of me and showed me how to put my finger in my cheek and tilt my head. Next they pretended to take pictures of me using their fingers for a camera. One girl had a plastic cell phone which she used. Then they took my hand and led me back to my room and asked Roger to take a picture. He took one of all of us but then they insisted on taking one of just me. Guess I was Queen for the Day!!!
