The Song Yang Village sits on the banks of the Moei River.... in this picture Thailand is on the left side and Burma is on the right.Yesterday we hopped on the orphanage’s motorcycle and drove to Tha Song Yang--only about a mile away. First things first, we bought cold drinks and then went down to sit on the bank of the River Moie. It’s a breathtaking sight. The flowing water has a tint of green and the mountainside as an array of greens which was always changing as the sunlight smiled on different trees. Roger described it as seeing a painting in motion. Long (like 30 ft) boats floated by and a man immersed in the river was putting together a bamboo raft--similar to the one we rode near Chiang Mai. It was so peaceful…and yet we knew the mountain we were looking at was Burma where there is so little peace. We have heard the shooting. We have heard the stories from a young Karen man who comes here for Thai lessons. He first learned English but now want to learn Thai so he can find a job in Thailand. He tells us he wants to go to USA or another developed country, earn much money so he can send it to his family still in Burma where they are confined to a restricted area. Yesterday Tessanne delivered several grain bags stuffed with clothes & mosquito nets to one of those long boats so they could be given to a person who called her much distressed. She & many others had no clothes or mosquito nets and must have been hiding somewhere in that “painting in motion.”
Things that made us smile today:
Kids who come running every time we sit down with a book to read aloud
Kids standing on the tall, rugged stones playing Frisbee. How do they land without falling?
Little boys using their fingers pretending to shoot. Universal instinctive behavior?
Norwegian Visitor:
Visitors from Norway came today and it was great having more people we could talk to--usually there are only 4 other people here besides us that speak English. The visitors were hometown friends of Lena, an architect who has been living near here and has designed and help build several of the buildings here. Lena & Tessanne are best friends. She is an energetic young gal who has started a company to help the Karen people--whom she calls her real family--build homes. Karen are not allowed to use the trees or bamboo and cannot afford cement so her company helps them build adobe homes using only sand from the river bank, dirt and rice husk. The roof is metal which I think is bought with donated money she helps raise. Amazing young lady. The oldest Norwegian was about 50 and plans to send an article to her local paper in hopes of raising funds. We asked her to send us a copy so perhaps we can also get it published.
Over another huge feast, we compared impressions each country had of the each other and things we had learned from our travels as all of us had traveled lots--except Tessanne but her jungle life added much to our conversation and I could certainly see that she had developed strong diplomatic skills which is one reason she has been able to raise the money she needs. I have no doubt the Norwegian left behind with less money in their bank account I believe it was Mark Twain that said--when you travel, prejudices & assumptions disappear.
Tessanne’s Family:
First I must correct the spelling of her name. Tasanee Keereepraneed. I had gotten my spelling in 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.
"nawdee, Tasanee and mammi"Thailand/Burma Border Video:
Prayer of Peace - Relief & Resistance in Burma's War Zones [English subtitles] from Matt Blauer on Vimeo.
