| . Tuesday Feb 2, 2010 - Day 2. [ 2.Feb.2010] |
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| The morning started off early with a 7 am laundry drop and a grocery stop to pick up food for the school we were visiting today. Gwen, Clara, Dawn, Luc and Tammy scramble through the markets trying to fill the grocery list while dodging traffic – pedestrians do not have the right of way. We purchased pork, cooking oil, large radishes, beans and two large bags of oranges. One group (Heather, Clara, Dawn, Linda, Tammy, Lydia, Esther, Gwen, Paw Ray, Trevor, Beiltel and Hong Sar) traveled to Maw Taw Lu School. Paw Ray came along to guide us to the school which was located 45 minutes from Mae Sot. It is settled into a very remote area of rolling hills, just a mile or two from the Burmese border. A 4x4 is recommended as the road is very rough with large treacherous washout areas. Beiltel and Hong Sar came along to help with translating. We delivered the food into the kitchen and found that they were in desperate need of rice so we took a pool and collected money to leave with them to buy rice and other the necessary purchases. We were expecting 40 children today, but to our surprise we ended up with 89. But we are getting good at surprises like this LOL. The children once again enjoyed a day full of games, songs and crafts. Even though the bubble wands didn’t make it with us, the children improvised and gathered themselves bamboo to make their own bubble blowers. These homemade bubble blowers ended up being better than the real thing. Looks like the making of some innovative entrepreneurs. We noticed that these children were a lot more reserved than the group the day before. They were very courteous and respectful to each other, but didn’t chatter like most children do. Once again, we all fell in love with these beautiful brown eyed children. They were all so eager to participate in each of the activities watching intently for direction, even if they didn’t understand our language. The teachers at the school were very helpful in guiding the children in our activities. Trevor was busy collecting footage to share back home. He seemed to see things that us lady’s missed completely. He was very touched by the story he received from a young Karen man that had barely escaped Burma with his life. He also came upon a 9 year old boy that had terrible burns to his legs which look in dire need of medical attention. There was discussion’s about making a return trip to treat the boy’s leg and deliver rice … this is a touchy subject as they didn’t ask for help and they were using an herbal method of treatment. After returning to town, the girls went on a shopping spree, purchasing school supplies for the New Light School. We also bought soccer balls and ping pong rackets for Hsa Thoo Lei School, at the request of Paw Ray. Back in Mae Sot, Gordon, Dave F and Justin completed the new drying facility roof at Hsa Thoo Lei by noon. Then they moved onto the nursery to put up the structure for the dining hall roof. This hall is a simple open air structure necessary for the monsoon season. Without this facility there is no dry place for the children to eat together. The only break taken by the boys (as this is not unionized position ), was to help Mike, Chuck and Jerry move 13 ft partitions for school rooms the New Light School. Chuck, Jerry and Mike finished off building the partitions and transported them to the Muslin school. Then they proceeded to erect a permanent screen to be used as a sun shade in the school courtyard. Rueben and Dave H were busy driving around make arrangements and coordinating the work for the days ahead. |
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