Life Home Project
Trip Start
Jun 05, 2008
1
35
38
Trip End
Sep 28, 2008
Koh Sirae, Thailand
Friday, October 31, 2008
Life Home Project is a program that provides a home for women who are HIV+ and for children who have lost a parent or parents to the disease, children who's parents can't afford to care for them, and children who are HIV+. LHP also conducts HIV education and language classes in hospitals, in conjunction with other orphanages. Next week I'll begin working a few times a week at the Burmese refugee camp as well as at another orphanage for kids who are at this point too young to go to school.
This past week I have spent much time getting to know the women and children here. It's a feat getting to remember even their names - Too, Puu, Puu, Noon, Ying, Yao, Wan, Noot, Poon, Mem...and the kid's names Try: Joy, Proi, Kik, Pik, Fern, Bay, Park...they all sort of sound the same, have lots of "o"s and these are just the nicknames, not their real names.
Despite the obvious language barrier with my limited Thai and their limited to no English, we've managed to find a comfortable equilibrium of making fun of each others hoorible accents and them always asking me if i'm going to "apnaam" - shower. Do I smell funny?
The women work during the day making greeting cards and we've just completed a 450 Christmas Card order to be sent to someone in Spain. There is also a bakery that churns out delicious sesame cookies. There is a small store to sell the handicrafts produced here and by other local craftspeople. Occassionally a good samaritan will stop by with bags of rice and buy some christmas cards or t-shirts or really cool vases that are here.
We eat three meals a day in which most of the food is soooooo spicy that I'm automatically given the "kids menu" and a lot of dessert to compensate for my sensitive taste buds. Chicken Feet soup with congealed chicken blood is also common at the table and its really quite distracting eating at a table with women who have little clawed feet sticking our of their soup bowls. Whole entire fish are a staple - not family style. But individual style in which I pick up a whole soft mushy steamed fish with a pair of tongs and eat dinner with fish eyes and fish tails staring back at me from my rice bowl. Its good fish...it just that its so scaly and real.
On a less unappetizing note, there are three baby kittens that live right outside my door with the mother constantly nursing and purring for me to give her food. Aside from the once in a while gnawed mouse head and animal bones at my doorstep, they provide a lot of amusement especially when you add the Life Home Project baby to the mix. Bilateral fascination with another four-legged creature. Two of the kitten are a mix of brown/white/yellow named yesterday, New York and Tiger. The third one is black - we've named it Obama.
