Four days in a Thai Household
My last week of ministry in Thailand my team traveled by bus about an hour and a half to Chiang Doi, a large village in Northern Thailand. We stayed in the home of Aaron and Sri Jaha and their amazing eight children. Two of the children are theirs and the other six are part of Aaron and Sri’s family through their ministry Fountain of Hope. Life in the rural villages of northern Thailand can be very uncertain for children. The possibilities for abuse,abandonment,neglect and the danger of being sold into the trafficking industry for girls remains very high. Through Fountain of Hope Aaron and Sri have been able to take children into their own home and raise them as their own. Art,Aungkhana,Chamaiporn, Aumporn,Wan Chai and Grace each have a painfully unique story about how they came to Aaron and Sri. They are thriving now and are some of the most joyful and helpful children I have met yet. The youngest in this picture are Sam( in the blue) and Yim ( in the green), they are are Aaron and Sri’s natural children. What a blessing it was to get to spend time in their lives for a week! Here are some take-away observations from getting to spend some time in a Thai home : )
1. No convection ovens here, all cooking takes place on a two burner stovetop
2. All food prep is done on the floor and dishwashing is done on the floor!
3. Front porch space is for doing homework as long as there is light.
4. In typical Thai custom shoes are not worn inside the home, but they are also not worn inside school!
5. You play outside and you eat outside
6. I wish I had pictures of this, but Thai children will eat vegetables for each meal of the day! Broccoli for breakfast? No problem! Cabbage for dinner, of course!
7. Thai children are ALWAYS doing chores. Sweeping and mopping before school in the morning, and then sweeping at school as well!
8. Chickens and roosters are everywhere!! This was more particular to us as we were in a more rural area, but roosters starting at 4:30 in the morning and crowing through the whole day is apparently not a big deal. And random chickens will just wander in and out of your yard.
9.Travel in an open bed truck is the norm, even for small children, but especially if you have a lot of luggage!
10. Squattie Potty Thai style! This was our bathroom for the week, it’s amazing how quickly you adjust to manually flushing a toilet and taking bucket baths!
11. And last but definitely not least, Thai children LOVE to laugh!. It took some of them a little while to warm up to being photographed, but they have such a joyful spirit!!
On to Cambodia now!! ~Jessie
