At the back of where we are staying, there is a cow farm. There are water buffaloes all around us too. I had this brilliant idea that perhaps we should go cow-tipping, but then the cow ran away from me when I tried to get near him. Apparently, I’m THAT intimidating. Anyways, I just wanted to share with you all about some of the things we will be doing here this month as well as some of the things that distinguish village life at Sisaket from any other place we’ve been.
This month, we will be teaching English classes to younger children, tutoring high school students, hosting community events, and building relationships with the children and women in the community through sports and home visits. Most of the kids that show up for our lessons are young girls. Our intention is to instill a sense of dignity and worth in the lives of the women and children we meet. The culture in this community can be summed up in “fast cash”. Because this area is the poorest in all of Thailand, communities are drawn into a lifestyle of gambling and prostitution. It seems to be the easiest viable option for them. My prayer is for economic opportunities to open up in these villages so that people can choose to earn a living through hard honest work that calls out the best of them rather than enslaves them. The Pharakan family along with Katy (an amazing 22 year old YWAMer whose been fighting for the people of Thailand these past three years) had created job opportunities for the women here, but have put a temporary hold on that for now. They are our amazing partners in serving at Sisaket this month.
Life here at Sisaket province includes:
-Stink bugs that like to nest in your hair
-Street markets lasting from midnight to morning
-Stilt racing competitions between villages
-Eating a ton of chilies
-Giant centipedes and scorpions (we’ve killed three of them already)
-Rice farms everywhere
-Every girl has short hair about the length reaching to the bottom of their earlobe because it’s a policy if you attend school
-Random bushes on fire in the road
– “spirit” houses at everyone’s home
-Buddhas at the park
-Pictures of the king in every household
-Bowing to greet each other
-Thai music and Thai dancing
I will let you know the day I successfully tip a cow.
