January 22, 2007 8:30 pm
So today I had my first full day of my internship. After going home discouraged yesterday by how little direction there was from our contact and how intimidating cute little kiddies who are deathly sick can be when you don’t speak the same language, I was dreading another long afternoon. I have never been the type of person that children flock to when there is down time. I love children, but give me twenty of them in a classroom and I’ll pull all of the hair out of my head. After deciding to work at Agape, I questioned my decision so many times. Today, however, really confirmed to me that I was at the right place. Here’s why:
At Agape, there is a mother-baby unit. They have a house in the back yard of the orphanage that is specifically for mothers who have AIDs. Most of the children are not orphans, but their parents can’t afford to care for them because of expensive medication, etc. This special program (Project Lek) allows mothers to keep their children and be in close proximity. There are currently three women at the mother-baby unit. Ironically enough, none of them have children at the orphanage. All three have been afflicted with AIDs for many years. Since coming to Agape, two that had been bed-ridden (after a rough life on the streets) are starting to walk again with a walker. The third one only came to Agape three days ago. No one knows here story yet, but it’s possible she was a prostitute. Regardless of what their stories are/how bad my Thai is/how hard it is to understand their English, I had SUCH a wonderful time sitting with them on a veranda, chatting in broken English/Thai, teaching them new words, learning some, and smiling a lot. They are all so gentle and sweet and really appreciated the company. Most of the time, they sit there all day, looking at the playground waiting for the children to come out to play. Laura, our contact (who has a great Australian accent), said that these women just need to be loved on. What a gift this is. I signed up to play with AIDs children while my heart has perpetually been with the vulnerable women in this culture and something was arranged that I was able to sit with these women for several hours. I have no idea what my internship will look like in the coming months, but today was a gift. After not much sleep and more intense classes, I wasn’t looking forward to the draining hours at my internship. Turns out I spent the afternoon practicing my Thai, making new friends, and reading scripture (Pii Jim had a Thai-English bible). It was perfect, energizing, and nothing short of a direct blessing onto my life. God’s funny.
I met my Khun Pa last night...and he was very friendly and jovial, although he spoke even less English than the rest of the family. It was okay, though, and I think he likes me (whew!)...we actually shared a couple of jokes at the dinner table last night, which made me feel relieved. They also learned that I like to sing karaoke - ha! Khun Pa asked me if I liked to drink bia (beer) or whi-hiskey (whiskey). It really is interesting to learn about how much drinking is a part of their culture here. I declined.
Culture shock doesn’t get easier. I have mostly good moments in this country, but low moments come quickly these days. Buckets of cold water for showers aren’t cutting it, especially when I hear about other people’s mansions and personal maids and wireless internet. I will never take a hot shower or the convenience of toilet paper for granted ever again. Never. Hold me to that. :)
Things are good. Life is so different here; I have a hard time connecting myself to time on a clock and days on a calendar. Apologies for my slow communication, especially to my dear family at home. From now on, I don’t think I will be doing facebook. It has the slowest connection and stresses me out more than it helps me feel connected to you, who I love. Email is still a-okay and I will be updating this as often as I can.
Okay, friends, family, I love you all. And I miss you, even though it’s hard for me to feel anything besides exhaustion these days. On Thursday, we are leaving for a Lahu village for the weekend. We are going to work on a water project. Should be awesome!
