Day #4 in KMK and Kraw Lor Blur

Update from both villages this time…..

So far all is going well (other than the few sick from the waipukurau)
On the school building site, progress is really sailing ahead, with the start
of concrete already down, and the framework almost up. We are ahead
of schedule , especially with a lot of the villagers helping out each day. 

The children's program we are running is such a hit in Kraw Lor Blur, the
kids love us! We are building such an amazing relationship with the kids
as young as 2 years old. The face paint was a real success ! 
Tomorrow we are doing more concreting and the villagers are bringing us
things to buy that they made. Should be fun ! 

Note from Krey Mo Kee:
Tonight the Waiapuk team paid us a visit in Krey Mo Kee.
We made a team dinner for the ITDP staff and our 19 - baked potatoes and
bananas in the fire, chicken kebabs, pancakes and marshmallows over the grill!
Great to meet up and pray together.
2 days of work ahead and then we will go to Kraw Lor Blur on Sunday for worship
and a cultural lunch together.
Until next time!

Pipes added into the toilet 

Plastering the water tanks

Pancake time! :)

David's little understudy!

Day 3 in the bush - kids programme has started!

The roosters were very much alive this morning. Layer 3 of the water tank
was completed by 8 which was nice. News from Kraw Lur Bur is that still
a bit of sickness hanging around. Poor George been very under the weather,
but good to hear most of the others are right. After breakfast it is more concrete
for the filter tank, and then some brick laying while a few others are in the mud,
cleaning up the water source. The morning got a bit slow for a moment as the
tiredness kicked in, but it came right for the first day of the kids program.

The kids started off and were a bit unsure, but the bubble mix and Chrissy's
awesome balloon animals were a definite winner. Was awesome having
all the families around seeing the parents interacting with their kids with us,
and slowly growing more comfortable with us strange folk. Brendon says
there were more kids here than last year, and it is really encouraging to
see a real positive spirit among the community. God is good!!!
The afternoon was Ta kraw with the villagers and ITDP, awesome fun
can't wait to play again tomorrow. Overall incredible day we are all learning
so much and having amazing times. Looking forward to the days to come!!!

Chain gang!

Concreting - glad it's in the shade!

Kids programme going really well :)

Water tanks, with the school in the background

KMK update - working hard!

So we've just finished dinner in Krey Mo Kee after our first day
 of hard work on the water and school building projects.
 Feeling well-worked but great! Word on the street is a bit of sickness
 in Kraw Lur Bur (Waipuk) but all well here, thinking of those that are
 unwell and thankful to have full health on this mountain top! We are all
 bonding well with our host families with smiles and broken conversations
 exchanged loving every minute of getting to know this beautiful community. 

Progress today consisted of trenching and back-filling 200m of piping,
 concreting two layers of the water tank, beginning construction on the
 filter tank and constructing the foundations of the walls for the schoo
l ready for block-laying the remaining rooms over the next few days. 
Being able to see progress already is really encouraging, the main 
prayers for us at the moment is against fatigue and for further connection
 with the people. 
We will also start the children's programme tomorrow. 
Again from the team a massive thank you for every bit of support
from home!
Love always, 
Thailand Team '14!

Dinner time!

We've gone bush!

Hey y'all,
Just a quick note - were well & truly in the hills!!!
A long day of driving and a few stops for supplies
 but the Waipuk 11 were successfully welcomed
 at Kraw Lor Bur and Cbc/Mab 8 (incl Kevin ) were
 welcomed at Krey Mo Kee! 
For Brendon and Kevin, it was nice to see lots of 
familiar faces. 
We've got our work cut out...first concrete tank pour
 at 6:30am before breakfast then school building in
 the afternoon!
Waipuk will be clearing land for the school building!
Until next time....

 

Day three: In Chiang Mai before going bush!

The team are altogether today, for the first time, in Chiang Mai. They are spending the afternoon together, and after one night in  Chiang Mai before heading to the Hill Tribes tomorrow morning (Monday 2pm our time) for an 8 hour dusty ute ride! Please continue to pray for safety - and thank God for the team bonding :) A note from Sophie: Sawadee kah one and all! Life is amazing over here!  I'm in love with the people, there are no words for my experiences so far and it has only been 3 days, it honestly feels like weeks! Pa chow Wei pon! Love always xxx Chiang Mai today, team bonding exercise with the elephants :) Jono with some of the team having fish eat their feet!

Thailand Team Adventure begins! 2014

Hi all - the MAB team took off early Thursday morning, and are now in Bangkok.  The girls are visiting Rahab ministries, on the afternoon of Feb 14th, taking gifts to women who work there.
The guys are sightseeing, before flying out to Chiang Mai together on Satuday 15th.
Brendon will be joining them in Chiang Mai on Sunday.  Please continue to pray for safety, and team bonding with those from the other churches who are making up the greater team.
Will keep you posted!

ITDP And Starbucks Coffee

One of the things we learnt about the work of ITDP was that they were able to get Starbucks Thailand to buy the Hilltribes coffee since 2004. It is marketed as Muan Jai Coffee - logo below. It may be available in Australia but not sure about in NZ. Whilst we were in Thailand it was out of stock so we weren't able to get any. Starbucks Thailand had also committed to funding a clinic through ITDP, which was a partnership of 4 years. The clinic has now been handed over to the Thai government who will continue to fund it, but it will be run under the jurisdiction of ITDP who had originally set it up. (The Thai government has an understanding that if an organisation can start & fund a clinic or school for at least 3 years, then the government will continue with the funding thereafter, but the running of the place is kept the same as when it was started!)

A different technique of roasting coffee has produced a honey-roasted bean - named because of the colour rather than the addition of honey. There is upcoming commercial interest in this roast - another big "plus" for our Hilltribes coffee growers!