Back on grid and back in Mae Sot after 4 wonderful days in Ban Nam Hom.
Shoutout to Chris A's partner--thanks for reading the blog! I think I owe a few more shoutouts, so let me know if I'm missing someone in your circle.
Before I get into the play-by-play for the last four days, I just want to have it acknowledged that I got all set up to write this post outside at the pool--packed my pool bag, towel, sunscreened up, brought extra water, and established a beautiful poolside writing station...only to have it start torrentially down-pouring about 10 minutes in. I was actually just proud of myself/relieved that at the first drop of rain, I immediately shut down the station because I probably missed destroying my laptop by about 30 seconds. But also, rain is awesome and we never get it in Utah, so no real complaints.
Day 4: Dr. Cynthia's Clinic / Travel to Ban Nam Hom
First stop in the morning was the Mae Tao Clinic, founded by Dr. Cynthia Maung. I actually have a pretty decent background post on the Mae Tao Clinic from the 2023 trip, so feel free to peruse that at your leisure. That said, I will give a little more background on Dr. Cynthia herself:
From the Mae Tao clinic website:
Dr. Cynthia knows firsthand the health challenges facing refugees and the internally displaced. She fled her native Burma during the pro-democracy uprising in 1988. She was born into a Karen family in Rangoon in 1959 and grew up in Moulmein with her parents and 6 siblings. Cynthia attended No. 4 State High School and it was during this period that political upheaval and the student movement began to cause disruptions to the education system in Burma. Cynthia found that many of her friends were dropping out of school, as they needed to work in order to make a little money to assist their family.On September 19, 1988 the military seized power, many activists disappeared, fled the country, or were forced to go into hiding. Many thousands of people moved quickly to the Thai–Burma border. On September 21, Dr. Cynthia and fourteen of her colleagues decided it was time for them to go also. With few provisions or personal belongings, they fled through the jungle for seven days. They traveled mainly at night and as they passed through remote villages (where the people had never seen health workers or had access to a hospital) they tried to treat the local people suffering from disease and injury with the limited supplies that they carried.
In November 1988, Dr. Cynthia moved to Mae Sot. She wanted to set up a center for students needing somewhere to stay or requiring referral for further medical care. Mae Sot had a hospital where this could be done and from this time the Clinic began to develop a referral system with the local hospital which continues today.
In February 1989, she was offered a dilapidated building with bare dirt floors on the outskirts of Mae Sot. Here, Dr. Cynthia went to work. Her makeshift clinic had few supplies and less money. She improvised by sterilizing her few precious instruments in a rice cooker and solicited medicine and food from Catholic relief workers working in the area. She and her companions lived simply and worked hard to treat the increasing number of patients coming to the clinic with malaria, respiratory disease and diarrhea as well as gunshot wounds and landmine injuries. Malaria cases are still one of the most common diseases treated by the Mae Tao Clinic.
In February 1989, she was offered a dilapidated building with bare dirt floors on the outskirts of Mae Sot. Here, Dr. Cynthia went to work. Her makeshift clinic had few supplies and less money. She improvised by sterilizing her few precious instruments in a rice cooker and solicited medicine and food from Catholic relief workers working in the area. She and her companions lived simply and worked hard to treat the increasing number of patients coming to the clinic with malaria, respiratory disease and diarrhea as well as gunshot wounds and landmine injuries. Malaria cases are still one of the most common diseases treated by the Mae Tao Clinic.
In short, Dr. Cynthia is a baddie and the expansion of her work and her vision has helped thousands of refugees.
We got a tour of the facility from several of the clinic staff; refer to the post I referenced above for the description of services and some of the on-going challenges associated with providing medical care and other services to refugees in this area. A big change from the last time we were here is the expansion of their mental health counseling services--a much needed and utilized aspect of the clinic given the circumstances that many of the patients are experiencing.
I didn't take a lot of pictures of the clinic because we didn't want to include any patients in the photos, but here's a shot of Han providing some public health context for the mission and contributions of the clinic.
After the clinic tour, we had lunch at the Twins restaurant, where Noi ordered us a feast that included papaya salad, chicken, lemongrass pork meatballs, pad thai, fried mushrooms, other meats...and french fries. I didn't take pictures but here's a shot of my favorite (the fried mushrooms) from the Twins:
Source: The Twins facebook page
After lunch, we continued our drive to Ban Nam Hom:
Image of drive from Mae Sot to Ban Nam Hom.
Note the second half of the drive is verrrry windy.
Note the second half of the drive is verrrry windy.
About 1 hour into the drive, we transferred out of our vans into 4x4 trucks to complete the journey to Ban Nam Hom. The first day in BNH was getting oriented to the school grounds, getting introduced to the students, learning about bucket showers :), and getting to meet some of the key faculty members.
Westminster students getting introduced the the BNH students
For context on Ban Nam Hom, check out this post from 2023. Here's our breakdown of the days spent at BNH:
Day 5: First full day at BNH, AM Service Projects and PM English lessons with kids
In the morning, we witnessed the school’s assembly and flag raising.
After assembly, our group was divided into different service groups to collaborate with students, BNH teachers, and local community members do complete various "fix it" type projects ranging from landscaping/tree limb removal, fence repair, and trench digging. One group left the school grounds with locals from the village to replace broken water pipes along the river. This was the group I was in, so I will speak to this experience :)
Along with a few local students, a BNH teacher (English name: Best--she's a total G), and a former BNH teacher/community leader, Lawson, Lily T., Chris, and I hopped in a truck and then hiked a few miles round trip to repair pipes that had either burst or were leaking. We left the skilled work to the locals, but we helped haul the pipes and hold them in position while the community members fixed the issues. Most of the students speak a local Karen dialect that is very different than Thai, so Best did a lot of multi-language transition and we all did a lot of pantomiming to convey ideas, curiosities, and questions. It only took 5-10 minutes to get into the swing of things, and the language barrier didn't stop our team from learning a lot from the local community members, getting very wet, and having a great time. One of the coolest aspects of our project was how observant the students were to local fruit trees--they pulled langsat, oranges, and rambutan off of trees to share with us--I would have never noticed them without them pointing them out. I wish that I would have taken more pictures but I left my bag in the truck (with my phone), so I only have our victory photo at the end. Lawson was nice enough to allow all of us to take photos on his phone, so I'll try and snag some from him at some point.
Feeling successful after our pipe-fixing adventure
Back at BNH, one group repaired a broken fence, another group dug trenches, and other students worked on hauling away limbs and/or playing with students. It was difficult physical work, but the students enjoyed it and we were able to have discussions about what it means to allow the community to drive service needs. We also needed to discuss allowing the Thai people to select who they wanted in each project (e.g. pointing to the bigger men for things requiring lifting and strength, even if women were physically capable) because it’s not about us–it’s about deferring to the community and their needs and expectations. Students were understanding and receptive of this message.
In the afternoon, students were divided into teams of 2 to teach English to grades 1 - 9. While it probably felt like being thrown into the deep end of a pool, it was fun to watch students change and adapt their teaching approaches based on what was working (e.g. engaging the kids) and what wasn't. We did our best to help coach students through what types of activities would be appropriate for certain ages as English learners, but the students were totally capable and didn't rely on us much at all--well done!
Students teaching English in one of the classrooms
After school activities concluded, students played sports with the kids (lots of soccer and volleyball and takraw) before delicious dinner and very early bedtime.
Students making friendship bracelets
The Thai students are SO GOOD at takraw.
Like...bicycle kicks to send the ball over the net. Incredible.
Like...bicycle kicks to send the ball over the net. Incredible.
Day 6: English Camp
Second full day in BNH is what we would now consider an annual tradition (since it started in 2023): English Camp! The students were divided into five groups with five stations:
- Chutes and Ladders - a large game board with a large tossable dice. Students would roll the dice and progress on the game board. Each space had an English question that they would need to say and answer (e.g. "What do you like to do?")
- Prepositions and Place - this station featured different animals on cards and different prepositions. The students would place the cards (e.g. "the lion is on TOP of the giraffe." "The monkey is NEXT TO the elephant.") and have the Thai students read and practice.
- BINGO - Thai students were given BINGO cards with English words on them (e.g. "book," "shoe") and played BINGO while learning English vocabulary
- Tongue Twisters - students practiced various tongue twisters ("I wish to wash my Irish wristwatch") -- this one sounded tough!
- Giving Directions - students practiced giving directions as part of an interactive activity (e.g. "turn right")
BNH provided our students with materials to be able to facilitate these lessons. Students worked with groups of 40 students of mixed ages before rotating to the next station. It sounds like both teachers and learners got more comfortable as the day progressed, and our Westminster students got to learn Thai phrases from the Thai students as well.
Playing Chutes and Ladders to teach English
Working on prepositions and place
Working on prepositions and place
Playing BINGO
Day 7: Village Tour, Service Projects, and Farewell Celebration
Yesterday was our last full day at BNH. We started off with a tour of the local village--specifically, a home with several traditional Karen looms. Students got to practice weaving on the loom and learned that it is *quite difficult*
Practicing weaving on the loom
Practicing weaving on the loom
Practicing weaving on the loom
Practicing weaving on the loom
We also had opportunities to buy traditional Karen bags, shirts, dresses, and blankets. The work is stunning. 
As students were purchasing these items directly from the weavers, it was a good opportunity to discuss ethical tourism and trying to keep money in the hands of the artisans without paying a middle person or foreign contractor. Students also got to see local distillation of sticky rice on the tour.
After the village tour, students ate lunch and regrouped into three projects: cement brick making, playing with/teaching English to kids, and painting a mural.
Example of a traditional Karen shirt and bag.
Students each received a bag and some local honey as a gift from BNH.
I was gifted the shirt as a faculty member and I will cherish it.
Students each received a bag and some local honey as a gift from BNH.
I was gifted the shirt as a faculty member and I will cherish it.
Westminster students on the bridge to the village
The process by which sticky rice is distilled
Ben and Chris digging up sand for bricks.
Thai students and Westminster students sifting sand in preparation for brick making
A slow but rewarding process when a successful brick is completed
Early phase of mural painting.
We asked the Thai teachers what their favorite animals were, so the mural features a dog, a lion, and a parrot to honor the teachers.
We asked the Thai teachers what their favorite animals were, so the mural features a dog, a lion, and a parrot to honor the teachers.
In the evening, the Ban Nam Hom staff and local community leaders hosted a fabulous celebration and farewell party for our group. We received certificates for our contributions to English Camp as well as Karen bags and local honey. There was a lot of food and a LOT of dancing! And some water frolicking in the rain. And then more dancing. I regret not getting more pictures of the dance party, but I did get a video of Han doing "the worm," that I will hold onto for future blackmailing necessities.
Olivia receiving her certificate from the BNH principal
Lily receiving her certificate from one of the local community leaders.
Matt receiving his certificate from the previous BNH principal, who retired last year but has been part of the Westminster relationship since the beginning.
We were served so much food at the farewell part and I regret not taking pictures of all of the delicious grilled meats. But I did take pictures of all the frogs I ate. Well, that's technically not true. I ate three frogs but only took pictures of two of them.
Ate this little buddy and then ate another one.
And then I ate their little dehydrated friend, too.
Day 8: Saying Goodbye to BNH and Returning to Mae Sot
It was really hard to say goodbye to BNH. Our Westminster group not only bonded with each other over the past four days, but this group really connected with the BNH teachers this year, and it was so special to watch the connections formed between Westminster and the BNH faculty. While all of the BNH faculty show us truly incredible hospitality and kindness, Soda and Chai, in particular, went above and beyond to create enthusiasm and connections between the groups. They also happen to both be very good dancers. I mean, Soda might be the best dancer on the planet. Like, I'm proud of some accomplishments in my life, but when Soda accepted my Facebook friend request, that was a big deal because she's so cool.
We left BNH around 8:30 this morning, and did a reverse commute, including eating lunch at the Twins, before returning to the Centara Life hotel in Mae Sot. We were all pretty tired from the celebration plus four days of bucket showers, so everyone was grateful for some personal/free time. I set my alarm for a 30-minute nap...and woke up 1.5 hours later.
I cruised over to the mall real quick to snag some personal items, the most important of which was "clothing perfume" because my running/service project clothes are RANK. Like, embarrassed-that-the-smell-might-infiltrate-other-public-spaces-and-then-people-won't-talk-to-me-and-I'll-be-known-as-the-smelly-kid-in-Thailand-level rank. After returning from the mall, I got all "pool ready" and that's where I started with this entry (see opening paragraph: poolside writing station + laptop = guaranteed monsoon).
I went back inside to continue this post until our 6PM dinner meet-up time. Most folks scattered and did their own thing (yay for being adventurous!), but 5 students joined me on an optional dinner side quest and it will absolutely be one of my favorite memories from this trip.
Side bar: something that I've tried to do since back in the early days of this blog is find random hole-in-the-wall-type restaurants and post up and people watch (or blog) while enjoying a local meal. I just went back to my 2012 posts when I led my first study abroad to Costa Rica, and although I couldn't find a post about a restaurant that I have really distinct memories of in Turrialba, I did read about my visit to the UCR San Pedro campus and totally forgot that we saw a Goya exhibit, and I don't think I had a clue who Goya was at the time. I would appreciate that visit much more now. Y'all should try blog roulette and pick a random post from a random year and let me know what you learn. Also, I apparently phoned it in on my 2019 blog posts--those suckers were barely 2 paragraphs each!
(That's relevant because food side quests are my jam, and we are just a few days away from getting to visit one of my top 3 favorite food side quest finds in Chiang Mai!)
Back to real-time side quest: We started walking toward Tar La Paw since some of the students had expressed interest in checking it out, but I put a disclaimer out there that we might divert to a different restaurant that looked intriguing and seemed to be popular among locals, and that's exactly what we did.
We walked up to this restaurant and realized that language barriers might complicate things a little bit, but we collectively adopted a "f*ck it, send it" mentality and decided to go for it anyway. Thanks, Spencer B for teaching me a phrase that I now use daily.
Our dinner restaurant selection
We were seated and handed some papers to fill out with our orders. Erm...
Google Translate is a huge help, but it's not perfect:
"Why yes, I'll have the grilled tiger. Unless you'd recommend the 'slip the news'?"
"I've changed my mind. I'd like the raw blood boiled lobster and my friend will have the "open your eyebrows."
Again, useful, but with its limitations. We eventually figured out what we wanted to order. It absolutely started dumping buckets of rain right before we got our meal, so we moved from a semi-outdoor table :) to something more covered to avoid this:
Beautiful rainstorm. Don't want to eat dinner in it.
Getting ready to feast
This photo doesn't do our feast justice.
The spread
This was the standout favorite.
It was a spicy beef soup but the broth was infused with lemongrass (or something similar) and it's a strong contender for lunch tomorrow.
It was a spicy beef soup but the broth was infused with lemongrass (or something similar) and it's a strong contender for lunch tomorrow.
This one comes up as "open your eyebrows" but was on the short-list of recommend/featured dishes.
Some sort of spicy meat but I don't think it was a type of larb.
Some sort of spicy meat but I don't think it was a type of larb.
Mixed grill
That wraps up today. Tomorrow we'll be visiting the Blue Cave. This will be a new experience for me as it hasn't been featured on a previous MTSE Thailand trip. Stay tuned!
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