Any one who has lived in SE Asia for any period of time will tell you that at some point this strange cloud forms over your brain, influencing the way you think and the decisions you make. You start to think a bit more slowly and speaking becomes chaotic and very difficult at times. For example, when talking to a friend I would normally ask him or her, "hey do you want to go grab some coffee with me?".... after two months in SE Asia it comes out something like this: "um so eating, me, food you? So, as you can imagine, there have been some funny moments over the past month, a few things I would have done differently, some things I hope remember forever and others that I hope to forget entirely.
There are so many things to update I don’t even know where to begin. I have now been working at The Garden of Hope for about a month, I teach English to 9 Thai children who will NOT be trafficked, I help lead a program for all of the 35 children at the garden, I help with administrative work and I network all over Chiang Mai connecting people. There are moments every day that overwhelm me to the point of frustration and yet are eventually balanced with the hope that lies all around me. My kids are such a joy, they all come from very poor and often times abusive homes. Their lives are far from my childhood experience and I am still trying to comprehend how they can smile as big as they do. This entry I will telltwo stories the first I shall call Café Pandau:
As much as I love all things organic and natural, sometimes they are hard to come by in this part of the world. Although most people in Thailand generally live a bit more naturally than those at home, people who believe, like I do, in organics are not as common, or so I thought until I met Café Pandau. A great little café owned by a beautiful Japanese woman who moved here after burning out on the intense winters of Amsterdam. Noriko immediately became one of my favorite people when she invited me to her Tango class later that week. Eventually we started talking about our backgrounds, how I ended up in Chiang Mai at The Garden of Hope and how she came to be a film maker/café owner. Noriko has the goal to not just be another café, but a place that gives back and cares for those around them.
One morning when I was eating a delicious breakfast at the café, Noriko cam bounding up to talk with me. She quickly explained how she had been asked by a friend to take over another café in her apartment building that was having problems and she desperately needed staff. So after many conversations with staff and possible candidates for her we finally found a girl the Garden of Hope has been working with for a while. A former bar girl with a dream of owning her own café is now secure in her income without having to prostitute herself. How long the position will last is uncertain, but it has been a blessing to be a bridge for two people in need.
Gingerbread:
Part of the equipping program at the Garden of Hope has been to train the women we work with in all things pertaining to hospitality and business development. So this holiday season the team has made hundreds of gingerbread house kits and cookie decorating kits. So I had the idea to buy a bunch of these kits and take them to an orphanage that I had visited with Lacie a month earlier. 42 girls, 7 gingerbread houses, 8dz cookies, huge smiles and many kids with a sugar high! A few of
my friends tagged along and we had a blast blessing the garden and the girls at Briana’s House of Joy. The girls were amazing and the event would not have been possible with out all of you. Thank you for your continued support of the work God is doing through me, it is truly incredible to be a part of.
Please continue to pray for the children and staff, funding for the programs, and clarity for myself as to what I should continue to do here… there are many possibilities but I want to be selective and purposeful with how I spend my time.
God Bless you all!
