Sunday June 9, noon.
Hello and welcome to your featured presentation. Together we--but mainly me--will be experiencing Thailand, the ups and downs, the hot days, the green trees, and the lovely people. Through our time--but mostly mine--at EarthRights School (ERS) we--again, me--will be teaching English, learning from the Southeast Asian students about their communities, and exploring Thailand and the many experiences the country has to offer.
So we are on the same page, you can find the history of ERS here: https://earthrights.org/about/
Now that you are caught up, let us adjourn to my time here in Chiang Mai so far.
It has been almost exactly a week, minus a couple of hours, since I left Kansas City, Missouri for the internship of a lifetime. I arrived with the other intern from Illinois Wesleyan University, Angela, on Tuesday June 4th around 10am. Hom, an alumni and now training team staff member, met us at the airport. She eased my anxiety almost immediately with her smile and kind questions on how we were doing. P Joe then picked us up to take us to the school (the "P" is a sign of respect to those older).
The first thing I noticed was how green it is here. Everywhere you turn there is some kind of plant, glowing in the hot sunshine, begging you to contemplate if you are dreaming or not. The mountains that are in view almost every time you rotate, are covered in trees, touching the clouds, and looking as ominous as ever.
What we have seen of the city itself, Angela and I have not been back to the main part of the city since we arrived, is a collection of lived in buildings and every so often a very nice looking business, whether it be a condominium or a two story McDonalds. There are also very many motorbikes (don't worry mom, or IWU, I will follow your wishes and rules and won't even touch one).
The school itself is inside a gate and concrete walls. The property is very large and lush with the same "could this be real" greenery. There is a badminton and basketball court, and a soccer (futbol) field. The building is very open, with only classrooms, offices, bathrooms, and bedrooms giving you the ability to be closed in completely from the outside world.
Can you picture it? Now try to hear it.
There are birds everywhere. Surprisingly this includes Pigeons. In the morning there are many different coos. There is one student here, Sithavong, who is an avid birdwatcher at his home in Laos. He says this is the perfect place for birdwatching because the birds are not afraid of people. And let me tell you, there has been more than once that I thought I was going to get knocked down by a pigeon while sitting in one of the open areas.
Now that you can see it and hear it I can make you fully jealous of the experiences I have had already within the first week.
Angela and I won't start teaching until this coming week, as this past week the students have been working on Foreign Theater (this link provides a good understanding of what exactly Foreign Theater is: http://tdd.org.ua/en/declaration-principles-theatre-oppressed) with two alumni.
While we haven't been teaching yet, we have been looking at essays and audio recordings from the students, assessing their English. For some of the students this is their third, fourth, or fifth language since there are different ethnic groups in their countries that they need to understand. Even still, all of them have high levels of ability speaking and writing. And what makes it even better is their intense desire to continue their learning. Angela and I have already spent time after their classes, just talking to students helping them practice.
The students are more than willing to discuss their homes and what brings them here to learn more about how to fight injustices in their communities.
On Friday, the students presented their Foreign Theater skits. The audience sat on rugs and watched as the students acted through the scenarios they chose that best represented the issues they face.
The first was about a government wanting the forest a community had been living off of for many generations. The next was about an abusive and controlling husband who believed a woman's place is in the kitchen.
By the end of the skits, I had learned two important lessons.
1. Persistence is key. The changes you want and need may not come after one attempt to right a wrong, so it is imperative that you continue the good fight. That is, especially when those fighting against you have more power.
2. Sometimes the best thing to do to help yourself and your community is to ask for outside assistance. There is power in solidarity. There is power in the people. Many of the students here work with NGOs in their home countries. People may not always have the ability to fight by themselves, so by going to outside help, new resources may come available. But as I have learned in my environmental classes at IWU, outside help can be good as long as it is respectful to the wishes and culture of the communities they are trying to help.
On Saturday, Angela, me, and two students, went to the nearby market. It was bustling. A lot of food, a lot of clothes, and a whole lot of people. Part of the market was under a roof and the other part was outside. Every so often I would catch the eye of a shopkeeper and we would both smile, knowing I looked slightly out of place. And yet, I was comfortable, walking around with my new friends, hearing how it all compared to their home countries of Myanmar and China. I watched as the seeming locals interacted with each other like it was any other day, with me, trying to take in all the sights, sounds, and noises, knowing, for me, this was anything other than a normal day.
I am sure I could go on and on, but the credits need to roll and your ticket doesn't cover another screening. Thank you for reading this slightly shorter than War and Peace post.
Be Well,
Annika