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| Thursday, June 15, 2006 |
| pure innocence. pure bliss:)) |
i'm back from khaolak people! touched down last tues night but i wasnt exactly very happy to be back here cos i really dont want to leave khaolak.
its only been five days but these five days have taught me a huge deal and opened my eyes to so much more, something i'll never get to experience just by staying here in spore.
day 1
reached airport at 0530. huge thanks to my mum and bro for waking up so early to send me off. shall never forget the huge eye bags on their faces haha. took the budget airline to phuket and surprisingly, apart from the fact that they dont provide food foc, the seats were pretty comfortable. not bad for a 40 bucks airtrip actly.
took a 3hr bus trip from phuket down to khaolak. the bus's really one of a kind man. no aircon, instead HUGE windows, which sent huge blasts of wind into my face. gave up talking to anyone aft a while cos my hair was blowing all over and kept smacking my face so hard. damn PAIN la.
and here comes the HIGHLIGHT of the day man. the HOTEL. (i'm still thinking i shld really call it a hotel actly.) but anw, you shld have seen the horror on our faces when we entered the hotel and worse, the ROOM. no aircon, no heater for bathing, dirty walls, fused bulbs, rusty mirrors, and A HOLE ABOVE THE SHOWER HEAD. a real no star hotel. haha.
then jason brought us arnd- the tsunami memorial park where he showed us how high the waves reached, the blue angel ship that saved a father and his daughter from the tsunami and the red devil that killed hundreds when it was washed up by the waves.
then it was dinner and back to the hotel. shue siyun lisha and i totally dreaded bathing. esp under that huge hole. who knows what'll drop down from there! resorted to leaving the door huge open while we bathed haha.
day 2
went for breakfast at some coffeeshop that sells really good dim sum. and the KAYA! oh man. so horribly nice! couldn't help but order a few bottles to bring back to spore hehheh:) then we left for cdc where there was this cultural exchange thingie by the thais and the kids joined us since they didn have sch for the day. it was really fun! learnt to make flowers from ribbons, batik painting, foot massage and some thai food! the mango salad was really yummy:)
so the day practically ended off with lotsa money spent on the flowers cos they were really really pretty. it'll seriously be a sin not to buy them la. haha
day 3
went to the rotary village in the morn supposedly to teach the women there eng but they all went for church instead so we ended up learning thai from the village chief instead:)
anw since the thais hosted the cultural exchange on sat, it was now our turn to do our part for them:)
aft lunch each school came out with a telematch game for the kids. though the games got pretty messy at times, everyone really enjoyed themselves. i mean, seriously, it was diff not to esp when all the kids arnd you were so spontaneous and loving.
then we headed down to the beach to watch the sunset. really really breathtaking and it was also at that time, i realised how long its been since ive last been to the beach. it also struck me that all these while, ive been so busy with schoolwork, councilwork that ive been robbed of the many simple, yet most breathtaking moments of life.
day 4
did communal work in the morn. had to level the ground by removing the soil and then transporting it away. seriously like a construction worker. but there was a sense of achievement aft everything was done, seeing the grnd so flat from the hill it used to be. though we prob created a new set of problems cos we dug the grnd too deep and created holes instead, which ermm. kinda flooded aft that. oops.
then we sorted out the wood at arc. oh man the stack of wood was infested with insects that deanna and i just kept stoning every 3 minutes. had to overcome the shock la. imagine seeing so many different kind of insects everytime you dig out one piece of wood. eww. brandon couldn't understand why deanna and i kept stoning at first, but he too joined our stoning club soon after. haha.
went to the thai pri sch to teach the kids there in the aft. the thais were generally more quiet than the burmese at cdc. weren't as enthusiastic too. kinda reminded me of us sporean students actly, just studying for the sake of doing so. unlike the more outspoken burmese kids whom really enjoy learning:)))
day 5
my most favourite day:)))))))
taught at the burmese sch in the morn. i really love the these kids at cdc. they're prob the cutest, most loving and most spontaneous children you can ever find. taught the 3-6yrs old children. i'll never forget my darling yeh yeh. it all begun when he took my hand and made me sit with him but i could never get him to mouth the english words we were teaching and he hardly smiled. but things slowly changed aft a while and he bagan to smile more. made all the muscle ache totally worthwhile. will never forget the time when he sat on my lap under the tree, using the pencil to tear the leaves up. he tried writing sth for me on a leaf but i could never figure out what he was wrting:(
anw, yeh yeh, take care okay? and joitaitu, maijindai, tan, ton, mo, lei, bloon and ben too. i'll pray for all you sweethearts everyday i promise:))
sorry for this really long entry but i really want to jot down all these wonderful times i had in khaolak bcause i know i never want to forget them.
i went to khaolak with the intention of teaching the little kids and helping the people in khaolak. but the truth's that ive definitely learnt more and gained more from these people than ive gave them. khaolak isn't just like any other poor or devastated community. it's a displaced community where people find themselves left with abs nth in just one night. but the people there aren't moaning or grieving. they're fighting on bravely with life and they're not afraid to tell others of their losses. Through the people in khaolak, ive seen courage. ive seen life.
and through the kids, i see simplicity. pure innocence and pure bliss. simple simple things make these kids happy. they're so diff from the sporean kids. they're so much more spontaneous, friendly, caring, loving and passionate. through them, ive seen the joy of life. the basis of life.
seriously, whats the pt of giving yourself so much stress and pressure, when in the process, you lose yourself and the joy of life?
many point of time during the trip, i ask myself, why must it be these people? why must the burmese kids be discriminated? but ive realised that there'll nvr be an answer to these questions. call it fate i guess.
but i know the very least i can do on my part's to pray for these people that one day, they can return back to normacy. and that the burmese can finally have their own rights in thailand.
going to khaolak's definitely one of the best decisions ive ever made in my life. i've learnt a huge deal, seriously.
to everyone out there, treasure everything you have, everyone arnd youand most impt, your life. promise me you wont take things for granted. dont just take things and keep it all for yourself. learn to share. learn to give.
and really, life is more than just your studies, more than just your work.
it really is all about giving.
thank you khaolak.
thank you for giving me so much more than i cld ever ask for:)))) |
and so she said at 10:34 PM  |
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