Missive 13

Another month, another “burning”, another birthday and more cows. Where do I start? In the last missive I shared our first experience of a “burning” when the father of one of our carers died. It was only few weeks after that that Big Whun’s grandfather died and as we are quite close to her we were privileged to be involved in some ways. We drove her around to her parent’s house which is just over a river from her grandparent’s place. The mourning procedures were getting started, the big speakers and microphones were being set up and the bier for the coffin was being decorated under the house. We met a lot of Whun’s relatives and her grandmother and she allowed us to pray for her.

A day or so later I took a group of our carers around and the mourning was in full swing. A team of monks was sitting in a row and for an hour or so they chanted their way through a ceremony. I have joked that a monk obviously doesn’t have to be able to sing to do this job, but to give credit where it’s due, this bloke was pretty good and had a great voice (although the tune wouldn’t win any awards). Again, after the monks were finished, it was a privilege for a group of us to gather around Whun and her family and pray for them. Whun was finding it a bit of a struggle to carry her Christian faith into this cultural Buddhist setting. It’s a bit of a struggle also to come to grips with the cost of all this – the monks have to be paid and apparently they charge for every year of the deceased’s life. I’m not sure if Thai families hope their relatives die young but it is a huge cost on poor people and a 40 000baht bill when you earn 5000baht a month takes a bit of covering. That’s why the invitations to the funeral come with the expectation that you will put some money in the envelope.

The “burning” took place at a local temple and again we attended. It was very “rural” with chooks and roosters wandering around – sort of nice in a way. It rained during the ceremony which made it a bit boggy going up to the burning house to pay last respects. The girls from Whun’s house (including our Whun) were there to serve water to the people there and they looked very smart in their school uniforms. They got a lot more water than they bargained for though because that day it kept on raining on into the night. They were sleeping at Whun’s house next to the river and at 2am they had to evacuate because the river overflowed. They waded out under the house which is on stilts, fortunately just in time because the water was waist deep under there a bit later.

Somewhere in the midst of all this I had my birthday and what a wonderful day it was. I went for my morning run and had just finished my breakfast when a knock on the door revealed all of the young kids (maybe 30 or 40) lined up on the verandah to sing me Happy Birthday and give me hug (and me in just my running shorts and needing a shower!). Throughout the day kids and carers alike were handing me cards they had made and giving me a hug. It’s not hard to feel loved here! That night we had a special tea and Pawinee had rushed home from Lomsak to make sure 2 icecream cakes survived – they were worth the effort and capped off a delightful meal of barbecued meat, gravy, mashed potatoes (a rare treat) and vegetables.

As I write we haven’t had any rain for a week but up till then we were getting plenty and it seems to have brought the snakes out in force. We had a tiny one in our spare room the other day and that reminded us to take extra care of the door seals. We were having another karaoke night at our place and barbecuing some pork in a fire bucket out the back when Whun saw a snake coming along the path towards us. Most snakes stay clear of noise but this one either hadn’t heard that theory or otherwise fancied his chances at karaoke. My best weapon was a piece of steel which he was inconveniently gliding over the top of so when he had passed by I retrieved it and attempted to deal with him. Only having thongs on was a bit of a handicap especially when he came back to argue the point after my first strike, and having to hold a torch in my other hand cramped my style a bit, but eventually he was dispatched. He was only about a metre long and paled into insignificance compared to the one caught by the blokes at the site where they are starting to build Pawinee’s house.

They caught a 2.5metre python (beautifully marked) and brought it up to the kitchen to put in the fridge. Glom wasn’t happy about that especially after one of the cooks just about had an early entry through the pearly gates when she came across it, so Gordon, a volunteer from Berri, SA, brought it down to our place to cook. We dug a hole in the back yard, used some rocks which we heated with a fire, put in the python, covered him with banana leaves and buried him for the night. Gordon uncovered him the next morning and put the meat on a plate for anyone interested to try. And yes, it looks and tastes just like chicken! Because we buried it with burning charcoal it had a slightly smoky flavour and was really very nice.

Our food experiences have been varied recently when we went to Bangkok to celebrate David Kidney’s 50th birthday. David organised all our new kitchen equipment and it was a special pleasure to go to his birthday “bash”. And what a “bash” it was! On the first night we went to an authentic Italian restaurant run by an authentic Italian who cooked the most marvellous Italian food. It was to die for and we made such gluttons of ourselves we nearly did! The entertainment was also great and David’s wife stunned us with some wonderful renditions of several songs. On the next night we went to an authentic Thai restaurant (not so rare in Bangkok!) and ate very well again. The birthday was an added pleasure for us because Ben Chapman (our godson) and his wife Sarah were over and came up to Ban Meata for a couple of days. We enjoyed their company immensely and they went home sponsoring one of our kids.

Our cattle project is presenting us with a problem as the dry season begins. The project has been amazingly successful with sponsors responding so generously that about 60 of our kids have cows and many with the second generation. A herd of over 100 cows eats a lot of grass and although we irrigate to keep it growing we desperately need more land for pasture. We are currently mulling over ways to modify the scheme and have considered capping the number of cows a child accumulates and using the proceeds of sales to buy land for them and planting teak as a long term investment. This project began less than 3 years ago when we bought a cow for Whun and it has grown amazingly since.

Just today I have come back after a lunch with the blokes who had a piece of buffalo to cook. All the outside workers were licking their lips and a couple of them had a bucket barbecue going while others were mixing up a vegetable dish. The most interesting dish was raw meat cut into strips, mixed up with some herbs, fish oil and plenty of chilli and eaten by picking up some in your fingers, dipping it in another chilli mix and then straight into your mouth. Believe me, this one doesn’t taste like chicken! We sat around the bowls of food on the board floor of one of the worker’s houses and had the inevitable rice to eat with it. The blokes brought a couple of plates for Gordon and I but the rest just ate straight from the bowls and from their little cane baskets of sticky rice which they bring from home every day for “kin-kow” (lunch). It was a convivial time and good to be invited for the meal. A bit like a backyard barbecue at home, the blokes enjoyed the preparation as much as the eating and had lots of jokes at our expense because we struggle with chilli level which feels as though it is destroying your tongue and eating into your sinus cavities. The heat comes out in my bald spot which literally runs with sweat!

I must tell you about some recent mid-week worship services we have had. Some of our kids and a few staff went to a worship camp for a few days during the school holidays and Glom thought she would capitalise on their enthusiasm and we had a couple of evening worship services. They were amazing and very well attended as everybody was asked to bring their friends and neighbours and we saw a lot of new faces. A highlight was the kitchen and laundry staff singing a song and they really got into it with Yon (head cook) working the crowd with the microphone and the others worshipping God enthusiastically with Bung-on, our oldest worker, right into the spirit of it and dancing. Many people were touched deeply by the Holy Spirit and we had lots, including the blokes, come out for prayer.

Last week one of our kitchen workers brought along her 15 year old niece who is deaf and mute and brought her out for prayer. We prayed for her for some time and Pawinee was clicking her fingers by her ears. After a while she looked up and smiled and indicated “nit noy” (little bit) with her hands. We believe God is healing her and hope she will be back for more prayer. She can read and write (even though she has been deaf since birth) so we sent her home with some encouraging messages on a piece of paper.

Colleen has been busy during the school holidays with a programme for the big girls at our house. They have all made a pair of shorts on the sewing machine, painted a picture on canvas, and been introduced to the wonders of honey crackles. The girls have loved it and it has been very satisfying to see them produce some wonderful work.

I must close – life seems to be getting busier than ever here. We have started a new 6 classroom block at the school and believe it or not I am the building supervisor. I have to go and measure up how much concrete we need in our footings and get some levelling pegs in the 38 holes we have. I’m glad I’ve done this with Malcolm before so I at least sound as though I know what I’m doing!!

Till next time
God bless
Ron


Saving face is important to the Thais


It’s not only the French that like frogs


Letting lunch settle the Thai way


Skill building on the sewing machine


Sharing lunch with the blokes