Missive 2 - 2013

The day usually starts (or seems to) at 5.15am when Jai, our Thai cook starts chopping things and moving the pans around in the kitchen. Jai and her husband Boonme are Hmong and come from the mountains near our Petchabun children’s village. They are the parents of Somchai, a wonderful young 17 year old from Phetchabun Ban Meata who has been with us for years because of the extreme poverty of his parents. Jai and Boonme will continue to work at Khon Kaen Ban Meata when we finish. They came with us to Richard’s birthday outing described in the last missive and it was the first time that Jai had ever been to a restaurant like that.
I mentioned our Thai workers last time so I should introduce you to the rest of the team. Richard Wray from Brackenridge Baptist in Brisbane has worked with us before and has led several teams to Thailand over the years. He is a born organiser and has plumbed the mysteries of Thai hardware stores so almost daily he is off on a quest for more steel, tools, gyprock, pumps and myriad other supplies. Russell Lee, trophy shop owner in Brisbane, closes his shop each year to join us on the team. This year he brought 2 young brothers, 14 and 16, whose appearance belies their age. Jarrod, the 16 year old is a mountain of a man with a big bushy beard and is immensely strong. Our trip to the steak house, all you can eat for 139 baht ($4.50), was like an early arrival in heaven for both of them.
We have a chippy from the Sunshine Coast and an electrician from the same place. Todd, the chippy, is a young bloke with surfie blonde hair and an instant hit with the girls from Ban Meata. Josh, another young bloke from Brisbane, was with us last year and has fallen in love with Thailand so much he came back during the last year. Allan Baker, an older bloke (ie older than me!) also from the Sunshine Coast and a long-time supporter of Ban Meata completes the Queensland contingent and outnumbers the South Australians by so many that we have only a tenuous grip on the title “South Aussie Builders”.
So to the others. Malcolm needs no introduction as he has led the team for 9 years now. Most of his time is spent planning (or modifying plans as Plan A never works in Thailand!) and organising the team. We were able to hire a tractor with a bulldozer blade so Malcolm was as happy as a pig in straw shaping the 70 truckloads of soil into a play area and paths and landscaping. Malcolm brought his 18 year old grand-daughter Jade, from Kingston, and she has been a revelation tackling every task on-site and is now quite an expert in putting up ceilings. Her friend from Kingston, Tori, has also come and they have spent time in the ceiling back-boarding the gyprock sheets with glue. Jade slipped and she, like Suwan went through a sheet but fortunately straddling one of the rafters. Jade and Tori love the Thai markets and are much enticed by the cheap prices.
Malcolm also brought Sandra from his church in Broome and she accompanied Eric, an 85 year old benefactor for Ban Meata. He struggles (of course) to manage the heat and sweat on site so spends his time at Phetchabun making flying visits with Rob and Pawinee to check on the progress. Sandra has a goal to use all the power tools and has achieved that with the exception of the 9 inch grinder (a brute of an instrument) and the jack hammer (weighs nearly as much as she does!).
And that leaves Murray, one of the original team 9 years ago and over here this time initially for the marriage of his son Chris (another past team member) to Porn, one of the Thai workers at Phetchabun Ban Meata. When his wife Ruth returned to Australia he came to Khon Kaen and will be here for the whole 6 weeks.
Now here’s the problem. Nearly all the Queenslanders will be gone by next week and apart from the 2 young girls and Josh the team will be made up of old codgers! The average age won’t be helped when 2 Dutch men and 2 Dutch ladies join us next week. All on the wrong side of seventy it’s great to see them working away in the heat painting steel and painting the walls of the finished buildings. They work tirelessly through the year raising funds for Ban Meata and have contribute enough to pay for one of the houses – naturally it will be called the “Dutch House” and a plaque will be ceremonially attached sometime next week.
So where are we up to. We have poured 100 cubic metres of concrete in the past week or so – verandahs have been finished for 2 buildings and the large play area has been done. We bought a new helicopter (finishing machine) and Malcolm has spent hours standing contentedly behind that giving a nice smooth surface. Preparations are being done to put ceilings in the bottom storey of the 2 storey house, the ceilings are being flushed in the dining room, more boxing is being done for paths and roads, and our chippie has been bird-proofing the dining room and a house. Plumbing is being put into the top storey of a house and this means drilling big holes through the concrete floor.
My job for several days has been channelling the walls and putting electrical conduit into the top storey for power outlets, lights and fans. This involves a 4 inch and a 6 inch angle grinder, a router bit, hammer and cold chisel, facemasks and earmuffs and lots of noise and dust – a hot, filthy job but the dust is clean!
This weekend (last weekend by the time you read this) we are off to Phetchabun and I can’t wait to see my Whun. It’s the Australia Day weekend and we traditionally have an Aussie meal together to celebrate. More of this in the next episode.
Until then
God bless
Ron

Pic 1 - Malc flying the helicopter

Pic 2 - Jade and Tori after back-boarding

Pic 3 - Jarrod, 16 year-old man mountain

Pic 4 -

Malc flying the helicopter Jade and Tori after back-boarding Jarrod, 16 year-old man mountain Conduit channelling

Missive 1 - 2013

After telling everybody about working in the heat and humidity we have just enjoyed several beautiful days in the high 20’s - most of you reading this are probably enduring a heatwave. Don’t you wish you were here?
Work started in the dining room and I have spent my time on a platform putting in ceilings. We have finished the kitchen and I’m pleased to report that some last minute cortisone injections have been very helpful and my shoulder is coping very well. It’s been great to work alongside the Thai boys again – Deo, Sun and Boonsalit have been with us for many years now and Suwan worked with us as a teenager when we first came to Thailand in 2005. Suwan had a small problem yesterday – he was “back-boarding” the gyprock up in the ceiling by gluing pieces along the edges of the sheets when he slipped and went through the ceiling. Fortunately he didn’t go all the way but we had to pull down 2 sheets before the glue dried and replace them.
One of the things I love about Thailand is the variety of smells that are typical of the country. Travelling the streets of Khon Kaen one is assailed by the smells of barbecued chicken from the roadside stalls, spicy cooking from the hundreds of tiny restaurants, fish and vegetables and meat from markets, and of course the not so welcoming drains and sewers and smoke from burning rubbish. It’s Thailand and I love it. Don’t you wish you were here?
Last night for our meal we went to a fish restaurant to celebrate the birthday of Richard, one of our team members. Typically the restaurant was open sided overlooking a lake surrounded by thatched huts and the lights reflected in the water. We ordered tom yum soup (too hot for some), several barbecued fish, plates stacked high with fried rice, plates of pork and chicken with vegetables and cashews in a beautiful sauce, deep fried prawns, and plates of curried crab. It was culinary heaven. We finished with the birthday cake that one of the Thai girls brought – mostly decorated cream and some cake underneath it all. It’s Thailand and I love it. Don’t you wish you were here?
Adding to the dinner experience we all travelled out there in a ute - some in the cab and 7 of us uncomfortably in the back with the warm air blowing through our hair and the smell of Thailand wafting past. The roadsides are festooned with neon signs and lights, and the service stations typically have 4 or 5 fluoros set up like an arrow to direct you in. Motorbikes are everywhere overtaking you on both sides and a law unto themselves. It’s Thailand and I love it. Don’t you wish you were here?
Sunday is our day off and we took the chance to do a little tourism after worship with the kids at Ban Meata. We found a lake surrounded by beautiful grounds in which people were jogging and using outdoor exercise equipment. There is a huge aviary with a number of peacocks but there were no birds that we could see using the top half which would have been 30 metres high. We then meandered back home through many small villages. Each village has its share of beautiful homes rubbing shoulders with hovels made of rusty iron sheets and greying weathered wooden planks. Dogs lie in the middle of the road and move reluctantly for the traffic and people sit at the front of dilapidated homes talking on their mobile phones. All this with a backdrop of coconut palms and green rice paddies. It’s Thailand and I love it!
Sunday is market day on the grounds of the local school and we went there to supplement our tea which Jip (Sun’s wife) was preparing for us. Markets are wonderful places of variety and colour – you can buy anything from clothes (new and used), kitchen implements, shoes, sunglasses, tools, and food. We bought a piece of pork chopped into pieces with a mean looking hatchet, chicken on a stick, an octopus salad, and some jam filled donuts. Jip had been cooking up a bowl of lap (minced chicken or pork) and sticky rice. We sat down to a sumptuous spread. As always happens, we sat in the eating area and the Thais sat on the floor in the kitchen to eat. Their lap was considerably spicier than ours but knowing I like chilli they always ask me out to have some of theirs. Sometimes it is so hot that it’s pride alone that enables me to get through it. But this is Thailand and I love it! And I wish you were here to share the delights.
But back to the building report. The dining room as mentioned has the ceiling going in, the single storey living quarters is almost finished and is being tiled, the 2 storey building almost has the walls topped and is being rendered. The Thai blokes are finishing the roof while this happening. Many truckloads of dirt are trundling in to raise the ground level for verandahs and paths around the site, and for a large play area. This week work will start on the third accommodation building the slab of which we poured last year. Malcolm has just calculated that we will spend about 3 million baht ($100,000) while we are here so thank you to all those people who have contributed and helped us on the way.
I have tried to entice you with some of the flavour of being here and give you some idea of why I love to come back. Next time I’ll introduce you to a few more of the people here and those on the team. Your continued prayers are valued and appreciated.
Until next time
God bless
Ron

Pictures:
Pic 1 - A healthy walk in the Health Park
Pic 2 -
Pic 3 - Some of the food stalls at the market
Pic 4 - Ron putting up channel for the gyprock

A healthy walk in the Health Park

A typical village street

Some of the food stalls at the market

Ron putting up channel for the gyprock