2008
April
First, let us apologize for the tardiness of this month's newsletter. I could blame it on Tash and Kay's lateness in filing a report for their visit during April but that would only be an excuse for my own tardiness in returning to Thailand from China. However, on April 30th, I finally crossed the Laos border near Vientiane and returned to the 'Land of Smiles'. I wish I could say that Myanmar had something to smile about but 'when it rains, it pours'. I hadn't heard about the cyclone that touched land upon the Irrawaddy delta but by the time I reached the shelter on May 2nd, the rains and cool breezes from the cyclone were passing over the Mae Sot area.
During
my absence, one of the coconut trees beside the shelter had fallen and
landed on our twice-repaired satellite dish. This time, I decided
to let it 'die' a peaceful death. Television is not that good for the
kids to watch anyway, I reasoned. I was only glad that although
strange things had happened around the time of my departure from
Thailand (the truck that deposited its 'bed' practically in our front
lawn) and return to Thailand (this mangled satellite dish) somehow
'Grace' had continued to shower the shelter. Safe in our little
haven, I spent much of the first weekend back in Thailand remembering
the last typhoon I had witnessed while in Taiwan several years ago and
imagining what was happening near Yangon. One of our children had
returned to a village with his stepfather near Yangon to visit the
grave of his grandfather. It is May 10th and we haven't yet heard
about this boy, Gaobhai. That is not unusual in itself, though,
as many of the phones in Myanmar are still out. We continue to
hope that 'Grace' is still around and will see the safe return of
Gaobhai here to Thailand. 
On
the bus ride back from China traveling through Laos and near the border
crossing, I took this photo of a bamboo house. It is a
'foretaste' of what our house may yet look like. Upon returning
to the shelter near Mae Sot, I discovered that Ita and Goin had been
busy in my absence. They had decided to conserve on our monthly
budget by building a temporary bamboo structure on the land we have
rented. They had managed to borrow money from friends and begin
construction when I arrived on Friday, May 2nd. By moving to the
land, we can save on the shelter rent, which had been 3000 baht per
month. Now, these funds can be applied to further work on the
land. They had also built a 'makeshift' outdoor toilet in the
corner of the land. With the previous piping in of water to the
land, all we needed was electricity. A neighbor will graciously
provide this until we can install a meter -- hopefully soon. I
will be able to return for another visit this month the weekend of May
17th-19th. Ita and Goin have the kids moving this weekend, May
10th -- thanks to Sarah's advance donation. She was scheduled to
volunteer for six weeks beginning this month along with a film crew.
They were going to be on site to film a documentary about the
shelter, the life of local Burmese refugees in the area, and other
related topics. Sarah had to postpone her trip due to unforeseen
health problems. We still look forward to her visit and wish her
a speedy recovery.Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Goin and Piowayoo have been clambering on the roof of their temporary home -- or should I say half of it. When this picture was taken, there was only half of it available to shelter from the cyclone's gift of rain early in May. Although it looks like it couldn't protect a fish from water, the leaves woven into acover actually do a good job of stopping
There
isn't even a guest house here. I will be staying in a
school-provided bungalow with three other teachers and living on
campus. We are set amidst a natural grove of trees and there is
plenty of shade so I don't mind much. I am hoping this fellow on
campus is a good omen of better times to come. From the day
before I left China and visited a Buddhist temple where the dragons
adorned the temple compound walls, I am reminded of this symbol for
'ley' lines, or areas of 'good, positive, natural earth energy' winding
its way through the countryside. I feel at peace in this new
environment -- far from the gray and brown landscape of northeastern
China. Here, it may be hot and humid -- but it reminds me of the
time spent in the saunas of Yanji. Only, here they are natural.
I have spent a week now in this little part of Thailand and
wandered around the local furniture shops -- dreaming of new stuff to
put in that new house we hope to have a 'house-warming' party for in
October. Take a peek here
for a look at the final shelter floor plan and pictures of new
furniture we hope to buy. If you are a future volunteer or a
B52-er, please remember that you helped make it possible. We can
host up to five volunteers at a time in the new shelter and are already
looking for more land to rent. By the time the new year rolls
around, we want to be prepared to invite a group of student volunteers
here who want to do some full-time farming with us. 
To make up for this newsletter coming out late, I will add a Part Two
in a couple of weeks with an update and photos of the continuing
construction on the land we've rented. Stay tuned for more news.
If you would like to contribute some news, please drop us an email.
Your comments and suggestions are welcome. We also apologize to
those volunteers we couldn't meet in April. We understand some of
you didn't know what to do with yourselves without someone to guide
you. Please remember that is the way 'WE WANT IT'. We
especially welcome self-motivated volunteers
who have something to contribute and don't want to just use us as a
'cheap guest house' for their own vacation in Thailand. This is
not to judge anyone who has visited us in the past -- just to forewarn
the 'Freddie Free-loaders' of the world that we don't provide handouts,
spiritual counseling, or a shoulder to cry on at HTF. We want
volunteers as 'tough' as our kids have to be from time to time.
Especially, remember the children of Myanmar who may have lost
their lives in this recent cyclone. If you want to offer a prayer
for anyone in this world, try one for any of them. Good luck to
all in your travels and travails through life!