Letters From The Peace Corps Volunteers 2001-2003Theses letters have been sent to us by Peace Corps Volunteers, Rosalynn Frederick the PCV from our current project, the Boure well project, Nelson Cronyn the PVC from our 2000-01 project, the Gonse, Burkina Faso, maternity ward, and Kelly Dixon, the International Relations Club President in 1991-92. Going Somewhere? |
Contents:
Monday, June 30, 2003 11:26 PMHi Jim,OK, we're starting to roll. Here's a preview of the budget we came up with last night.With regard to maintainence, we came up with a 5 year plan. Draft Budget (43 Thai baht/ $1 USD) ......................................................Thai baht USD Emergency repairs made to the raft (materials/labor)...35,000............$814.00 New pumps needed (4 x 3,000 baht)......................12,000............$279.00 Pulley rental to hoist raft out of water (2,000 baht per year x 5 years).........................10,000............$232.00 Anti-rust protecter applied yearly to raft bottom (1,380 per year x 5 years).............................6,900............$160.00 Skilled labor (1,200 baht per year x 5 years).........................6,000............$139.00 How does that sound? I have a digital shot of the raft I am going to attempt to send you after this. It might take me a few tries. Who knew I would learn how to use a cell phone and send digital pictures in the Peace Corps! Take care, Kelly [Back to Top] Tuesday, May 20, 2003 12:57 AMHi Jim and Joanne,Water-Pump House and Raft Repair. How does that grab you? Like many days here, I could never have predicted that by days end, I would be on the edge of the Moon River with my co-teacher and her village leader examining their half-sunken water supply source. The water level of the Moon River fluctuates drastically with the change of seasons here. Because of this fact, most of the surrounding villages have established these floating pump houses. Damaged was incurred to the bottom of the raft at Ban Nong Bua (Nong Bua Village) over the weekend. Now part of the electrical equipment is submerged. Villagers are working on surveying the extent of the damage. However, in the interests of safety they want to ensure that all the electrical sources are cut off before people further inspect the raft. I'm told that the estimated budget needed for repairs to the raft and pump house would be cost around $900 US (approximately 40,000 Thai baht). The village development office does not have the means to take on such a project. The pump house supplies water to 500 families over 3 area villages. Once the reserves in the storage tank are extinguised, villagers will be forced to hike down to the river and carry water back to their homes for household needs. Does this sound like a PCPP project?? I was hoping to get something going involving Aids education/awareness. I'm just not hooked up with the right players at the moment for something to happen in the time frame we have to work with. In addition to the water project, this village has asked me to help them with their newly established Adult Non-Formal Education Center. Basically, this is a one room-schoolhouse operation that acts as a classroom, small community library and village folklore exhibit. I will be teaching English classes to in the evening, but I'm hoping to slip in a little Aids and/or Environmental Education workshops at some point in the future. Joanne, I apologize for not responding earlier to the e-mail you sent a few weeks back. The kids have been on summer break since the end of March, so your pen pal letters will be a very special welcome back to school (the kids just returned to school on 16 May). We will try to respond quickly in order to catch your kids before the end of your school year. If the idea of writing individual letters becomes too overwhelming for the students, we may have to compose a group letter to your class on a large sheet of chart paper. We certainly want to address as many of the students' questions as possible, so it might involve 2 or 3 pieces of paper. I would like each student to contribute at least one or two sentences. We will also be sure to include some photos of the kids, school, etc. The VHS tapes are a wonderful idea. Unfortunately, the US and Thai systems are not compatable (who knows why this so in this age of globalization). I'm told it has something to do with the difference in the number of lines of each picture frame. However, we certainly look forward to the books! Thank you so much for all your efforts within the schools and out in the community. I've got some more pics to send your way. I attended a local elephant and monk ordination ceremony last week at Ban Ta Klang village. Each year about 25 men (all age 20) who are entering the monkhood ride an elephant in a procession down to the Moon River for a special ceremony. Traditional music is played, dances performed and each elephant is painted by the family of the young man entering the monkhood. An amazing sight indeed! I hope all is going well for you on the top-side of the planet. You both are amazing for taking on what you do with all your other duties as teachers! Please pass on a sawatdee to all the students. A big thank you for their efforts as well. All the best, Kelly [Back to Top] Tuesday, April 30, 2002 3:36 AMSawatdee Kha,I know you all have stacks of letters waiting to be posted my way. So, without further a do here's my new address: PCV Kelly Dixon (please note the V for Volunteer - hee, hee) ONPEC Amphur Tha Tum T. Tha Tum A. Tha Tum Surin 32120 Thailand I'm getting settled in at site. I hate to disappoint all those who imagined I'd be living in some kind of mud hut for 2 years, but I must admit that my accommodation is far from rustic. What's a girl to do when the only house available in town happens to be a brand new, 3 bedroom pad. That's right folks-3 bedrooms! Which means of course that there are two bedrooms to house the lot of you that are coming to visit me. I can't say that there will be an abundance of furnishings in each, but you are guaranteed your own private room. Don't all rush out and make you flight arrangements now. My neighbors are great. In addition to helping me set up house, a steady steam of goodies keeps coming my way. I've barely had to go food shopping since my arrival. Thai people are very jai dii indeed (good hearted and generous). Work at the education office begins on May 1 and I've already been lined up for 2 batches of teacher trainings on student centered learing techniques. Time to get planning! Luckily, I'll have a couple partners-in-crime to help me out. Matt (California) and Michael (North Carolina) are the other two PCV's serving in Surin Province. On the 2nd of May we find out whether we are going to be teaching to 20 or 200 teachers. I'm praying it's on the low side. That's about it from this end of the planet. Take care and choke dii (good luck). - Kelly [Back to Top] Friday, April 12, 2002 5:01 AMSawatdee all,Happy Thai New Year. The Songkron festival has arrived and the lot of us have just come back from our first drenching. After our luncheon at the Village Office, we lined up to pay our respects to the elders in the community by pouring water over their hands and offering wishes of good luck for the new year. It was really nice..... for about the first 15 people. It all gets to be a little hilarious after you've recited the same sentence in Thai to over 50 people you've never laid eyes on. Part of the deal with the water is that it is also meant to wash away your sins. I can't stay out past dark and can barely drink. Now they are going to wash away the few sins I've managed to commit within my small window of opportunity. All this clean living... I don't know what to do with myself. About those elephants.... The visit to the camp was really good. Got to ride Nong A (14 year old female) into the Lopburi River for her morning bath. The camp currently has 84 elephants many of which are former logging elephants. Others have been rescued from the ivory/pet trade or were abandoned by their owners who were unable to afford to keep them. It was a bit of a shock to learn that 95% of the approximately 70 elephants once roaming the streets of Bangkok came from the district I've been assigned in Surin Province. A telling sign of how poor the elephant handlers are in the Northeast of Thailand I'm afraid. I took lots of pics and will get them developed in Bangkok next week. Looking forward our week in the big city. I think I plan on spending a whole day at the movies just to get my fix before I head off to the sticks. I think I'll be squeezing in a Guinness or two as well. Take care y'all. Cheers, Kel [Back to Top] Friday, April 04, 2003 1:07 AMHi Jim and Joanne,Just wanting to touch base. No progress yet to report on the Aids education project. However, there are a few things on the horizon that might help to get the project off the ground. Songkran, the Thai New Year, is coming up on April 13, 14, and 15. I have decided to travel to Chaing Mai, as it is host to the biggest celebration in the country. While I am there, I plan to visit an Aids hospice that is run by an order of Buddhist monks. The hospice is called Baan Peuan Cheewit or House of Friends of Life. In addition to providing care on site, the hospice offers training to families in how to provide proper care to loved ones living with Aids. If the impossible were to happen and we were able to organize a training in Tha Tum, perhaps someone from Baan Peuan Cheewit could come and present. A monk there might also be able to put me in touch with someone in or closer to Surin. In addition to traveling to Chaing Mai, I will heading to Ayutthaya the first week of May for a Peace Corps training. My Thai co-worker will also attend this training. The main thing I want to come out of it is for my co-worker to understand that I want to do MORE in the community.With the help of Peace Corps staff (who speak much better Thai than me), I am going to attempt to pitch the idea to her. If we can get her on board, then hopefully she can help in pin pointing the other key players in the community (teachers, doctors, nurses, monks, etc.) who would be interested in participating in the training. More and more I see my role as a volunteer as that of a catalyst or planter of seeds. In the case of our seeds, I can see two separate, but interconnected trainings that would be useful for the community. One training involving teachers and students in the school and another more geared towards families in educating them about how to care properly for loved ones living with Aids. My dream would be for participants to come out of the training with the realization that a hospice is needed in Tha Tum and take action on their own. But, just getting the key players together and TALKING about Aids would really be a success. Wish us luck! Cheers, Kelly P.S. Jim, I think PC took your words last spring to heart. The new way the PCPP is organized on the web seems much more efficient and user-friendly. My fellow PCV, Logan Eldridge, has a project posted for the renovation/construction of a school cafeteria. Hopefully, we can get a second PCPP up on the board for Thailand! P.P.S. Down with the Longhorns! The Orangeman made the Bangkok Post. Go SU! [Back to Top] |
