Natural Farming

Sorry it has been a while since I have written anything on here, but I hope that you have had the chance to look through all of the pictures that I have been uploading to my blog in the meantime.

Last week, I had the chance to travel down to Chiang Mai with four other staff from UHDP to attend a natural farming seminar hosted by the SEED (something to eat every day) Project. There was a total of about seven or so other NGO’s that attended the seminar, and we all came together to learn more about how we can serve those in need through gardening and other sustainable farming techniques. The first couple of says were spent teaching everyone how to start their own organic garden, which was a lot of old information for UHDP since organic gardens have been a integral part of UHDP for years now. However, UHDP was able to gain a lot of knowledge about how to make various organic liquid fertilizers by using farm wastes and other cheap materials towards the end of the week. It was encouraging to see an organization like SEED that is involved with educating people on how to grow vegetables with whatever land they have and how to do it organically and sustainably. However, while I was talking with one of the presenters from SEED, I found out that they require the communities that they work with to convert to Christianity before SEED will share their information and technology with the community. I was saddened when I heard this since I would think it would be hard to tell what the community’s real reason for converting to Christianity was if the technology is only presented after the conversion of a community. I was able to share a bit about what UHDP does within the hilltribe communities that we work with, and that UHDP would not have gotten very far within the Buddhist-Animist hilltribe communities if UHDP required the villages to convert to Christianity first. I learned a lot while I was at the seminar, and I know that SEED is a great organization that is doing a lot of good things, and that they are working hard to educate people from Nepal all the way to the Philippines.

Spending the week down in Chiang Mai with the four other UHDP staff was a great opportunity for me to spend a lot more time with them, and it allowed me to put my Thai language skills to the test since none of the staff that I went with could speak English. I traveled down to Chiang Mai with Pi Singhkam, Chai, Ek, and Pi Dah. I ended up staying at Pi Singhkam’s little sisters house for the week with the three guys, and Pi Dah stayed at her sister-in-law’s house for the week. I got to spend a lot of time with Ek in the back of the pickup truck as we rode around town each day, and it was also great to just be able to sit around at night and drink tea with the guys as we watched soccer highlights, the news, or crazy Thai shows about witches and vampires. I have to say the acting in Thai TV shows is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. I was able to learn a bunch of new Thai words as I rode around with Ek and watched TV with the guys, but I still consider myself lucky if I’m able to pick out two or three words when Pi Singhkam talks to me. When Pi Singhkam talks, he talks so fast that what he is saying just sounds like noise to me still. Talking with Ek is great, though, because he knows that he has to talk like a four year old in order to communicate with me. The students (Ek, Ong, When, and Suphanat) have had to learn the Thai language recently as well, so I find talking with them to be a bit easier since they have a better understanding of the Thai words that I actually know. I really wish I could jump into a conversation at ease by now, but it has been great to learn from and talk with the students even though the level of communication can be quite primitive at times. Even though I am no Thai language pro, I’m glad that I have been able to progress a little with the language, and I’m at the point right now where I am trying to cherish the time that I have left at UHDP.