Ok folks, you have waited patiently and it is time to reveal the big secret mission of 7th March 2007, please do not ask why it had to be a secret it is quite embarrassing!
As many of you may already know Hillside 4 condo with the help of Khun Steve runs a clothing project for Hill tribe people & Poor Thai people. if you didn’t know you do now and can drop off unwanted items of CLEAN clothing blankets sheets and shoes etc to hillside 4 reception and when there is a big enough load they are delivered to one of the tribes.
This was the purpose of our mission, and the group that day were in the mountains beyond the beyond that is Khun Warrens place.
Driving out and up further into the mountains I thought we were en route to heaven, well we were really as the scenery was magnificent. Trees shrubs and flowers gave an abundance of colour as we wound our way. Warren handled the car like he did this journey every day, and I am sure he doesn’t.
As we approached the village in question we stopped to get a view from the other side of the mountain, before we dropped and crossed a ledge to the other side and it was stunning. But what is ethnic and pretty for us is an everyday reality for these people and maybe not what they would choose, but on the same note if they knew the stress of city living they may feel privileged to be out of it.
The village comprises of just one street with houses on either side, and a Temple at the end and what Steve thought was a school building.
The temple has been in construction for around 4 years now and the Monk, yes he is the only one there is undertaking the work. I am sure he had help with the construction but now it is painting he is there on his own. This particular Monk hasn’t been there that long and took over when the previous one passed on! He was a very pleasant young man who gave us all a blessing and beautiful bracelets instead of your normal string. Warren had brought an orange bucket filled with essentials as an offering to him.
The people of the village welcomed us with big smiles and anticipation of the much needed clothing supplies; I have never seen so many patchwork pants. We unloaded the bags from the car and everything was laid out on mats and the people with the usual respect were patient and did not argue or quibble and none tried to be greedy, lessons by the dozen can be learnt from these wonderful people.
When they were all done we were invited to a local home for water and shade, a wooden house on two levels with place for a fire and to the side, already a mountain of wood for next winter, although I am sure at the moment it is still cold by night up there so maybe it’s this years stock.
With no land farm land to speak of, they are on the side of a mountain and need the trees around to break the rain water in the wet season, these people are still hunters and the men still head off everyday with old muskets and hope to find dinner.
Please if you do have spare clothes or shoes, donate them to the hillside project, if you could experience the gratitude first hand you would see why it is worth that little bit of effort to get them to Hillside 4, they will do the rest, and maybe if you would like to help on the next trip Steve could arrange it.
Do remember however they need to be practical, 6 inch bright red char char heels might not be the order of the day.
As many of you may already know Hillside 4 condo with the help of Khun Steve runs a clothing project for Hill tribe people & Poor Thai people. if you didn’t know you do now and can drop off unwanted items of CLEAN clothing blankets sheets and shoes etc to hillside 4 reception and when there is a big enough load they are delivered to one of the tribes.
This was the purpose of our mission, and the group that day were in the mountains beyond the beyond that is Khun Warrens place.
Driving out and up further into the mountains I thought we were en route to heaven, well we were really as the scenery was magnificent. Trees shrubs and flowers gave an abundance of colour as we wound our way. Warren handled the car like he did this journey every day, and I am sure he doesn’t.
As we approached the village in question we stopped to get a view from the other side of the mountain, before we dropped and crossed a ledge to the other side and it was stunning. But what is ethnic and pretty for us is an everyday reality for these people and maybe not what they would choose, but on the same note if they knew the stress of city living they may feel privileged to be out of it.
The village comprises of just one street with houses on either side, and a Temple at the end and what Steve thought was a school building.
The temple has been in construction for around 4 years now and the Monk, yes he is the only one there is undertaking the work. I am sure he had help with the construction but now it is painting he is there on his own. This particular Monk hasn’t been there that long and took over when the previous one passed on! He was a very pleasant young man who gave us all a blessing and beautiful bracelets instead of your normal string. Warren had brought an orange bucket filled with essentials as an offering to him.
The people of the village welcomed us with big smiles and anticipation of the much needed clothing supplies; I have never seen so many patchwork pants. We unloaded the bags from the car and everything was laid out on mats and the people with the usual respect were patient and did not argue or quibble and none tried to be greedy, lessons by the dozen can be learnt from these wonderful people.
When they were all done we were invited to a local home for water and shade, a wooden house on two levels with place for a fire and to the side, already a mountain of wood for next winter, although I am sure at the moment it is still cold by night up there so maybe it’s this years stock.
With no land farm land to speak of, they are on the side of a mountain and need the trees around to break the rain water in the wet season, these people are still hunters and the men still head off everyday with old muskets and hope to find dinner.
Please if you do have spare clothes or shoes, donate them to the hillside project, if you could experience the gratitude first hand you would see why it is worth that little bit of effort to get them to Hillside 4, they will do the rest, and maybe if you would like to help on the next trip Steve could arrange it.
Do remember however they need to be practical, 6 inch bright red char char heels might not be the order of the day.
To view more photos in the album click the link below.
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