[at-l] Thailand Work Trip Anyone?

[janl2 at mindspring.com (Jan Leitschuh)]

My cousin Jhon travels to Thailand annually. Before he left this time, 
he had money pressed on him by people here wanting to send some 
"guerilla relief" forward with him.

His goal was to find needs, folks falling through the institutional 
cracks, and offer assistance. Not handouts, but actual concrete 
projects with a ripple effect.

Some of you contributed, and I think you'll be pleased at the 
difference your contributions have made directly to the spirit of the 
  fishing village Nam Kem on the Andaman coast of Thailand, where OVER 
HALF the population was wiped out. My cousin's writing is poignant, 
and at times, unbearable.

If any of you retired or wandering souls are looking for a meaningful 
travel experience doing useful work in a foreign culture, my cousin is 
extended a personal invite to join the Fisherman's Boat Repair 
Collective that has planted a seed of hope in this devastated village.

If you'd like to know more, or get the full email, or see the photos, 
send me an email. There are other ways to help the people of this 
neglected fishing village we've adopted directly.

At the very least, his letter is an insight to experiences I believe 
many of you can relate to: chance meetings, subsistence living, 
following dogs, innovation, making much out of little.
Jan

Parts of his letter are as follows:

"By a chance encounter in Ranong we met Graeme Killen, 68, an
Australian retiree who has lived for the past 9 years in what turns 
out  to be the hardest hit community of Thailand - Ban Nam Kem. We met 
in the  hotel lobby where we were staying and the next day we traveled 
to Nam Kem together.

Nam Kem is a large fishing village on the Andaman coast of Thailand
about midway between Ranong and Phuket.   The
government does not release an actual death toll in this area,
perhaps because they are trying hard to lure tourists back into the 
main  vacation areas to the south in Phuket and Khao Lak and talking 
too much about death and destruction just sends the wrong message to 
vacationers planning to find the ideal getaway.  But locals and relief 
workers in the area seem to agree easily that a full 50% of all people 
present when the Tsunami struck are known to be dead and another 
significant percentage are still missing.

Nam Kem existed on fishing with virtually no tourism in the immediate
area. With clear priorities so far to re-establish the tourism and
commercial fisheries industries, there is a sharp imbalance in where 
the  Thai government seems to be investing it's resources.  The 
independent  fishing families here seem to have the lowest priority 
for receiving assistance even though they are the heart and soul of 
the village

We arrived Feb 4 - nearly six weeks after the Tsunami struck - and
within five minutes of our initial tour of the village it became 
obvious that in addition to nearly total destruction almost nothing 
had been done that could be called "reconstruction".  Although the 
Thai army is doing a fantastic job and making many friends in the 
process of providing  food, water, temporary shelter and general 
relief to everybody, there are almost no signs of the eight billion 
dollars in global relief money that flooded the relief pipeline 
following the disaster.  There are piles of debris everywhere and 
rubble from the
homes, much of it collected in the murky salt ponds.

There are orphaned pets still sleeping at the site where their house
used to stand.  More than once we were followed by a dog galloping
beside the motorcycle like he was out for a run with his owner,
temporarily seeming happy for the moment, he was perhaps able to feel he
had adopted us.  When I stopped he stopped and sat in the road next to
us with a "smiling dog" face of glistening eyes, mouth pulled back at
the corners and tongue flapping saliva... looking for any clue that we
were going to resume, he followed each time we moved again and waited
patiently each time we stopped.

Now the good part: We've had a huge success establishing Tsunami
Fishermen's Relief Fund.
In just six days the infrastructure to build and repair the longtail
boats used by local fishermen had been established and is up and
operating.

Day I (Friday 4 Feb )  - Organizers and friends brainstorm ideas and
prepare an outline plan for the project.  The thinking being that if the
local fishermen could see the beginning of some activity, if they could
see boats on dry land in for repairs, hear the saws and hammers from the
repair project, a few might start to take heart toward getting back on
the sea.  If a small spark of life could be established in a very
conspicuous place in the village, it might attract a few more who in
turn might attract a few more.  If a critical mass of lively activity
and optimism could be achieved, it might influence enough people and
perhaps start a wave of interest in returning to life throughout the
village.  At the very least, it would get a few boats built and get a
few of the fishermen who are emotionally ready to be back on the water
out and making a living.

Graeme Killen's temporary dwelling, a rented garage/shop, (his home was
washed away) becomes the bunk-house for the four project founders and is
further utilized by being put into service as the project office and
supply storage.

Day 2 (Sat -5 Feb) - Pon, a local Thai woman who has lived in Nam Kem
for 28 years, arranges for the use of a prime piece of land where boats
will be built and repaired. She also contacts one of the village leaders
to inform about the project.
Pon's brother-in-law makes banner signs for the project to be strung in
front of both the office and the sea side work area.

Day 3 (Sunday 6 Feb) - Arrangements are made with the Thai Army to clear
and flatten the work area with their heavy equipment.

A potential donor requests that some boats be brought onto the site as
evidence that something is really happening - to show that it's not just
a nice idea but a functional project.  The word is put out and several
fishermen agree to tow their boats tomorrow when the high tide will
allow them to get in to shore.

Day 4 (Monday 7 Feb) - We decide we'd better wake up and get over to the
Army early in the morning to make sure they don't get diverted by
another project of higher priority.  We arrive at their headquarters at
8:30am but find nobody around.  Turns out they were already at our site
looking for us!  The project area is cleared of broken concrete, trees
and other heavy debris and then graded level. Two boat launch areas are
also graded.

The fishermen miscalculate the high tide and no boats show up at the
work area. It has been 6 weeks since they have last been on the water
and they have lost touch with one of the most basic elements of their 
lives.

Day 5 (Tuesday - 8 Feb) - The fishermen catch the tides and eight boats
arrive in tow for repairs. The Thai Marine Department brings in a
large crane and all eight boats are pulled out of the mud onto the dry
land of the repair site.

Swedish press entourage covers the story and the lifting of the boats.

Radio Thailand interviews us.

Relief Volunteer workers stop by - they have heard about the project,
stop by and commit to provide a large shelter structure for building 
boats.

People are hanging out at the repair site all day now.  Fishermen are
starting to make the small repairs to their boats they can make without
tools.

Day 6 - A team of 20 Korean relief workers clean rubble, stone and
loose debris from the one acre work area by hand.  The work area becomes
one of the first pieces of land to become habitable and restored.

Four more boats are towed in for repairs.  These are all of the boats
known to have survived in the Nam Kem area with estimates of destroyed
boats being as high as 300.

Nine monks from Bangkok perform a ceremony at the freshly prepared work
site.  It is intended to bring a good future for the fishermen and for
the project.  At the end of the day several people have quiet
conversations about what has just happened...a small bit of life has
returned to Nam Kem village.

"3.  Come and stay and work. There is room for 1-2 people who would 
like to visit and work as supporters of the project.  Since there is 
no  accommodation in the village after the Tsunami, you would be 
welcome to  stay in the very simple, almost primitive, quarters of 
Graeme's.  For  $15 per day, per person, you will get meals and 
accommodation just  adjacent to the heart of the destruction zone in 
Nam Kem. This amount  would include a donation of about $8.00 per day, 
per person, to the  Fishermen's Fund.  There are also many very 
comfortable resort  accommodations available at deeply discounted 
prices about 19 miles down  the road at Khao Lak, a major tourist 
area.  You could easily arrange a
working vacation combining comfort and beauty with the ability to make a
huge difference in many people's lives."


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	Jan Leitschuh Sporthorses Ltd.
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