These kids are amazing and clearly enjoyed being showered with attention by adults!
The girls rotate taking turns waking up before dawn to walk to their outdoor cooking area. When we were there, they had two pots to cook their meals in and the roof leaked! Our church is going to fund a new cooking area for them and I hope to get them some better cooking gear!
we took them some KFC as they rarely get to eat meat and they just LOVE KFC!! (And yes, KFC in Thailand tastes just like home...)
The girls did some dances for us, a fashion show (which was the cutest thing ever!) and sang some songs in their tribal languages. Two of the girls from our team, Bethany and Lacey, did their dance for them and we had a prayer time with them. Lori and I really wanted to get back and visit them again but we just didn't have the chance.
Visiting Mercy House, we learned that many Thai people have a calloused attitude toward tribal kids. Evidentally, the church that oversees their care feels like since the tribal kids had "nothing" while in their tribe, that they need nothing but the bare necessities now. Personally, i think adult supervision IS a necessity and that's something these kids don't have.
Even so, these girls are amazing....going to school, leaving their families and cultures, washing and cooking for themselves...
It is so exciting to me to see these tribal children get an opportunity for an education. It's just such a shame that this cannot happen for them in their tribes. But, some of the tribes are still nomadic and move their villages for crop rotation.
I hope and pray that these kids will not be so enamored with city life that they abandon their tribes. Living in the city gives them an opportunity to see what the rest of the world is like and hopefully they will take their knowledge and skills back to benefit their tribes either by advocating for them or living with them.
I also pray that these kids will hang onto their tribal and cultural traditions so that the beauty of their cultures will not be lost. I also hope that the lure of Western Society doesn't strip these beautiful tribal cultures of their rich identity....
They have such beautiful, happy, smiling faces. Their story is remarkable -- I don't know if teenage kids here in the U.S. would be as responsible and capable of staying alone and being self-governing in those conditions. Thank you for sharing more about your trip. It truly has given me a lot to think about and I appreciate so much the effort you and the others put forth to assist these young people. You are beautiful to the core.
ReplyDeletethanks suzanne r!!
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