During my stay in Bangkok, I unsuccessfully attempted to find some service work opportunities. I tried to call the Provena Foundation aimed at helping women and children and made a visit to their office, they didn’t have anything to really explain since the office was doing mainly administrative tasks. I guess I was hoping that they would be able to tour me around their work and I could learn something about service programs or development. I tried to look up a center that house children with HIV/AIDS and an online guide said they let visitors play with the children. Unfortunately, the phone number doesn’t work. A few weeks ago, when I knew that I was traveling to Thailand, I tried to set up a site visit with a refugee camp on the Thai-Burmese border recommended by my good Burmese friend, Claire. Claire was my TA in a global health class. She made a presentation explaining the health care system in Burma, an oppressed country run by a military dictatorship where she lived until the age of 14 and then managed to get a visa into the U.S. Through her cracking voice and explanation of the atrocities occurring in Burma as well as a heroic female figure, Aung San Suu Kyi, dedicated to peaceful democracy, I was moved. I was appalled by my ignorance of the current day issues surrounding Burma; this was the tip of the iceberg of many ongoing issues that I am ignorant about and that our U.S. media does not care to report significantly on. The refugee camp helps Burmese citizens with healthcare and other needs. I was bummed that the person who ran the camp was not in town when I was nearby and couldn’t host a visit.
Since living costs are much less in Thailand, my grandma and uncle have a housekeeper here. Since my family in NJ grew up middle class, we did not have maids but did have a nanny for a few years when I was a toddler. Not sure why, but I feel bad using the housekeeper here. She is a sweet woman named Dao that is constantly cooking, cleaning dishes, carrying luggage, sweeping floors, watching after grandpa, etc. I refuse to let her carry my heavy luggage up the 4 stories of stairs…afterall if I’m going to overpack, I should be the one carrying it. What bothers me moreso is that Dao carries herself with a subservient attitude never looking at anyone in the eye, hardly speaking up, and sits on the floor when talking to you on the couch even when invited to sit on the couch. I got sit outside and start showing Dao and my grandpa more pictures of my travels on my DSLR and Dao joins us. I learn that Dao is actually from Burma and her primary language is a Buremese dialect. India flashes by, then Tanzania. She smiles at the animals on the safari and the kids with cleft lip and palate from India. I then give her a few rupees from India as a souvenir and pieces of American candy intended for kid cousins in Thailand. After that point, every time I came to visit my Uncle Dum, Dao walks over to me, eager for a conversation. Its funny how much you can communicate with other human beings even with a large language barrier.
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