HollyTyson: Brick by Brick in Thailand

[*This second-to-last trip blog post comes insanely late, nearly 6 months after I returned from my trip around the world. So sorry, but better late than never!*]

December 5, 2009:
Goodbye Sri Lanka, Hello Thailand!

The final chapters of the story of my most amazing trip bring us back to Sri Lanka: it was so difficult leaving such a beautiful place, with such lovely people and sights to see, but I knew I had a mission ahead in Chiang Mai, Thailand. I stayed for as long as humanly possible in Sri Lanka until boarding a midnight flight to Chiang Mai via Bangkok. Bohome stuti, Sri Lanka!

In Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand, I was greeted by the local Habitat for Humanity staff at the medium-sized airport in the comfortably balmy tropical weather. From my time in Thailand in 2003 with Semester at Sea, I remembered a country full of cheery people--hence the nickname "the land of smiles"--and wicked tasty chow. Since becoming sick in India off of tainted curry just weeks before, I had begun craving Thai food as my favorite food to top the once favored Indian cuisine. Let's just say that by the time our international, but mostly American, team of Habitat volunteers coalesced in Chiang Mai, we were on our way to a culinary feast of Thailand's delicious offerings.

The next two weeks afforded me luxuries that I had not had for months at this point: a consistent place to sleep and shower (!) for two weeks, a hotel pool, three square meals a day and water breaks, snacks, transportation and activities planned by someone else, and a fast friend network of teammates committed to building a home for a family in need in an entirely different culture. Never had my trip been so easy as it was now in the hands of a young Thai woman named Nina whose job it was to coordinate the builds and international teams coming into northern Thailand. Her spirit captured perfectly the cheery and can-do Thai attitude of the 21st century, as did the congeniality of her Thai colleagues with whom we toiled in the toasty Thai sun for about two weeks in early December.

I hope you enjoy looking at the progress we made in building the start of a home for a family of four in a rural community outside of Chiang Mai, Thailand. I would highly recommend the Habitat for Humanity Global Village program for anyone with an interest in doing humanitarian construction abroad.

Starting things off with a roof and a layout for the foundation in rural Sheng Doi, Chiang Mai, Thailand with the local and international Habitat for Humanity worker bees. Our volunteers consisted of mostly Americans, with a couple Canadians in hiding and one Aussie!

My great Australian friend Cana and I during a regularly-scheduled water break. Habitat for Humanity was pretty hardcore about keeping us hydrated and safe throughout the day.

Shovels resting in a row after a hard day's work of mixing cement for the foundation of the home.

Val and Scott reading some Thai materials and me flexing!

The Thai people LOVE their King, the longest empowered ruler currently alive. We were working in Thailand during the King's 82nd birthday celebration, a national holiday and reason for these golden Bodhi leaf mobiles in the streets and celebratory markers throughout the country.

Another public demonstration of affection for His Majesty the King on his 82nd Birthday.

Letting go of paper lanterns filled with candles and some sort of gas. It's so magical watching them all float in the air! We did this on two occasions, once after dinner on a workday and once at our goodbye dinner.

I adore this little Buddha figure photographed at the local Buddhist temple near our home family's work site. His face and the wearings on his body make him look wiser.

Buddhist stupas at a Buddhist temple in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Dragons adorning the local Buddhist temple.

Saffron-colored robes are the common sight in Buddhist Thailand. This is one of many Buddhist temples in an older area of Chiang Mai city.

During one of our 'touring' days when we got to go on an outing, we stopped for lunch at this amazing orchid farm and restaurant. Rows and rows of breath-taking (and breath-restoring) orchids blossomed everywhere, to say nothing of the fabulous Thai buffet (= paradise!).

AH! Orchid farm antics...

Eating a salty cuttle fish from the night market in Chiang Mai.

My friends Yee and Cana and I shopped for a variety of insects at the night market in Chiang Mai, city center. Ah, grasshopper. We also ate other treats like grub, beetle, and cricket. YUMMY!

Jimmy Carter Work Project for 2010 in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in celebration of the King's 82nd birthday. Habitat for Humanity volunteers, including some celebrities and Jimmy and wife Rosalyn Carter, spent 4 days building these 82 basic houses in a mango plantation outside the city center. The housing development includes a beautiful community center, electricity, and some wicked fruitful mango trees! Projects just like this one were organized in part of the Jimmy Carter Work Project along the entire Mekong Delta, in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. Jimmy Carter Work Projects happen every year in one location around the world and pair with Habitat for Humanity in constructing homes for all people! This community was about to open to homeowners, so we witnessed it just after completion and right before use, very exciting!

A rice field backs onto the 82 houses built by the Jimmy Carter Work Project in Chiang Mai. There were hundreds of applicants for these 82 houses, and each home was purchased by the most eligible candidate as chosen by a Habitat for Humanity selection group. All HFH homeowners pay for their homes and are also required to give a set number hours of volunteer time to building their own home and others' homes.

Val, me, and Chris riding back to the Royal Lanna hotel one afternoon after working on the house. To get around, we rode in the back of pick up trucks with benches, a local transportation method, driven by two local Thai people who had benefited previously from Habitat for Humanity support on their homes--it's all part of Habitat's way of getting homeowners involved with their shared investment.

Live simply so that others can simply live. I wore this t-shirt a lot during my volunteer work throughout the trip. My dear friend Kelly G. made it and I wear it with pride still!

We visited a Tribal Hill community in rural Chiang Mai province one free morning. This is Melissa and Libby hanging with some of the local gals, overlooking their village and the lush tropical mountainside.

Red hot chili peppers drying on a basket atop someone's metal roof. Those are gonna have some heat for sure!

Scott, me, and my roommate Yee hang in the shade during our Hill Tribe visit.

Hand chiseled steps along the path in the Hill Tribe community in rural Chiang Mai, Thailand.

A view of the Hill Tribe we visited, where some homes had satellite dishes!

Mangosteen is an absolutely delicious tropical fruit and was often one of our snacks throughout the day as we worked on the home.

"There's a hole in my bucket" kept repeating in my head while we would use these buckets to haul and blend water, concrete powder and sand for hours to make the mortar for foundation and connecting cinder blocks.

I am building the walls that will house a family of four in comfort, giving them dignity and peace. But who says you can't rock out in the process?

My friend Chris and I in the background, raising the stakes and the cinder blocks as we pile layer on top of layer with our spade and mortar.

Tom and Tom! Two of our local Thai Habitat interns were the fabulous Tom and Tom duo, shown here dancing on the job after the project is finished.

Val and I making sure our work is level! Sometimes I wondered about the safety of allowing ME to build a sturdy home...?!

Mixing foundation mortar by combining water with cement mix and rocks.

The local Buddhist temple in the distance of our view from the home site, probably about a ten minute walk away.

Building a mystery?

A lazy, hazy scene of the family's home site, showing the dry season of rice paddies in the background.

Another snack and water break with Cana and me! Local families were hired to feed us on the work site everyday--lucky us to have homemade Thai food--creating a positive ripple effect on employment in the village through our build.

Nina, our energetic and knowledgeable local Thai Habitat for Humanity staff person, packed a lot of spunk into her tiny body, shown here fitting into one of two water and waste collection tanks for the bathroom. Scott and Eric were our two key muscle men during the build, and were able to get the holes dug for these tanks in one morning.

Almost finished with our part in the home build! The walls are coming up, the window frames are in, and then we cover the cinder blocks with fine cement. It was an exhilarating experience watching the walls rise up around us, knowing that our work was helping someone build a house and a home.

The resident water buffalo that would watch us while we worked in the neighboring rice field.

A Siamese cat in the land of Siam, stretching out after a long day on the work site.

One of the several local fresh vegetable and fruit markets in Chiang Mai, city center.

The Sunday night market in downtown Chiang Mai went for miles in four directions, with vendors selling anything and everything, including scrumptious Thai foods of all sorts.

Porn and Dang, the extremely grateful new homeowners of our project (and the unfortunately named, when it comes to English)! These two, along with their two teenage daughters, were on the work site everyday, and could not have been any more humble and thankful for our efforts and their new home. Here, we are having the dedication ceremony at the end of the project, and Porn is crying tears of joy for the opportunity they have been given through Habitat for Humanity and our group's efforts.

Val's Team after the hard work has been done! Congrats Porn and Dang! Dang, Dang!

The skilled Thai construction workers who taught us important building skills throughout the project are pictured here with Porn and Dang in the middle. These men were invaluable, and by paying local workers to help direct international volunteers, Habitat for Humanity provides local incomes to benefit the surrounding community.

Holly getting a little excited (a la Mary Catherine Gallagher) at the Farewell Dinner in Chiang Mai. I don't know if new Habitat for Humanity homeowners Porn and Dang knew how to react to me.