Journey with the IDPs

Journey with the IDPs

San Klang Village

Another little corner of the world

San Klang It is a small village of Akha tribe with 32 households. Another little corner of the world facing water problems. Lack of water in dry season and water turbidity. We visited to the village and did a survey and talked to the leaders. We agreed to work together on water issue. Still more to plan and do together to solve the problems. But we belief we are able to create changes for the better !

Buidling a better future at Huai Wad

There was a working together on the lack of water in Huai Wad in March 2010. A short term solution was discussed , planned and implemented together. Now the Lahu at Huai Wad are able to access to water for washing and cleaning at their homes. However there are still more things to do to work on potable water and water for agriculture.

More challengings along the journey with the IDPs to explore for a better future !
 

The Future is in Our Hands

Another new year has come with many best wishes from friends and the team members. I would like to wish for the best future of the IDPs friends and encourage the team to keep our belief. " The Future is in Our Hands"

Working with the IDPs in Norhern Thailand for some eight years reflects the complex situations and difficulties to cope up with the problems existing in the IDPs communities. However we are happy to have more people to join the working together. Especially the Australian volunteers who kindly keep working on water issue in the IDPs villages continuously and happily.

Not only the factors inside the IDPs communities but also the ones from the outsideers we have to condider. Civil minds then play very crucial role to support sustainable development of the communities. But how to promote such things. The IDPs comminities are kinds of open systems and always changable. The organizations responsible for the comminities also have many different ideas and their own issues to work. The villagers do need the supports which based on the communities needs and contexts and with less prejudice towards them too.


We are just only a small group of people trying to advocate the accessibility to water, food and the sustainable living of the villagers. The new year may bring many challenges in working with our IDPs friends. And even the journey with the IDPs is an enless one, we will keep our belief... "The Future is in Our Hands"

Huai Wad... Huai Wad

 We visited to Huai wad recently to follow up the village's situation. The village was very quiet as most of the villagers were busy harvesting the upland rice in their plantation areas..

We met a few women taking care of the kids at home. They mentioned about the lacking of rain this year that there was not enough water for the household consumptions. many big tanks built around the village were not fill up. After thier small taks at home were empty, they fetched up water from the tanks behind the village school. When those tanks ran out of water, they asked the TAO to carry water to the village once a week. This event happens every year and has been a part of the life at Huai Wad for some six years already.

There were some attempts in working together among the Dai Dai Dai team from Chiangrai , EWB volunteers from Australia, the villagers and local officers to solve the lack of water in Huai wad. But it seems difficult to get to the solution. Even hill water seems to be the best solution but the villagers in the nearby village do not want to share the hill water with the villagers of Huai Wad.

However, it was good to see a few villagers got back home with some foods as Lahu beans, ,cucumbers, and papayas in their baskets and bags. Traditionally, the Lahu plant some other crops together with the upland rice. So they have many foods during the harvesting time.

They also collect a lot of wild mushrooms from the wood as for their food and also for sale. A merchant comes and buys the mushrooms in the evening. They get 50 baht per kilogram of the mushroom when the local people will have to pay some 100 baht per kilogram at the market.

They looked happy when they told us the upland rice yield seemed to be enough for their consumptions this year. They have some fishes from the flooded areas effected from Kew Kor Ma Dam.

Life at Huai Wad is still going on in the similar way each year. Even sometings have been changing, but the lack of water is still existing. It does cause a great impact to the living at Huai Wad. How to cope up with such problem ?

Women Rights and Human Rights ...

I spent two weeks in Phnom Penh for a training course. We talked about Equality and Human Rights of women in South East Asia. It was a good time to learn and share with 24 friends from 9 countires. The internatinal , regional and domestic mechanisms were learnt and share together too. I was missing my friends in the villages as such mechanisms were very faraway from them.

We agreed that attitue, belief, socilal norms, tradition under particular culture play very important role on working with the term " Human Rights". Then the challenge is how to integrate them into the local mechanisms effectively to promote the Human Rights in the villages and communities. Some friends did say " It should start from ourselves" and I liked their ideas. But "how to.... ?" is an inresting question we have to think about !

 

I have found it was good not mentioned about the term of "Human Right" much during our working together. Their participation in the process of working together to access basic needs already reflect the Human Rights in practical.

Working together in the IDPs villages still need more time more understanding and more attempts. However it is a very important starting point. I do belief in civil society movements and the butterfly effect. Just keep trying.

Green Drought at Huai Wad

 

We were happy to see green surroundings when we entered the Huai Wad Village last week. But we were surprised to see our Lahu friends looked unhappy and worried. After we discussed with them we got to know that it was a kind of "Green Drought".

There was no rain for a long time. Rice and corn were dying in the plantation areas. There will be very less crops yield this year as the lack of rain affected the pollenations of the crops.

The worst thing was that some villagers have already invested growing the corn with the loans from traders. They have already indebt for the seeds, chemical sprays and fertilizers.

As there were two existing tanks at Haw Yae, we had a third construction at this location. Made a connection by a poly line from a big tank under a meeting shed on the hill. So that a poly line will fill up the lower tanks when they run low from the tank on the hill. This will provide an additional 20,000 litres for the villagers. This was just what we could do for a short term solution and with available resources we had. While the villagers shared their labours to construct the tank.

Just hope that it will rain soon. And when it rains, all tanks will be filled up. The villagers will have enough water for their households'consumptions. We were happy to see the smiling faces of the villagers of Huai Wad when we left them.

Also hope there will be no more "Green Drought" again at Huai Wad !