Ok so since I have been here in Thailand there have been lot’s of up’s but also lot’s of down’s. All of what has happened has now lead me to Hilltribe in the City. HitC is a non-profit charity that Greig and I have recently started. We will begin by bringing 6 kids from the Om Koi village (that I have been involved with for 15 months now) down into the city of Chiang Mai. Next year we plan to have more kids in the house, some may be from other villages or from the Wat Don Chan as some of the kids really do not like living here. We will provide them with a safe, loving home to live in, send them to a good school, have tutors available, medical care when needed and help them to have choices and a chance at a better life. This is something most of their families have not had. We will also be buying rice and vegetables from them for our house and we will be teaching the family to make some jewelry that we will then buy from them along with their Lahu hilltribe bags. We can sell these things to help us with the up keep of the house and to help the villagers have a chance at more income.
See the kids only go to school 10 days out of the month and at the age of 13 most of them then go work in the family fields. There are only 2 teachers in the the Musser Nai village and all of the 45 kids are packed into 1 classroom. I have been in there during class time and let’s just say a little more structure could be helpful. Most of the people in the village cannot read and write Thai and this makes it difficult to make enough money to provide for their families. There is also a bit of a problem with drugs and alcohol in the village. See we are not trying to tell them what to do we are just providing this for the families that want something better for their kids and for themselves. We want to help out as much as we can, we love this village and the people in it.
Where I live right now, the Wat Don Chan, only let’s the kids with any family go back home for a visit 2 weeks every year, I think this is unfair. Hilltribe in the City plans to send the kids home every summer break (2 months), every holiday (total about 6 weeks) and we will visit about once a month. We want the kids to stay connected to their families, their village and their Lahu culture. As well the families are welcome to come and visit with us and stay in the house whenever they like. This may get them to do more with their farms and then come to Chiang Mai to see the kids and sell their crops…More money. Yes, I know money is not everything but I am just talking about enough to feed the family and maybe buy a blanket for the winter, you get it.
We have a management team, official visitors to check up on things from time to time and just to hang out with us at the house and we are looking for ambassadors (people that will help us to spread the word about HitC and help to raise funds all year long) that consist of foreigners and Thai’s. We are in the process of getting all of our paper work together for the recognition of the non-profit here in Thailand (ton’s of paper work and lot’s of jumping through hoops) as well as looking for the house, getting the bank account, planning the fundraiser here in Chiang Mai and hitting the markets for donations. Lot’s more to info to come….check out our under-construction website, hilltribeinthecity.org. Peace always, -Stu
