Christmas Eve

It is Christmas Eve…and unlike any other in my life. It is hard to lay here typing….it is so cold. The hut provides little warmth. I am currently inside my sleeping bag and under two doonas. I have socks and a jumper on also.

Today was a special Christmas eve as I learnt how to ‘flick’ the bucket at the bottom of the well so as to tip the bucket and allow it to fill with water before pulling it back above ground. The well is about 4 metres down before the water starts. This ‘flicking’ is an art and I am glad to have added it to my repertoire…Colin of course had it mastered a while ago…but hey….I am still proud of myself!!!

Tomorrow (Christmas Day) we will send the children from the orphanage off to the government school as per usual (imagine that Aussie kids…school on Christmas day) and we will (our family and some other older and younger children who don’t go to school) travel 30 minutes to Sai Yok and buy our lunch to give the cooking team a break. We will then come home and complete all of the children’s jobs before they get home from school….a treat for them. We will haul water to the five ‘hawng nahms’ (toilets) and to the kitchen and to some of the guest house bucket-showers. We will scrub the toilets and sweep – allowing the children to come home…take their river-baths and play a little…something they don’t really do a lot of. We will then have a very special dinner – it will include chocolate soy milk!!!! And give a present to each child.

My mum and dad sent our family a gift of money and so we were able to have a special day at the shop buying a present for each other. Zach bought a tiny Christmas tree and we have put our presents around it in the corner of our hut. Tomorrow after breakfast…we will come down to our hut and have a Milo and a bowl of cornflakes (a huge special) and open our presents. Christmas is different this year but also filled with anticipation and excitement. It is also very interesting to be a group of Christians celebrating within a Buddhist country. It seems to bring a “radical-ness” to this years Christmas and allows you to clarify what the day is about.

Today we were asked by a local village man if we could drive him to get some cement for his house. He is renovating his bamboo hut! We agreed and I was sent to drive him as I had another couple of other jobs to do also. This man bought the cement…5 bags in total… but also bought approximately 100 Bessa Block bricks…and loaded them into the back of the ute. When all was loaded the front of our ute was riding very high and he added to the weight in the back by sitting on top of the bricks. I drove cautiously aware of our damaged steering rod (that is getting fixed next week!) We got back to the village safely and the man, his wife and I unloaded the bricks and cement. The villagers are always a little alarmed that ‘white’ people…especially ‘white’ women are offering to work. I shook my head and said ‘it is ok….’ and continued to unload with them. They said their thank yous and I left saying ‘mai pen rai’ (you’re welcome/no worries). Tonight the message came up to the school (BS) that they were so thankful that I helped them that they were killing one of their chickens to give to the teacher…ME! So……this Christmas dinner may include a village chicken…..! If only you could see the pained look on my face as I contemplate the thought!!!!

Each Sunday morning we work with all the Bamboo School children for about 4 hours, gardening, cleaning and doing odd jobs. Following this time, while waiting for lunch – today there was a brief time to relax. Jordan was sitting around the fire/rubbish pit with one of the boys. This boy had a sling shot and killed a bird that was flying past. The boy (as Jordie watched) cooked the whole bird in the fire and ate….the whole bird…..the whole bird – inside and out! He only threw away the feathers. The boy kindly offered Jord the leg...but Jord refused. I am laughing as I write this….! Dear Jord delighted in relaying this story to us at dinner and was even more excited when I said I would put it in a blog.

We are enjoying our time here. We are feeling more confident in our leadership while the principal is away. We are doing a semi ‘survivor’ theme, as in, the children are in teams, and have bandanas and get points for various things. We are playing games with them and reward them for hard work. The children are responding well to us. They seem settled and seem to trust our leadership.

Zach has had an infected leg again…his whole left calf was covered in puss! I have tried my hardest to keep him off steroids and antibiotics and I think things are improving. I clean and re-bandage twice a day and today had him stay in the hut to try to give him a break from all the bugs outside in the dirt. Once you step outside the hut…you get dirty. Last night he slept for about 13 hours….his body is fighting infection at a rapid rate. Please keep Zachie in your prayers.

Casey and Mackenzie are doing well. We chopped off their hair to make it easier to handle here in the jungle….Kenz then decided to chop a little more and swiped off all the hair and the front and now has a very short fringe….AHHHH! After being told off a little and after I got over the sadness of having a girl who looks like a boy…we cuddled and remembered that hair grows!! Thank the Lord for that body feature!

We are so thankful for letters, emails and comments on the blog. We often print out emails and savour them at home in our hut so we don’t have to read them in a rush in an internet café.

We hope you will take time over this Christmas season to pray for the Karen people. Many of the Karen are Christians…but won’t celebrate Christmas with a heap of food and presents. Rather some families will spend the day hiding in the jungle, fleeing villages or separated from those they love. We who have freedom and identity must pray! Please plead with God that He will raise up leaders who will address the fighting and political unrest in Burma. Pray that God will also raise up Christian leaders amongst the Karen people - leaders who will preach that a relationship with Christ offers a unique freedom and radical identity.

Christmas Day……this morning we woke to a group of 15 or so children singing Christmas carols in their own language and in English. The time was 3.20 am. I got out of bed dazed but delighting in a very different start to a Christmas day. I sat on our bamboo step and looked out into the dark and said ‘you guys are crazy! You think us Gallaweh (white people) do crazy things….you Karen do crazy things also”! They understood enough English that as they left they were laughing. I yelled ‘Dablu’ (thankyou) and went back to bed….as the roosters around the village began their singing!

We wish you all a deeply meaningful Christmas.

Jack and Jill of all trades!

Yesterday was a great day. We were busy and challenged and tired and satisfied at the end of it. Colin was left at Bamboo School while I (Ruth) travelled the hour and a half to the city of Kanchanaburi. I was dropping off a patient at the specialist hospital and picking up a medical student - who was a past student at BS (Bamboo School) and was coming home for a week. We also needed to find a guitar to buy for the chaplin (Billay) and finding that in an Asian city (with Thai writing on the signs) proved a challenge. Billay is Karen and so doesn't know Thai and cannot walk (from Polio as a child). We accomplished it all and I enjoyed a great day with Zacho and some of the team from BS.

I got home and Colin had taught our children their schooling for the day. He had also put empty rice bags on the roof of our boys room so the dust/dirt from above would stop falling through. You can't stand up in their little room...even the boys are too tall - but they love it. They have mats on the floor, mosquito nets hanging from the roof and their clothes in a box. They are happy. Colin also fixed up a light switch that had a bamboo stick as the switch and exposed wires previously and fixed up the head wound of a two year old boy that had come up from the village.

We laughed together thinking of the various roles we had palyed throughout the day....Taxi driver, ambulance driver, electrician, carpenter, teacher and doctor.

To end the day we had two older boys come to us asking if they could go to a hut in a nearby village to visit with their father who had just (illegally) crossed the boarder from Burma. We relied on wisdom that we trust God is giving to us and said ok! So ...at sundown we put the two boys in the back of the dual cab...got their Bamboo School ID cards (they don't have Thai ID) and took our passports and drove them past the Dochidore (border police) and took them to the village. We were not stopped and thanked by the boys and will pick them us again tomorrow at 4pm. We drove back home and waved at the police....and laughed a little nervously to ourselves! So to top of the day....we played the role of 'people smuggling' also!

Thank you so much for your prayers! We struggle still with Zach's skin...his eschma is really bad again and is being exposed to bugs and easily gets infected. It is very very cold here at night and very dry. We rely on your prayers.....

All is well and we are peaceful.

We hope to speak to some of you on Christmas day.....whenever that is!!!!! It is very bazaar to be this close to Chrisy and not know what day it is!

We Miss YOU!

It has been a while since our last blog-we have not been able to get into Sai Yok…(a little town about 20 minutes away) to get internet. There have been times when we have got into the Sai Yok only to find that the internet café owner was closing for the day (at 2pm) or the internet was down. OH WELL! I am writing this blog in the room where we teach English to about 34 children and where our children are currently doing their schooling. I will then cut and paste it into our blog – hopefully tomorrow!

The political scene over the last couple of weeks has meant that we have had to increase ‘security’ at the school. We are not sure if there is increased tension at the Burma/Thai boarder (only a couple of kilometers away) or if there is another reason but for the last couple of weeks the Thai government has sent many extra police (boarder police) to this boarder. The other night Colin saw flashes of light from over the hill (possibly mortar fire). For the last week we have had police standing at the corner (of the road that enters our school) day and night. We were warned to expect raids on the school at any time of the day or night. We have not had any trouble but have had to make sure that everyone on campus has Thai ID cards and that no visitors (without Thai ID cards) are on campus after sundown. One Karen man (from a neighboring village) who has an ID card rode his motorbike home from church with a passenger (a friend who did not have a ID card). They were stopped by the police and the driver immediately put in prison for helping someone without an ID card. The man put in prison is the father of one of the children that live and learn at Bamboo School. We went out singing to the surrounding villages the other night, in the Karen, Thai and English languages. We went to the man’s village and with his son gave the family food and some treats. The son (Chargegerh) came and hugged one of the other leaders and said ‘Thank you for helping my mum’. One the way home, with 25 of us crowded into the back of the ute we stopped at the Dochidore (boarder police) and sang English songs. They stood and listened with smiles and then clapped at the end. We gave them Kanoum (Lollies) and went on our way with the police a little more on our side. It was surreal. Colin and I imagined later what reaction we would get from Australian police if we pulled up alongside their road block with 25 children and adults in the back of a ute and began singing to them! We doubted the reaction would be clapping and smiles!

Another day this week we had a medical clinic (with a team of doctors from Hong Kong) for the surrounding village people to bring themselves and/or children to. We had a room for the initial consultation and then the patients would move to another room to see the doctor. We set up our children with their schoolwork in the ‘initial consultation’ room and Colin and I weighed people, counted and labeled bags with medicine and help take blood sugar levels. The children’s schooling soon fell by the way side as they were needed to wash the thermometer after use or count tablets or label bags. I figured, at least they were learning to count, nurse and spell ‘paracetamol’!

We received letters this week from family and Lifegate…it was such a treat. Colin had gone into Sai Yok and brought the mail into our school room….it was such an amazing gift to have words of affirmation and promises of prayer and words that sparked laughter…and PHOTOS! Thank you so very much.

We wake every morning to roosters and cow bells and often see a pig walking past our hut. It is now commonplace to bath with the pig down river....and commonplace to always hear the Bamboo School children singing and playing the guitar.

Please be praying for us over the next month. The principal is away and Col and I have leadership. Last night 4 children were missing and away 'possibly' stealing from a nearby hut. We had to wake at 5am to walk them through punishment....I think it was more of a punishment for Colin and I!!!! We are finding this task a little daunting and would appreciate your prayers.

Tomorrow we are taking a patient to hospital (about an hour away) in the city of Kanchanaburi. We will go as a family and plan to visit the icecream shop – Swensens. The children are looking forward to this trip and this morning Zach wrote on the blackboard ‘Today is Wednesday and tomorrow is a trip to SWENSENABURI!’

We are now on our way home to the school. Today we were stopped by boarder police - checking to see it we had any Karen people with us without papers. It was just us...and so all was well.

We think of you all often and pray for you often. We are so thankful for family and friends like you all.

Love
Harrisons.

Bamboo School

We are overloaded somewhat by the enormous pain and oppression experienced by the children here. Each child has a story of neglect, rejection, abuse or escape. We are better understanding the school and its role and I want to share some of that with you. The school has two arms to it. First there is the orphanage that has about 60 children living on campus. Some of these children have been abandoned by parents, some have never known their parents and others have loving parents who are not able to afford to have them live at home. Alongside the orphanage is the school. Each night we have devotions and then schooling from about 6.30pm-8pm. One week they learn Thai (to better equip them to go to school here and to get jobs later on) and the following week they learn English (for similar reasons). We teach for the English week. Many children in the surrounding village come to the evening classes. Every student at the local primary school (approx 200) have first been to bamboo School to learn enough Thai to assist learning. The village is helped also by Bamboo school. Gifts and donations of clothing go to them often. The village consists of about 480 homes with 11 (average) people living in each home. When teams come to the school they will put in a well or a few hawg narms (toilets) to lessen disease and poverty. We are currently beginning to build relationship with a village about an hour away to begin serving them also. We will go in the next few days and take them clothing and ask if they would like a visiting medical team to come to their village and we will speak to them of the possibility of us building a well and toilets. As we do this we are able to establish credibility with them - to then share about a God who loves them and sent his son Jesus, for their peace and life. These people loose many of their babies and others to disease. Please be praying for us as we begin relationship with this new village.

The police came to the school the other night...asking why there were other foriengers (Colin and I) drivng around and asked if we had visas and work permits. We do, so all was well. There is a constant threat of being stopped at the check points and the ute then searched for Karen people who have escaped over the Burma boarder. Many of our children have and so there is constant prayer as we travel on the road. Three little (as in 6 ot 7 years old) left the school without permission the other day. They wandered in the jungle trying to visit their parents. They returned unharmed (until they were smacked by Momo Cat) and warned not to do that again. There is trouble currently at the boarder only a kilometer to our west. They girls were warned they could have been picked up by police and then the future is very unsure.

The children (our 4) have started schooling. It is a bit sparodic...but it is happening. Eating rice and vegetables is hard at 6.30 in the morning...as is the getting out of bed. OUr children were not eating much rice for breakfast and then finding it hard to concentrate on schooling. I bought porrige yesterday and so this morning the Harrison family had a secret porridge meal in our hut (we ahve an electric kettle also) before heading up to breakfast. Concentration was more visible today! We go into a bigger centre fairly often and will get specials (junk food) every now and then. We have to constantly treat scratches and cuts...as tropical bugs can lead to serious infection. Normally you begin a treatment of atibiotics immediately. Jordan has a cut presently...but we are keeping any infection at bay.

We bought a few DVDs in our travels (they cost $.80) and these have become a treat when schooling is finished. Our four children gather around the laptop and watch a movie.....ahhhh heavenly.

Thank you for emails and phone messages...they become such precious gifts to us. Our mailing address can be used...so if you have a moment to write letters to us or the four children we would really appreciate news and contact from home.
PO BOX 2
Amphur Sai Yok
Kanchanaburi 71150
Thailand.

If Lifegate or Mimos or individual families could put together a bunch of photos and letters telling the children at Bamboo School that you pray for them and that you love and follow Jesus also (even if it is a long way away) and send it to them....it would be a treat for them also and great for their faith.

Thanks to you all. We love and miss you. (Missing you all quite a bit this week actually)
Ruth - for us all. As I write Colin is at the wood shop getting Coconut wood to help build new guest houses and rooms for children coming into the orphanage. The children (our four) are with one of the Thai leaders at the market shopping for more rice and vegetables....walking by the exposed meat, toads, turtles, eels and cockroaches....hmmm we are glad we only eat rice and vegetables! Let me quickly finish with a story of a village lady who came to the clinic before we arrived. Oh....I forgot to tell you that there is also medical clinic attached to the school for anyone who needs anything from a bandaid to quick surgery to infant formular. This lady brought with her a tape worm that she had apparently spent an hour 'pooing out'. She had been given medicine to get rid of it earlier. This lady was convinced of the need for good hygiene when she saw a four metre tape worm...the reason behind her stomach cramping. For this reason we don't eat pork from around here either!!!!!

Tuk Tuks and Birdies

This is a Tuk Tuk...they are used as taxis in Thailand. Having arrived on bus (we had travelled through the night) into a somewhat remote Northern town in Thailand we were greeted (as you always are) by a Tuk Tuk driver offering to drive us to our destination. It was 4am in the morning, we were tired and cold and eager to get to our guest house. A little apprehensive that we would all fit in a Tuk Tuk, we determined a price with him and we began loading the six backpacks and the six of us into the back. The children were loaded on first and then the bags and then Colin. At this point in the 'loading' process the Tuk Tuk began to tip!!!! I was yet to get on. The front wheel was literally off the ground. I was to even out the drivers weight...a little Thai man!!!!! Colin and I were not at all sure of this driving arrangment but were protesting through uncontrollable laughter. (We were tired remember). The man was confident and off we went....certain that at any moment we would tip....!

This morning at breakfast (at a little side stall) we were approached by a lady selling caged birds. These tiny little birds were trapped in little baskets and could be bought and let free for good luck. We bought some...not for good luck but for a quick family devotion. We happened to buy a basket with four birds and Colin and I talked about the birds being like our four children. We talked about why God had created the birds...and concluded that birds were made to fly and to have freedom. We talked about why God made us....to have life and freedom and that when we love God and keep his commandments ....we experience real freedom. We then talked about Jesus' words that he had come that we might have life and have it abundantly. The children went out to the street contemplating how they would follow God in their lives - aware of his love and reason for creating them and sure that they never wanted to be like the birds in the cage - and let the birds go. It was moving and will be remembered.