Going the Extra Mile – Thailand Hilltribe Education Projects (THEP), Part 3

Karen Girls in the Truck Bed, Ban Mae Pae School, Mae Hong Son Thailand

Karen Girls in a Truck Bed
Getting from A to B in the hills of Northern Thailand takes all kinds of transport; as I watch the girls behind me in the bed of the truck I’m in, I can’t help but think about safety laws in other countries, and worry about the probability of rain.

It was a Sunday. And the sky was full of rain.

In spite of that, hill tribe children were at school, scrubbed and dressed in their traditional clothing, ready with smiles to greet our group of visitors.

It always amazes me how cheerfully Thai students – especially those from farming hill tribe families in the remote northern regions – go the extra mile to continue their educations: they often have to live in school dormitories for much of the year because the roads to and from their homes are long, rough, and completely impassible in the rains; they fill in countless forms and spend hours waiting for or participating in interviews if they want to receive a small stipend to help cover study expenses; and they participate in these visits with project-funders and scholarship-providers with good spirits.

Earlier this year, I was lucky enough to spend four days travelling around Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son visiting schools and students with a small group of educators who manage the Thailand Hilltribe Education Projects (THEP). THEP helps northern hill tribe children stay in school (see: Ursula’s Weekly Wanders: THEP). Local educators Apichart and Usa Intra are good at identifying project needs: a new dormitory here, new bunkbeds there, mosquito nets, garden projects, canteens – all the small and big things that make live-in schools manageable, but that the Thai Department of Education doesn’t pay for. For over 25 years, one of THEP’s originators, Susan Race, has managed to find funding – corporate, agency, or private – for these many projects, and has helped supervise their completion. THEP organisers receive no pay for their time and effort; community members don’t get money for their labour when they help construct project buildings; and teachers receive no extra pay when they stay at the schools to keep an eye on students in dormitories or travel with students to weekend interviews.

It is the enthusiasm of the students themselves that keeps teachers, principals, and village representatives putting in this extra time and effort.

We covered a lot of miles on this trip – many of them on rutted dirt roads that seem to wind up into the rain clouds – and we visited a lot of schools and talked to a lot of students.

On the first day of our travels, we visited a number of projects and met several students (see: The Faces of THEP). The second day was spent at the Department of Education Office in Mae Sariang interviewing scholarship students. On the third day, we drove high into the mountains to look at a new school dormitory (see: Roads Less Travelled), and then to an old canteen and dormitories in need of repairs and sprucing up. On the last day, Sunday, we examined a water project in need of a pump, and stopped en route back to our flights out of Chiang Mai to meet three more students.

Everywhere we went – in spite of the extra work, the waiting, and the rainy weather – we were met with smiles.

Fluorescent-lit Department of Education Office with students waiting at tables, Mae Sariang Thailand

“Hurry up and Wait!”
Twice a year, students who receive study scholarships are expected to submit their marks and a letter outlining their financial circumstances. Susan Race and Khru Apichart Inta conduct regular student interviews at schools and Department of Education Offices.
On Friday morning, this group of students was expected to be at the Education Office by 8 am. They travelled long distances down wet and winding roads – many in the back utility trucks or crammed onto small motorcycles – to get here. We all then waited for the local Director to arrive, so he could make a speech and have a photo taken with the students.

Karen schoolgirl in a Department of Education Office with students waiting at tables, Mae Sariang Thailand

Teen-Aged Ornwara
After travelling down from the Hills with a teacher, the students spend much of the day waiting for their turn to be interviewed. Ornwara, from a Karen family, is now in Middle School; …

Seven-Year-Old Ornwara
… I’ve been watching her progress since she first started Grade One in 2011.

At six pm, when the lights in the Education Office went out (automatically), we – and a few pockets of students – were still there. No one can say the poor students (and their teachers) don’t work hard for the small study grants they receive!

Boys Doing Dishes
Saturday, after a morning at at Ban Huay Mae Gok School where we looked at new dormitories, we drove to Ban Tha Song Kwae School to check out the leaking roof over the canteen. The youngsters had just finished lunch, …

Boys Doing Dishes
… and were doing the dishes in the kitchen.

Students outside their Dormitory
Some schools have large dormitory populations. These children are all Karen – distinguishable by their traditional hand-woven clothing.

Visiting Phra
Many organisations – local and international – help the still-disadvantaged Hill Tribe groups. This monk was part of a group of visitors from further south in Thailand; they had brought lots of warm clothing for donation, and plenty of fresh, seasonal fruit to give away.

Karen School Kids
It was early the next (Sunday) morning that we drove out to Ban Mae Pae Village School. The resident children came out to greet us in their colourful traditional clothing.

Karen School Girls
In this Karen subgroup, the girls’ hand-made white cotton tunics are intricately interwoven with patterns in colourful wools.

Two Karen Girls

Kids in the Truck
This school has no piped water, and the tank runs dry in summer; we all piled into trucks to have a look at a local water project that wants funding.

Water Project
With the pump turned on …

Girl with a Hose
… the water runs for a while.

Water Project Group
One of the men involved with the project poses with a group of Karen girls.

In the Back of the Truck
This time of year, there is no shortage of water, and as we head back to lunch, the skies open up!

Kitchen
The kitchen is simple – dare I say “rustic” – but the meal we were fed was wonderful!

Khru Apichart and Khru Usa
Apichart, who is now a principal in Chiang Mai, and his wife Usa, who has finished her Masters of Education in Second Language Learning, have been going “the extra mile” for their students for a lot of years; …

Khru Apichart and Khru Usa
… as I said when I originally posted this picture from 2011 (see: Schools at the End of the Road), they both work full time at their respective schools. Although they have growing children themselves, they give up many weekends and spend a lot of “after hours” liaising with and advocating for the students and schools in their area.

The Hills
With inspections finished and lunch enjoyed, we wend our way back down the mountain. There is a bucolic beauty in the hills that belies the back-breaking work that goes into planting crops on such steep slopes.

Crown of Thorns – Euphorbia Milii

Girl on a Motorcycle
It may only be 20 km back to pavement, but it feels further!

Riding the Local Song Taew
It is not everywhere that you see a motorcycle on the back of a bus.

Interviews in Hod
We made one last stop, halfway back to the airport, to visit with scholarship students who had been unable to get to Mae Sariang.