ยุง

ยุง (pronounced as yung)....That's what the Thai know it as..To us, it is the dreaded MOSQUITO! There are literally millions and millions of them at Mercy International in Phetchabun. We have been bitten many many times over (to the point that we hope that we will get lifelong immunity soon). We spend a lot of time killing them and an equal amount of time trying to prevent getting bitten. We even bought an insect repellant with the strongest possible DEET concentration and use several large cans of insecticide, but to no avail. These things are everywhere. We might end up killing ourselves first with the amount of DEET and insecticide we are using. The only success that we have against them is to close all our room windows, spray our room with insecticide, hide in our room after about 10-15 mins (enough time to kill every living thing in the room) and to never open the door again...We only do this during bedtime to ensure that we are not bitten alive and sucked dry at night. And we do have quite good sleeps. Now, it is not necessary a success against the mosquitoes, more like retreating to a safe zone (there are only the two of us against the millions of them - you do the math...) In the day and evening times, it is every man/woman/mosquito for himself/herself/itself. There is a saying in Thailand - ยุงร้ายกว่าเสือ, which translates to "The mosquito is more dangerous than the tiger"...

phetchabun

 

 

 

Now this is more like a town! Went to Phetchabun town today. Much bigger and more of a happening town than Lomsak. They have a lot more goods and services. They even have Tesco (a big British supermarket chain), Swensen's Ice Cream, KFC and Video Ezy!!! Visited the local market and Linda bought some green mangoes (she loves them!). We also went to Tesco to get some essentials (SUCH AS PEANUT BUTTER!)...Ummm....Can't wait for my peanut butter sandwich tomorrow morning!

lomsak

 

This is Lomsak town. The closet town to us even though Mercy International is in the outskirts of Petchabun. Not a big place but still bigger than Payak "town"! Had a quick walk around. Oh, and this was where I bought the bicycle spares...

all done!

 

The bikes are done!!! Had to adjust/replace the brakes, change the tubes, straighten some bits (with a hammer), etc..All washed and oiled! Don't them look clean? On to new tasks next week! Don't know what they are yet...I suppose I will find out on Monday.

the canteen lady

 

 

 

 

Linda is helping out at the school canteen daily. She has been helping to pack food and manning the stalls during lunch/recess time. The canteen sells snacks, drinks, fruits, som tam, soup noodles and ice-cream. The little ones (in kindergarden) still do not have any concept of money. They will empty their pockets to you and you have to check how much they have and if it's enough for what they want. They usually come with 1-10 Baht for allowance. If they don't have enough for an item, we usually redirect them to something else that they can afford.

bicycles again?!!?

 

 

Bicycles again?!!? That's what Linda would say...I can't seem to get too far without having something to do with bicycles (BTW, I miss my bicycle). Mercy International has a whole stack of bicycles that have been neglected. They are in different stages of disrepair and haven't been used in a very long time. So, this week's task for me is to get all the bicycles going and clean them up so that the staff and children can use them. Went into town to get some spares (such as tubes and brake pads). Good thing I know a little bit about riding/maintaining/repairing bicycles!

some of the mercy international kids

  

our accommodation

 

 

 

This is our accommodation for the next 4-6 weeks at Mercy International. Pretty neat, huh? We have a room to ourselves with two fans and AIR-CONDITIONING!!!!! Couldn't believe that our room would have air-conditioning when we arrived. Even though there is air-conditioning, we only use it for about 1-2 hours to cool the room down before bedtime. Help to save electricity for Mercy International. As you can see from the pictures, everything is very neat/tidy and provided for. We have a water cooler/purifier, a stocked pantry (with biscuits, coffee, tea, milo, cereal, cordial, etc), a stocked fridge (with cut fruits everyday, bread, butter, vegemite, etc), hot water on demand, toaster, microwave oven, TV, DVD player, lounge set and book shelf full of books. And we even have wireless internet!!! All this for only 3600 Baht (A$120) a month per person! And this includes three meals a day! Don't think I can get this with A$120 a month in BrisVegas!

arrived at mercy international

 

 

 

 

Arrived at Mercy International after a very long bus ride - 7 hours!!!! It was supposed to take only 5 hours but we must had a very slow driver...Well, the important thing is that we arrived at Mercy International safe and sound. As soon as we arrived, we were taken on a tour of Mercy International by Rob Dunk - founder of Mercy International. Mercy International has a very big compound which houses about 90 children and several carers. Mercy International has also started their own school, which is adjacent to the housing compound. I believe there will be plenty to learn and bring back to Samuel's House. We were right into it on our first day - playing basketball with the children!!!

mercy international

We are off to Mercy International in Petchabun tomorrow (Sunday 22/06/08) to work with children whose parents have died from AIDS. It is about a 5 hour bus ride north of Bangkok. Will be there for about 4-6 weeks. Will keep you updated on our progress. 

family holidays

The Lau family had an expedition to Bangkok! 26 of them!!! Quite chaotic when you have 26 family members traveling together. Every decision takes a lot longer to finalise and it also takes a lot more effort to move the entire troop. However, everyone had heaps of fun! It's weird but my family loves to travel together and they do this regularly. We spent a couple of days with them at Bangkok, shopping and eating. You should see the number of bags they had when they checked out of the hotel. Even the hotel staff were surprised.

friends from korea

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our korean friends, Elly and Hee Seon, visited us last week! They went to SH and spent some time with the children and absolutely love their time over there. They brought lots of gifts for the little ones. All the locals starred at them wherever we went in Phayak but Hee Seon didn't care much and happily snapping away with her camera, attracting more attention. We also took the opportunity to visit the elephant village at Surin and they went on an elephant ride. After their visit at SH, we showed them around Bangkok, went for a thai massage and let them tried some exotic thai food, including the famous durian! Good to catch up with them in Thailand.