Outdoor Volunteers Blog

Within ten minutes of my outside work experience I was put into a group that was sent to collect rocks to help support the retaining wall we were in the process of building. We all hopped into the back of a pickup truck and we were off through the back roads of Northern Thailand to collect rocks from the riverbed. The local landscape is breathtaking. After passing through multiple local villages we found our source of rocks and we all jumped out and began gathering the rocks into the back of the truck. After about a half hour of climbing through the river we had collected enough rocks and we headed back to the foundation to continue to build the retaining wall. It was such a unique experience and I am sure not many people can say they went rock collecting in rural Thailand with two Canadians, one Malaysian, an Aussie, and a Brit!

The rest of my time here has been spent helping better protect the road from soil erosion that occurs during the wet season. This includes mixing concrete from scratch, hauling soil, and tying rebar frames. While the work can be hard at times, it’s so rewarding to see your progress and know that your labor went into making a physical difference.

My experience at The Mirror Foundation has been extremely rewarding and eye opening. The people are so passionate and make everyone feel so included and welcomed. It’s amazing how close you become with the other volunteers in such a short period of time. Everyone is like-minded and ready for an amazing experience.

While the volunteering experience takes up the majority of your time at Mirror, there are plenty of activities and events that are organized by the staff that make your time here all the more enjoyable. This week alone there has been a group campfire, Thai language lessons, yoga classes, and trips to the night market. Trust me, you wont be bored!

The outdoor team and I arrived at Sangeler Tuesday midday after a short trip from mirror. The Akha village was picturesque built on a hillside overlooked by the community church. We split into pairs and stayed with an Akha family, who were very welcoming. The English was very limited and communication consisted of hand-signals and smiles. Living so close to a family with a vastly different culture was interesting, and at times a bit awkward but that was mainly as a result of the language barrier.

Meals were eaten all together at the chiefs house on top of the hill, the food was very nice and much more varied than mirror. Work started at eight in the morning. The project was to make new water tanks for the community, this involved cement making, a process we are now very familiar with. Work was tiring but fortunately Thai breaks come frequently. We also had to level out a large area of dirt using hoes, the process seemed laborious in contrast with western methods but the team were always good spirited. It impressed me how hard the Akha women work.

The nights were comfortable but not quiet as a result of living with chickens, however this did not hinder my sleep because the days were tiring. The Thai family we stayed with were hospitable and made sure we were comfortable. It was intriguing to watch Thai soap opera, the standard being somewhat lower than its English counterpart.

Overall the homestay was enjoyable and certainly a valuable cultural experience.

-Will Outdoor volunteer

It's certainly no secret that Thai food is delicious, and the numerous Thai restaurants worldwide have led to a widespread appreciation of the unique flavors and spices. So, many volunteers may have high expectations, and fortunately, the food here in Northern Thailand definitely doesn't disappoint. While exploring the markets and restaurants around Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai on our weekends off from Mirror I've enjoyed trying many different dishes. Two of my favorite northern specialties have become som tum (papaya salad) and khao soi (spicy curry noodle soup).

However, while the food in and around Chiang Rai is extremely tasty, one of the best parts of eating here is the overall cultural experience that often goes along with a meal. Food is served at all hours of the day from small street carts that line the roads or markets, and all are frequented by Thais. You can get everything from spicy curries to fresh fruit to grilled meats for a few Baht by simply walking down the street and eyeing the fresh offerings of the day. My favorite meal experiences have been had while exploring the markets and finding tempting new foods to try. The options at the evening "walking markets" are widespread and often adventurous. The delicious fresh fruit shakes alone are worth the trip, but you can also venture further from western culinary trends and try various jelly pastries, noodle dish combinations, or fried insects! Come with an adventurous appetite and open mind and you will not be disappointed.

-Shelley

The outdoor team spent the day continuing to make the wall designed to protect the road from the rising river levels during the rainy season.

The morning consisted of adding mud to the road side of the wall to fill in the gap between the river bank and the new construction - tiring but rewarding work.

The afternoon was spent adding another 2 meter section of wall, using the same concrete-making process as the previous days. This was the last length of the wall to fill in, the next stage will be to build on top to heighten the protection. P'Akong (the Thai outdoor coordinator) allowed us an early finish due to the heat, and all the hard work we had put in over the week.

Dan, outdoor volunteer.

The outdoor crew spent the day continuing the wall to prevent the road from flooding during the wet season. Each day we make concrete from scratch and add about 2 meters to the total length of the wall. At night we normally help the indoor crew with their lesson plans for the next day... or just hang out with the indoor crew while they do all the work.

But after our outdoor work today, Andy, Danielle, Wendy, and I went to the Akha village to stay with Akong (one of our Thai leaders). He put us up in his home for the night, and fed us the best food we've had since we've been in Thailand. He was exceedingly kind to the point where we felt we could not express our gratitude well enough.

The homestay, just one night, consisted of visiting a local waterfall (wicked cold), having dinner with Akong's family, seeing Mirror's projects in Akha village, and attending a New Year party at a neighboring village. At the New Year party we danced, ate, and drank with the village leader's family (he and Akong were friends), and were blessed for good luck by the village leader.

It was an active, fun, and rewarding day made even better by the people I was able to share it with.

- Joey
Outdoor Volunteer

For Becca, Karah and I, this was the final day of our outdoor work. We continued our work on the road reinforcement and spent the day mixing cement to pour in the wire support we made earlier. We have made many batches of cement during our volunteer period and we have found that carrying and mixing buckets of sand, rocks, cement and water has become easier of the past few weeks. Luckily, Devon will be around next week to teach the new volunteers the cement making process we have learned.

Tomorrow, the outdoor volunteers will be looking after the children that come to Mirror. At the end of the day, we were all sad to leave the 'trench.' It was definitely a cool experience to see the road support go up over the past three weeks.

-Adara
Outdoor Volunteer

This past week has been an amazing experience. The new volunteers spent three out of our four nights of our home stay at the New Life Foundation addictions facility. We met the residents and mentors at New Life and got a little bit of an inside look at how the foundation runs.

Most of our work was focused on building two pig pens on site. We were told that New Life strives to be self sustaining and the construction of the pig pen was one of the many plans set out for New Life.

Aside from outdoor construction work, the indoor volunteers got a chance to teach English to the residents at New Life. We also got a chance to participate in the yoga and meditation practices offered to the residents. It was a wonderful experience to practice yoga as the sun rose.

Our last night was spent in the Lahu hill tribe village. It was so interesting to see and experience how the hill tribe people live. It was eye opening to see more of the hill tribe culture, squatter toilets and all :)

We returned to Mirror this morning and the outdoor volunteers organized an origami activity for the children. The time went by so fast and we are already leaving for our weekend in Chiang Mai.

All in all, this week has been an amazing experience!

-Adara
Outdoor Volunteer

With both the holidays and Children's Day behind us, the outdoor program is once again moving forward at full steam. Today marks the fourth day of work on reinforcing the main road into the Mirror Foundation site.

Much like days two and three, today consisted mostly of constructing the rebar frame that will form the spine of our reinforced concrete wall, and pouring the first level of concrete. Today's work proved to be as muddy and messy as the previous two. Shin deep mud has been a staple concern (or amusement, depending on your predisposition) since the beginning of the project. Nonetheless, our teamwork continues to become more streamlined. In particular, our "production lines" for aggregating the supplies to mix concrete continue to become more efficient, especially now that the new volunteers are as adept at the subtle nuances of passing buckets as their predecessors. At this point, most volunteers have had a chance to try their hand at the three constituent tasks involved in building the wall: mixing concrete, building the rebar skeleton, and moving supplies. First attempts and hesitance to try tasks have quickly given way to initiative and completed objectives. Like the reinforcing rebar skeleton, our new, if basic, skill-sets have taken shape in admirable form over the past few days. Though many, if not most, of the current outdoor volunteers won't be around to see the completion of the wall, seeing piles of metal, sand and rock coalesce into something mildly resembling the finished product has been incredibly rewarding. With today's completion of the first level of concrete, we'll all be able to move forward with the satisfaction of knowing that our efforts have, literally, formed the foundation for the rest of this project.

Alex Miller
Outdoor volunteer: 3rd-22nd January 2011