As you might have gathered from my previous posts, these two years are about the things you learn, the challenges you go through, and the ways in which you grow from them. However, there’s another element that is just as important and even facilitates these things: that is, the things we do on a day-to-day basis.
Crucial to the work we do is learning the local language. We have an amazing Thai teacher named Kru Jum whom we study with tutor-style two hours a day, five days a week. For the first few months we studied in Anglicized Thai, Thai written in English letters so we could acquire a basic level of skill in speaking, which was most vital in those first few months. After the New Year we began to study the written language, learning how to read and write in actual Thai. Language learning has been a slow but steady process, frustrating and joyful and everything in between. In the past couple of weeks I’ve broken through two major walls: one, being able to understand my neighbors through their thick Thai accent, and two, being able to write things I know how to say with little to no mistakes on the first try.
Regarding programs, there weren’t any we were a part of, at least initially. The Youth Leadership Development (later referred to as “Y.L.D.”) program was on a break and our team wanted us to focus on adjusting, helped by a calmer and freer schedule. This gave us plenty of time to get to know our neighbors, despite the little Thai we knew, and our community – Suwan Prasit – better. [Most of the staff live in another community, Sammaki Pattana, whereas one staff member and us three interns live in Suwan Prasit.]
Since December, with the return of two of our staff, the Y.L.D. program has resumed. That same month we had an HIV/AIDS awareness seminar. In January we had a career day where various people from different sectors shared about their respective vocations so the youth would have a better idea of the options they had available to them after high school. Last month we had a Valentine’s Day event, which included card making, playing games, and teaching them a healthier perspective on love they might not have heard otherwise.
Our long-term goal is to have youth from Suwan Prasit involved in the Y.L.D. program, but we haven’t been able to make those connections yet since the site launched with our (interns’) arrival. Thus, the current youth involved are youth from other communities my organization has worked in, past and present, including Sammaki Pattana.
This month looks a little different from the previous ones. Although we have another Y.L.D. event a little over a week from now – this one to celebrate the end of the Y.L.D. year – our focus is turning more towards our own community, Suwan Prasit. Not too long ago one of our neighbors approached us and informed us that many parents in the community were interested in having their kids learn English. After many conversations with various community members, much planning, and a whole lot of prayer, we are running a three-week English program in our community near the end of March into early April. Members of our church are going to help us run it; the program will be for youth, ranging from 8 to 12 years old. All this being said, we are equally excited and terrified. Not only are our language capabilities and cultural knowledge still limited; none of us have ever done something like this before. This initial program is a trial run and we know we will learn a lot through the process, helping us run better programs in the future if our community still desires them. Still, all of this is a slow process that requires much patience and intentionality. We have learned a lot already and look forward to the ways in which we will grow from this experience.
Community organizing – the crux of the work my organization seeks to do – is unlike anything I’ve ever done before. Its roots are in those it is trying to serve; after all, they know what they need best and we believe they have resources of their own that can be mobilized to meet those needs. As the outsiders, we’re here simply to facilitate the process. Of course, we wish that each of our neighbors would come to know the love of God on a deep and personal level. As we get to know them and implement various programs, we hope that God’s love would shine through both our words and our actions. However, at the end of the day, it’s all in His hands: our programs, our relationships, and our communities. We trust in His sovereignty and find our rest in Him as we seek to do the work He has called us to do.