Posted on: Thursday, March 15, 2001
Thailand minority shows how to stretch resources
By Alice Keesing
Advertiser Education Writer
This isolated village in northern Thailand looks like a frame from the Discovery channel. Westernization takes the form of a dusty black Isuzu pickup truck outside the chief's house.
But education is a one-room schoolhouse that defies Western notions of a solid structure. The wind (and probably the rain when it comes) blows freely through the floor and walls, which are mats of split bamboo laid over an outer stilt-like frame.
Photo courtesy Alice Keesing
The 26 schoolchildren and their teacher, "Toon," could not even fathom a $600 million backlog in repairs and maintenance. They have no computers and only a limp pile of worn textbooks. Their
air conditioning is what blows through the walls and floor. There is no playground equipment.
The people are Black Lahu, an ethnic minority that originated in Tibet and immigrated to Thailand through China. An hour's drive from the nearest town of Mae Hong Son in the northwest of Thailand near the Burmese border, these villagers still eke out a subsistence living of hunting and agriculture, alongside the sale of silver trinkets and traditional costumes to tourists.
No, they do not have millions of dollars for education. But the children appear to feel no lack as they play barefoot soccer on a square of dust with goalposts made of sticks. They decorate their classroom walls with colorful (albeit slightly weathered) artwork such as you see in any Hawai'i class. They're shy but proud to show off their classroom. They're quick to learn how to give a high-five and they're as curious as anything. They were particularly interested when we dropped our spare change in the donation box outside the school building. A pair of young boys peered into the slot of the donation box, poking their fingers in the hole — perhaps trying to guess how much we'd left. With money scarce in the village, their teacher said the donation box is their only hope for a new school building.
I wish I'd left more.
Let Alice Keesing know what's going on at your school. You can reach her by phone, 525-8014, or e-mail akeesing@honoluluadvertiser.com.
As I stood on the crackling floor and looked around, I couldn't help but think of Hawai'i's schools — they seemed worlds away from that simple classroom. There's no mistaking the needs of Hawai'i's schools, but the Lahu village school puts the definition of need on an entirely different level.
Staff writer Alice Keesing sits among schoolchildren and their teacher in northern Thailand. The school relies heavily on donations.
