The Farm

Yesterday (Monday) was a long and busy day. We started with an hour and a half van drive up the mountain to the city of Wiang Pa Pao to visit the Asia's Hope farm. Dramamine is definitely a must for those who get car sick as the road twists and turns. But the mountains are absolutely beautiful, and it is so peaceful there.

(I'm trying hard to get a good shot of the mountains...but it's often hazy. I'll keep working on it!)

(Dave forgot to get gas before we left, so we were running on fumes until we got to this Shell station by the side of the road. There are gas stations like in the US, but I thought you might enjoy this one:)

The farm is a 22-acre parcel of land up north that Asia's Hope recently acquired. Right now, there are two Hill Tribe couples living there (Tutu's parents are one couple) and also two widows. The goal is for it to become a place where young widows can live and be cared for while they learn skills that will help them to support themselves. As with orphans, widows in the Hill Tribes often have no one to help them, and they have no skills in order to provide for themselves.

Here, the widows are helping to farm the land. So far, they have planted mountain rice (grows dry instead of in the wet rice paddies), corn, fruit trees, kidney beans, squash...and much more. The food is harvested to feed the women as well as brought to the orphanages to feed the kids. They have also planted trees to attract the silkworm moths so that they can eventually harvest silkworms to make silk. So, the land is serving more than one purpose.

(A view of the farm from the upstairs window.)

(Bean plants)

(Mountain rice)

The widows are also learning how to sew and make other crafts. They already do beautiful weavings and can make purses, clothing, and other products. A goal is to help them learn how to market their products and have a place to sell them.

(The sewing machines just became operational on this day.)

Just recently, they have installed a Biogas mechanism. It will be used to provide hot water and gas for cooking. Biogas comes from the byproducts of pigs. The manure and other waste is mixed with rice husks (and not sure what else) but the process produces a natural methane gas that will heat water. Hence bio-gas. I guess it's not supposed to smell. But the pigs do have a natural odor:) Again though, they are trying to use natural elements to make the land produce all that it can for the kids and the women.

(These are the tubes that will run the hot water. The husks and bio-material will be mixed in a compost pile above it to produce the gas to heat the tubes.)

Eventually, the goal is to put an orphanage on this property as well. It's in the heart of Hill Tribe villages, which will make it easy to bring the children. This will also give the women another purpose. The kids need someone to love them, and then the widows will have family as well.

The house that sits on the property was given free with the land. It was an absolute pit at first...with holes in the roof and walls, broken railings, and more. The couples that are there have already made it so much better. This summer we painted inside and out, and they have fixed the floors and are installing bathroom facilities. This time, I helped paint a couple of doors that were recently hung. It's becoming more and more like a home.

(It's a beautiful house...now.)

(Proof that I actually did some work:)

The nurses that came with this team helped to put on a medical clinic. People from the surrounding villages came for free medical care. It's always rewarding to be able to help people who would not otherwise be able to see a doctor or get medicine.


This was just the nuts and bolts of the day...I am going to blog later about what happened next. Stay tuned...