A week later.....

First of all, thanks for all the warm greetings and comments. Thoughts from family and friends have been effective pain-killers. So have all the love and the excellent treatment I have received from Tasanee, the kids, my family, friends and colleagues here at the borderline.

Dr. Eric and Nurse Fanny should also be mentioned. They are both french and in addition to coping with the malaria situation on the orphanage, they have done some nurse-training with the kids. My body turned out to be a good learning object! Thanks to them, my wounds are no longer infected, and are gradually disappearing.

My face is also getting better. The nose might retain oblique, but I will keep my front teeth and the pain and swelling will eventually disappear. The twisted ankle and swollen knee are also improving, but still not healed and it will take another two weeks with my broken hand in plaster. Puuuh, I have to admit that I am looking forward to be back in a fully recovered condition!

Until then I bump around and try to make life as normal as possible. I can write and make drawings with one hand, but physical work will have to wait. My colleagues are taking care of that part, and with a great sense of humor, they follow my everyday improvement.

Well, I do understand why people still look a bit strange in my direction.....

But it will never happen to me........

I am used to be quite visible among the Thai and Karen people. My skin is different, my hair is blond, my eyes are blue and I am quite tall compared to them. Normally it is kind of an icebreaker and I have had many nice small-talks because of my different appearance.

That was before I fell of my bike.....

If I consider my experience from yesterday as enough to prevent credible data, I will say that a blond girl with a smashed nose, swollen lips, broken hand, and not to mention big wounds and blood all over is more to recognize as a ghost.

In the hospital in Mae Salit some hours after the accident - and yes, I do understand why they looked at me as they did....

In a situation like this, I also realize how incredible my friends and family are and how much they love me. Koe Taw and Saw Dee were there when it happened, and they took really good care of me. They got me to the hospital and called Tasanee who drove more than two hours to pick us up. She also brought Eric and Fanny, they are french and a doctor and a nurse and after driving more than two hours back again in the dark, they cleaned my wounds and fixed my arm and knee in a position so I could get some sleep.

Today Tasanee fixed a driver with a good car, and Eric went along to the hospital in Mae Sot to help me through all the medic tests. The result: broken left hand, smashed nose, injured front teeth, a painful right knee and serious wounds that has to be cleaned again and again and again.... Luckily the french nurse will stay at the orphanage for some weeks, so I can stay there and she will take care of it together with the kids who are getting trained in first aid. I love to stay with Tasanee and my family and friends in Noh Bo have already promised to come and visit, so I will be in good hands!

Luckily I only hurt myself, and compared to what I see around this is nothing! What is a smashed nose and broken hand compared to loosing your legs to a landmine.....

And the conclusion:

Never use the motorbike breaks in a curve, especially not if it has got a surface of gravel!!

The Karen Language

The Karen people call themselves "The Easy People" - Pa Ge Njaw - and keep on telling me that to speak and understand Karen is easy..... It is an easy language in the sence that they have few words, every word is short, and you make easy and logical combinations of words to make a meaning.

For me as a foreigner, it is however not so easy to divide the different sounds from each other. Reading is also a big challenge....

The language is build around consonant sounds, drawn as a variety of open and closed circles. The vowels are added as circles and lines over and under the consonants, and combined with different tones to define the ending of the vowel.

It does not look or sounds like anything I have ever heard or seen before, but this is the language everyone around me speak, so I do my best to learn it. It is like a secret code that gets more and more visible to me. Je bath ah:)

Delicacy`s ......

I am a big fan of Karen food!

I like the rice, the spices and the big variety of fresh vegetables.

Although, when it comes to their delicacy`s.....

Well, the taste is normally not so bad, it is more the idea of what I am eating that bothers me.

One day, I found the kitchen floor covered with bamboo cut in half. I also found my family, all looking really exiting into the pot on the fire.

I guess I should have known that this was one of "those occasions", but my curiosity got too big, so I joined them around the pot.

And saw more maggots then I have ever seen crawling around.....

I have heard people talk about it earlier, it is supposed to taste sweet and nice. My family ensured me it was delicious, and even the cat seemed to agree.

So, well, I agree, it tasted really good, but I also admit it took me some courage to put the first one in my mouth.

How to make a football field with what you have available.

Karen people have an extreme variety of ways to use bamboo, and they can build whatever it is with bamboo, and bamboo alone. All you need is a good machete…..

Oo Pro/Ole Jørgen has been dreaming of a football field. We have discussed it earlier and seen different examples, but not found a proper way to do it. Now we had bamboo, we could get sand from the river and decided to make a framed football area with what we had available.

Big fun, both during the construction and in use, and a good experience for the less bamboo-skilled among us.

Saw Dee is preparing the bamboo-poles.

Bamboo poles, ready to use.

Done the right way, it does not require anything else then bamboo to make a framed area.

Detail from the fence. No nails, only bamboo and everything made with the help of a machete (and some really clever colleges of mine).

Detail from the joint between two bamboo sticks.

There is fine sand on the riverbanks.

And then it it just to carry......

Time to play! Ga Yaw Ga Yaw vs Oo Pro`s kids!

Getting bamboo

I believe the Karen people have more names for bamboo then the Eskimos have for snow! That both tell there are a big variety in different bamboo sorts, and also that the Karens are extremely dependent on this plant! They use it for food, housing, equipment, you name it!

Bamboo grows extremely fast, it is easy to get and easy to use, but is not a strong material for construction. It normally last for a year or two, dependent on when it’s cut and how it’s used. The end of the rainy season is known to be the best period for getting bamboo for housing and construction, so with each one machete, we went to the jungle……

Bamboo, but these are not straight enough for construction material.

Peter got the job as my teacher, and to chop down a bamboo with a machete looked like the easiest thing!

Well... where Peter spent tree strokes with the machete, I used 38! Guess which one`s my root...

I got a bit better after a while, but struggled in the steep slippery slope we where working in. This is what a "galloa" look like one hour and 4 bamboos after the first one was cut down....

The bamboos where then collected in the bottom of the slope and prepared to move to the car.

It is easier to carry bamboos if they are tied together. Like with everything else, the Karen use what they have and make an easy solution to the challenge. If you cut the bamboo in thin strips, it works fine as a rope. All you need is a sharp machete!

Bamboo tied together with a thin strip of bamboo.

And then, carry it to the car.

Voila! A car full of bamboo, ready for use.

Another great day at work

This summer I gave more than 20 presentations about the Karen people, their struggle and my life and work among them. Today I have given the same presentation to my colleges here. I think they should know what I have told others about them!

I also wanted them to know what I do when I have my “office hours” and showed them everything from this blog to the registering and principles of Ga Yaw Ga Yaw in Norway, the economics, mails and letters.

It was a really nice meeting, and everybody was happy!

They also liked the new t-skirts with the Karen flag on their chest and their names on the back. The only question was why it did not say Ga Yaw Ga Yaw;)

Ga Yaw Ga Yaw:

Back from left: La Dja, Si Da Pah, Koe Taw, Pah Me.

Front from left: Peter, Nee Ga Mwee, Kee Kee Mo, Phillipa, Bwe Tho.