Chad Guthrie - Thailand
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Disaster Management and Gender Equality in Ayutthaya Province, Thailand Chad Guthrie, Benjamin N Duke Class of 2015 Overview • Internship with Raks Thai Foundation, the Thai national branch of CARE International • Worked at the Ayutthaya office, in a province of 700,000 people in the central plains of Thailand • Conducted field analysis of Raks Thai’s flooding recovery programs in three rural communities • Considered how women can be better incorporated into future disaster management and recovery programs Living in Ayutthaya Home • 1 bedroom studio apartment halfway between the city center and the office • No English-speaking neighbors • Commuted to work (and all around town) via bicycle and motorcycle taxi • Air Con and running water but no hot water Office • Townhouse with a downstairs converted to office space • About 18 coworkers in the office • 1 male coworker • 2 English-speaking coworkers Food and Entertainment • Nightly street market with food vendors to purchase dinner • I ate nearly exclusively street food or from small restaurants • The city is the former capital of the Siamese Kingdom and now has hundreds of temples and a royal temple that are open to visit My goal was to evaluate Raks Thai’s and the local governments’ disaster management and recovery programs following the catastrophic 2011 floods. Daily Life • Travel out to regional villages (one village per week) to conduct interviews of 10 – 12 people and collect field data •Compile responses from interviews into useful data End Goals • Provide recommendations to the three local village governments on how they can improve their disaster management and recovery programs. • Learn how women have specific needs during flooding disasters and pass these recommendations on to local political leaders Work at Raks Thai First, I’d like to thank the Benjamin N. Duke Scholarship Program, including Jenny Wood-Crowley, Charlie Thompson, and Sarah Stacke for providing me with the opportunity to embark on this adventure. I would also like to thank P’Sunee Talawat and the entire Raks Thai team for being a supportive, open family throughout my entire stay. Acknowledgements Independence – Learning to navigate unfamiliar territory and arranging accommodation, food, transportation, employment on my own. Language – Because only 2 coworkers spoke Thai and there were no other “farang” (white people) near me, I had to take a crash course in Thai. I ended up becoming functional to interact in only Thai by the end of the summer. Willingness – I decided that I would always say “yes” to invitations, and they led me to great places. I delved into Thai culture more more deeply by being willing to further distance myself from my comfort zone. Thankfulness – My ISOS experience wouldn’t have been possible without the help of many other people. And my in-country experience was so successful because of my fantastic coworkers. I made sure to tell them that. Lessons Learned The relationships I formed with coworkers, local community members, and villagers turned out to be the most rewarding part of the summer. Some examples of people I had the pleasure to meet are below. •P’Noom, my work partner and de facto translator, was my closest friend during the summer. She explained, translated, and accompanied me all day every day. •P’Wanchi, the Tambon President, invited me to go jogging, to have dinner with his family, and to pick his children up from school with him. • Khun Dai, a principle at a school, let us visit several times and invited my team for a rice harvesting lesson. • P’June Chath, an intern from a local University, invited me to spend a Buddhist holiday weekend being a volunteer monk at one of the world’s largest temples. Her family also hosted me for several tradition Thai family dinners. • Khun Pupa, a local fruit seller, befriended me after I visited his cart nearly every night for dinner. •P’Pek, a young coworker, invited me to spent the weekend at the beach with her and her friends. Coworkers and Friends
Transcript of Chad Guthrie - Thailand
Disaster Management and Gender Equality in Ayutthaya Province, Thailand
Chad Guthrie, Benjamin N Duke Class of 2015
Overview • Internship with Raks Thai Foundation, the Thai national
branch of CARE International • Worked at the Ayutthaya office, in a province of 700,000
people in the central plains of Thailand • Conducted field analysis of Raks Thai’s flooding recovery
programs in three rural communities • Considered how women can be better incorporated into future
disaster management and recovery programs
Living in Ayutthaya Home • 1 bedroom studio apartment halfway between the city center
and the office • No English-speaking neighbors • Commuted to work (and all around town) via bicycle and
motorcycle taxi • Air Con and running water but no hot water Office • Townhouse with a downstairs converted to office space • About 18 coworkers in the office
• 1 male coworker • 2 English-speaking coworkers
Food and Entertainment • Nightly street market with food vendors to purchase dinner • I ate nearly exclusively street food or from small restaurants • The city is the former capital of the Siamese Kingdom and
now has hundreds of temples and a royal temple that are open to visit
My goal was to evaluate Raks Thai’s and the local governments’ disaster management and recovery programs following the catastrophic 2011 floods. Daily Life • Travel out to regional villages (one village per week) to conduct interviews of 10 – 12 people and collect field data • Compile responses from interviews into useful data
End Goals • Provide recommendations to the three local village governments on how they can improve their disaster management and recovery programs. • Learn how women have specific needs during flooding disasters and pass these recommendations on to local political leaders
Work at Raks Thai
First, I’d like to thank the Benjamin N. Duke Scholarship Program, including Jenny Wood-Crowley, Charlie Thompson, and Sarah Stacke for providing me with the opportunity to embark on this adventure. I would also like to thank P’Sunee Talawat and the entire Raks Thai team for being a supportive, open family throughout my entire stay.
Acknowledgements
Independence – Learning to navigate unfamiliar territory and arranging accommodation, food, transportation, employment on my own. Language – Because only 2 coworkers spoke Thai and there were no other “farang” (white people) near me, I had to take a crash course in Thai. I ended up becoming functional to interact in only Thai by the end of the summer. Willingness – I decided that I would always say “yes” to invitations, and they led me to great places. I delved into Thai culture more more deeply by being willing to further distance myself from my comfort zone. Thankfulness – My ISOS experience wouldn’t have been possible without the help of many other people. And my in-country experience was so successful because of my fantastic coworkers. I made sure to tell them that.
Lessons Learned The relationships I formed with coworkers, local community members, and villagers turned out to be the most rewarding part of the summer. Some examples of people I had the pleasure to meet are below. • P’Noom, my work partner and de facto translator, was my closest friend during the summer. She explained, translated, and accompanied me all day every day. • P’Wanchi, the Tambon President, invited me to go jogging, to have dinner with his family, and to pick his children up from school with him. • Khun Dai, a principle at a school, let us visit several times and invited my team for a rice harvesting lesson. • P’June Chath, an intern from a local University, invited me to spend a Buddhist holiday weekend being a volunteer monk at one of the world’s largest temples. Her family also hosted me for several tradition Thai family dinners. • Khun Pupa, a local fruit seller, befriended me after I visited his cart nearly every night for dinner. • P’Pek, a young coworker, invited me to spent the weekend at the beach with her and her friends.
Coworkers and Friends
