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SAWASDEE NEWSLETTER SPRING Volume I, No.1: Orientation Jan14 � Feb 4 2005 (*Sawasdee is a Thai way of greeting)

KHON KAEN, THAILAND Dear Advisor, Greetings from the Thailand-CIEE Spring program where your student(s) is now studying. We want to paint a picture of what we are doing here so you have a better idea of what the program is about and can have something in hand if anyone asks.

The big news here, of course, is the tsunami and the great calamity created in its wake. In Thailand it caused the death of thousands�both Thai and foreigners�and devastated thousands of communities along the coast. Right now, the program�s special activities advisor, Mr. Kovit Boonjear, is down in the South of Thailand

where he has taken a group of Khon Kaen�s slum community leaders to help communities there rebuild. He�s also checking out the situation to see if it would be good and or possible for us to consider taking interested students down to help during an open period just prior to break in late March/early April. Don�t tell your student about it yet! We want to make sure it is safe and that students could be of use before telling them anything. If I let on now and things didn�t pan out, I�m sure they would feel disappointed. Despite the devastation, southern Thailand is still a beautiful place� The idea of helping communities when they need help in the case of South is very direct and the source of the problem�the tsunami�is quite clear. Our spring program is geared to bringing students and villagers together. In some cases,

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students can find ways to help. The program is very much community based�students spend a considerable time in communities and learning about villagers� hardships, particularly those connected to globalization, the theme of the spring term. Staying with and learning from villagers, putting a face to these abstract forces of the human struggle in this day and age, and understanding how interconnected the world is, is the core of this program. It is a practice of developing a kind of empathy. Fortunately or unfortunately, Khon Kaen is far, far away from what happened in the South. The program is based in the Northeast because of the poignancy of life here: the region is the poorest in Thailand but its inhabitants are renowned for their welcoming attitude and warm-heartedness. To develop a sense of global citizenship, we began right off the bat at orientation with what is most immediate and close to students�themselves and each other. All of our orientation activities are designed to help students begin a process of developing trust with each other on the program and to understand what system of beliefs they are walking in the door with.

Throughout the one week orientation, students explored their worldviews. For many, I note, it was not entirely clear at the beginning that there was some sort of framework by which they discern information from the world and about themselves, about human nature, about their attitudes to technology, and so on.

But of course they were not just trying to work out their worldviews. They were also diving into the culture, learning Thai from the second day, learning about the customs of this region and their roots, and then on the seventh day of orientation doing an overnight in a community nestled in the mountains.

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The village is unusual in that electricity has yet to reach it, and the overall scene posed quite a different world for the students to be in. The village also happens to be near one of the most spectacular (and little known) caves in this region. Even those students who were a bit anxious about going into a dark hole in the ground were won over by the beauty of the cave and they all came out unscathed, psychologically and otherwise. Orientation ended with a traditional Isaan (Northeastern) ceremony that really ought to be part of world culture. Sitting in a circle around a ceremonial object made of banana leaves, draped with white strings, and illuminated by candles, and surrounded by their Thai roommates, staff, and other friends of the program, the students were truly welcomed to the culture. An animist/spiritual teacher chanted in the old language of the Northeast, calling for their spirits to come join their bodies. There is a belief in the Northeast that when a person is under great duress, or has traveled a long way, the spirit that is connected to their body may �get lost.� The spiritual teacher ritualistically calls those spirits to be among us. Everyone there calls out three times, �Spirit, O Spirit, come unto us!� (Christian students usually do not have much of a problem translating this as

calling the Holy Spirit to be among us). Then the spiritual teacher �ties� the spirit to their bodies with a white string around the wrist. Then the staff and roommates went around the circle and tied the students� wrists. With strings around wrist and a warm feeling in heart, we feasted and then danced to Northeastern traditional music. It was a nice end to our orientation.

We are in the two weeks following orientation. Students are studying Thai three hours a day and in the afternoons engaged in 3- to 4-hour sessions learning about Thai political history and about the players

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within globalization�the World Bank, the IMF, the World Trade Organization�and those fighting against them�NGOs and such assemblages as the World Social Forum. And of course, students continue with sessions designed to help them flesh out their worldview. Students are unused to days that are seven to eight hours long and we on the staff have to do a lot to keep their energy up. After the long first week following orientation, we took the entire group out for a relaxing two-hour Thai massage and herbal sauna

We are working them hard because we are gearing up for some extended community stays starting on February 9th. Between then and early April, they will be learning about various communities. They will start by examining and participating in issues of villager livelihood. They will stay with villagers who are

trying to return to more traditional, organic ways of farming which touches on issues of fair trade, community organization, GMOs, and the WTO. Then they will stay with villagers still contending with what is generally acknowledged as a botched World Bank-funded project�the Pak Mun dam. They will also take buffaloes out into the wetlands and learn how villagers consider the wetlands to be �nature�s supermarket.� Then we will have a week-long trip to Bangkok to talk with those responsible for making policy in Thailand. Then back to Khon Kaen to visit communities affected by a proposed potash mine, the urban slums, an alternative back-to-the-earth Buddhist community, and perhaps then, if conditions are favorable, down to the south to lend a hand to communities in need. One aspect of the program in the spring is that we try to �give back� by inviting Khon Kaen University students to join the program. This term the three Thai participants help create an atmosphere of cross-

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cultural learning. The American and Thai students not only help each other practice their new languages, they also exchange aspects of their respective cultures. We are very impressed with the perseverance and energy of this group. Beyond our staff of Arunee, the language coordinator, Adisak, the program coordinator, Joy the ever-cheerful driver, and myself, Dave, the director, we are lucky to have three interns assisting with the program this term. The internship program allows students moved by the program to build on to the skills they have learned either by working directly with students, as Katie Ross, a Fall 2001 student is, or as community interns, like Mike Mintz (Emory) and Kemen Austin (Brown) of the Fall 2004 program are.

There was an unfortunate event that happened for the program this semester. A good friend of the program, Mr. Meechai Kawrun, died suddenly at the relatively young age of 47. He was the head of a community that lives from scavenging next to the city landfill. Over the past 6 years, we have taken about 250 students to work in the landfill and stay with the families there. Even though this group of students had never had the chance to meet Mr. Meechai, they got a chance to represent all past students by attending his Buddhist cremation ceremony.

If you have any questions or any concerns about your students� issues or their well-being, please don�t hesitate to contact us at any time during the semester. With our great supportive staff members and their beautiful smiles, we are sure your student or students will have a fruitful and worthwhile experience while here in Thailand. With Best Wishes for the New Year, Sincerely yours, David, Arunee, and Adisak

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CIEE-Thailand Staff Contact Information:

Dr. David Streckfuss, Resident Director Tel. 66-1-708-1852 E-mail: dstreckfuss@ciee.org / dstreckfuss@yahoo.com Arunee Chupkhuntod, Language Coordinator and Office Manager Tel. 66-1-965-3400 E-mail: aruneee@yahoo.com Adisak Kaewrakmuk, Program Coordinator Tel. 66-1-974-0290 E-mail: numerosak@yahoo.com CIEE- Thailand P.O. Box 91 Khon Kaen University Khon Kaen 40002 Thailand Tel/ Fax: 66-43-347-922