The day with the children

This weekend was the first weekend in about a month that we stayed in Mae Sot, and it turned out to be one of the most memorable experiences of my life. Our friend Shelly, a local representative of the Body Shop NZ and Children on the Edge visits boarding houses and schools on weekends to bring supplies and organize various activities that they can participate. We were lucky enough to be invited to TMK Boarding House near Po Phra this weekend, to help her run activities that could entertain about 100 kids ages 9 thru 20. TMK Boarding School has been faced with about 50% increase in the number of boarding children since the beginning of this year due to heightened conflict in the nearby Karen village in Burma. In the small clusters of huts, about 6 adult teachers care for approximately 100 boarding students, and 200 students during the school days.

The ride on the rented passenger truck was smooth and fun, with me, Annie, Ilana, British Shelly and Sophia chatting away in the bed among bags of vegetables and boxes of school supplies despite the questionable weather that loomed over the area. The other Shelly (the boss) drove the truck, and Trudy, an Australian teacher who teaches in Mae Sot based migrant school sat in the cab. Once we arrived at the school, we unloaded the supplies and items for today's activities that we purchased in Mae Sot the day before. In the meantime, the children flocked to Shelly wanting to hold her hands and help her carry the supplies. Without further ado, we hastily got ourselves to the classroom where children were already seated waiting for us, and were greeted by cheerful "hello!" as we walked in. We all introduced ourselves in Burmese after the boss Shelly explained a little bit about what the day entailed. There were two teachers that were with us throughout the day, and they translated what we said to the children. So the day of fun began, a day much reminiscent of the field day that we had growing up, mere memory of it bringing back the excitement and made all of our mood lift.

First, Annie, Brit Shelly and myself took the older students who were interested in learning about First Aid to another classroom, while Ilana, Sophia and the boss Shelly carried out face painting and Trudy taught how to make bracelets. In the crash First Aid class, we taught eager children signs & symptoms of diarrhea and infections, how to stop bleeding, how to care for minor ear infections, how to clean a wound and put a bandage or gauze over it, and how to splint. We emphasized "washing hands" as the primary and absolutely necessary step one should take before and after treating someone who is hurt or sick. Kids loved the demonstrations, and were all enthusiastic when we had them volunteer to be the patient or the care provider. Annie, the pioneer of universal precautions, pounded the concept of hand washing to these kids’ brains, and was extremely pleased when we quizzed them at the end and asked “what is the first thing you do if your friend gets a cut” and received a loud clear answer in unison: “wash your hands!” After we were done with the First Aid, all the kids who attended it wanted to shake all of our hands, all giggly and shy, and told us “thank you very much” in perfect English.

Because a couple of girls who were ill were to be taken to a clinic with Shellies and Sophia, the arts & crafts were continued with Ilana, Annie and Trudy. In order to prevent them from being overwhelmed by the hoards of older students pouring out of the First Aid class, I decided to take some energetic boys to play a game of bingo. The bingo cards were not the kind you can punch out the numbers, so they had to use little plastic markers to indicate their progress. There was a moment when I thought the boys were about to fight over them, but with a regal direction from the older boys they distributed democratically and the rest of the game went smoothly until three young ones all reached bingo. I wish I had prizes and for a brief moment I thought about giving them 5 baht coins, but I realized that was a really bad idea, so we just clapped for them and congratulated them. They seemed happy anyway, just to have won the game, so I was pleased.

Since the rain continued to persist and the clinic crew was still not back yet, Annie and I began putting out large papers for mural painting. Even with limited colors of paints distributed among a dozen or so children, they painted beautiful pictures, mixing colors to make new colors that they desired. Watching boys and girls create shapes and people and scenery and objects, I cannot help but reassure that art is such a wonderful medium for children to express themselves, and how it is a shame that many American public schools do not invest in keeping art classes. It is therapeutic, and every child should have a chance to dwell in their creativity because that nurtures senses, and appreciation for small beauty that is all around us thriving even in the harshest environment. I think it can teach children something more necessary as a human being than multiplication tables and spelling.

Sadly, these children only get one full meal a day (dinner). Throughout the day we had to sneak out to the truck to snack to prevent ourselves from getting dizzy or queezy from hunger. I cannot imagine how these growing children can sustain themselves on a single meal and still be so full of vitality and hope. I thought about how privileged and lucky I have been all my life. I daydreamed about having a feast with these children, supplying them with limitless amounts of food that they have only seen in pictures. Nonetheless, two pigs were slaughtered (yes, we heard the squealing, and yes, we saw them gut and skin them) and half of the vegetables we brought were chopped while we played, older children (boys and girls) leaving activities to dutifully prepare one meal that they all live for, for hundred-and-some mouths.

Once the Shellies and Sophia and the two sick girls (one with tonsillitis and another with malaria, as they were diagnosed) returned, we left the arts & crafts for a short while and went to their church for some music sessions. It was absolutely phenomenal. The children opened with Burmese songs with choreography accompanied by the band (guitar, bass, and drums), and the beauty of it all put me in a trance and made me have to hold back my tears. It was so emotional to hear these children who grew up running away and hiding if not nearly killed sing without any withholding, without any worries or bitterness for that brief moment, united in solidarity through creation of music. I live for music, and it gave me more reason to keep it that way. Then Brit Shelly played a couple of songs on her guitar, followed by a sing-along of “you are my sunshine” to which the boss Shelly and Trudy choreographed. After that I played one song on a guitar, and then naturally, I had to reveal my beat boxing. Kids LOVED it. They thought it was the coolest thing in the world (well, I think it’s the coolest thing in the world too), and they made me keep going for a while, which was embarrassing but also wonderful because I could see the kids completely mesmerized, copying what I was doing beaming with smiles. So I divided the children into 4 sections and had each section make a sound and put them all together for a giant beat boxing chorus. It was so much fun. Then the boss Shelly remembered that the drummer could sing a Karen hip-hop/rock song so we made him sing while I beat boxed. All of it was so satisfying. So awesome. Since the children wanted more music, we decided to teach them a verse from “somewhere over the rainbow” and concluded with a song sang by a student and the band. Like art, music is a food for the soul. Medicine for the mind. You don’t need money or expensive instruments or intensive training to make music. All you need is your willingness to create sound, noise, rhythm. I guess in a way I was in my inherent state then, because making music with others, connecting with people through music is something that comes so naturally to me like breathing. I enjoyed the every sound the children made, and I prayed that the music can continue to guide their lives in the days to come.

While we were busy making music, the rain stopped and the sun peaked out a little, so we decided to do some outdoor activities we had planned. First was the egg race. There were about five teams, all lined up giddy from all the fun, excited to compete. Each team got an egg on a spoon, and they had to carry it like a batten while they ran a relay. Then we played egg toss race. Then Annie and I taught a bunch of boys how to play kick-ball. I enjoyed seeing the boys strategizing and team working despite their competitiveness. The game got very heated at certain points, but both teams dealt with it well, and showed amazing sportsmanship that I wish western athletes could have.

We ended the day with Brit Shelly and Sophia dancing with a small group of children to “head shoulder knees and toes” and “hokie pokie” played on the radio that Sophia generously bought for them. I loved watching them dance together and laughing. I love children. They are the holders of the future. They are the seeds of peace. I am happy to see that despite their arduous lives, they were still able to act childish, live in the moment, play hard, and laugh about nothing. So many children all over the world lack chances to act like children. Their expectations are either too high or too low. I hope the educators realize this and give children chances to be themselves. Even in the US, even in Japan. Let them play. Let them be broken. Let them be children.

Some things are the same no matter where you are – the girls were more vocal and more willing to volunteer or speak up, while boys giggled in the back poking fun at each other or at the girls in the front. In almost all activities, girls stuck together in one area, and the boys stuck together away from the cluster of the girls. Not to emphasize gender binary stereotypes (because there was a boy with a sparkly belt who only wanted to play girls, and some girls painted beard and mustache on their faces and wanted to play like boys), but in general boys were more enthusiastic about kick-ball game and played with a bamboo football constantly, while girls continued with painting, bracelet making, and wanting to have flowers and butterflies painted on their faces. All in all though, they were all extremely well behaved, treated each other with respect, and younger children listened to older children who cared for them. This kind of camaraderie is something I have not seen in children I have encountered in a long time. I am so proud of every single child I worked with today. I hope I get to come back an