After an amazing experience in Pai, with our good buddy
Mike, Tommy and I were off to meet yet another mutual friend that lives in
Chiang Rai. Our good buddy Dominic Martinez, whom we’ve been friends with since
middle school, has an aunt who has been running an orphanage in Chiang Rai for
the past twenty years. Eager to Dominic’s Aunt Rose, we convened at the Chiang
Rai bus station with high hopes of helping out as much as we could around her
orphanage. After meeting and greeting and sharing our story on the car ride
back to the orphanage with Rose, she informed us that most of her volunteers
stay a minimum of three months so that they can really get to know the kids and
form meaningful relationships with them. She also notified us that she does
extensive background checks on all of her volunteers to make sure they are
there for the right reasons. Tommy and I were a bit surprised at the stringent process
most people have to go through in order to help out in these orphanages, but
after hearing Rose tell us about a few unfortunate incidences with volunteers,
we quickly empathized with the volunteer background check process. Luckily for
us, we were friends of the family and were able to do the little bit that she
had planned for us without any stipulation.
Arriving at Mercy Ministries orphanage Chiang Rai, we were
immediately met by young boys and girls running up to the vehicle. Barely being
able to get out of the truck with a boy on each arm and another on my leg, we
threw our bags down and got straight to having fun with the kids. Everyone one
of them was so much fun to be around and was so eager to practice their English
by telling us all about their schooling, sports activities, favorite foods and
so much more. Instantly becoming best friends with twenty kids was a bit
overwhelming at first, but I soon realized that whatever I was able to give,
was the least I could do for these young, animated, unique individuals. Each
one of them had such strong personalities and was quite independent, despite
the gracious help and love they’re given. One boy in particular, Apa, invited
me to go “running” with him each morning at 6am. Not usually at my best this
early in the morning, our jogs quickly became saunters and then simply casual
walks, as it was hard to breathe with all of the burnings taking place in the
hills and on the farms. Apa showed me where he went to school and told me what
activities he was involved with, who his teachers were and so forth. The best
part of it was just being able to spend some one on one time with him and get
to know him a bit.
Unfortunately Tommy became very sick the day we arrived and
struggled through a temperature of 102 for nearly two days of us being there. I
guess it was a stroke of luck getting to the orphanage when we did, because as
Tommy began to slowly deteriorate, matters quickly got worse as he was barely
able to stand up. Going through similar symptoms in India for a week, I knew
that what he was going through was going to test him mentally and physically. Fortunately
there happened to be a nurse visiting from Cambodia that was able to look at
Tommy and give a prognosis of signs to look for if he were to get worse.
Luckily though he was on the mends after two days, and slowly came back to life
and was able to spend some time with the kids.
During the day, one of our projects was to paint the
multi-purpose room at the orphanage which was fun to do with the kids, but every
night we had movie night, where we would watch a Chinese, Kung Fu, soap opera-type
storyline take place. Even though it was dubbed in Thai, and I couldn’t
understand a word of it, I still loved just being there with the children,
watching their faces light up at every flying high kick and super punch that
was soon being imitated by everyone in the room. Getting distracted from the
show, the Kung Fu sessions would usually end up going outside, where we would
all break out in an epic battle of pretend jump kicks to the chest and flying
punches of a thousand fists to the face. Pretend victims would go down in slow
motion, just like in the show, making some sort of grandiose sound of defeat as
they slowly plummeted towards the field we were playing on.
All tuckered out from battle, the cries of victory soon
turned into yawns of exhaustion as it was clearly time for bed. Saying
goodnight, giving twenty hugs, high fives, and pretend karate kicks to the
children was usually how the night ended. Before hitting the lights each night,
I’d make sure Tommy was still breathing before I then fell right to sleep, dog-tired.
One of the days I was at the orphanage, I was fortunate
enough to take a ride up to the Golden Triangle of China, Thailand and Laos
with Rose. A huge gateway for trade, this is unfortunately also home to one of
the largest drug smuggling areas in the world. Despite the regrettable drug
smuggling, it was still great to be on the border of three countries, spending
time with Rose and some of her colleagues and volunteers. On our way back we
were able to stop at another orphanage that Rose is associated with. Similar to
the orphanage Tommy and I were staying at, this orphanage was home to some thirty-seven
young boys and girls; however this orphanage specialized in very young children
and babies as well. Seeing these youngsters was quite heart breaking because
unlike the older children, these shy little guys were still trying to grasp why
they were there exactly and why they weren’t with their moms. Trying to play
ball with a very apprehensive young boy, I could see in his face the confusion
and distraught that he was going through. After a little while though, he
opened up and I managed to get a smile out of him before we left.
With sunset ending our time at the orphanage all too
quickly, we said goodnight to the youngsters and headed back to Rose’s
orphanage back in Chiang Rai. The next day we had to leave to Luang Probang to
meet yet another friend. Saying goodbye to the kids was by far the hardest
thing I’ve had to do on this trip so far. I wish I could have stayed another
week, or another month for that matter. Watching their little smiling faces and
waving hands as they chased after the car was an image I’ll never forget and a
memory I will always cherish.
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