A Mirror to the People (part 1)

http://www.mirrorartgroup.org/

The most hope-giving and inspirational experience of our Thailand journey, was the week we spent high up in the mountains, where northern thailand meets Burma. When doing research on anti-human trafficking NGOs during my year of preparation leading up to our trip, I was struck by the artful and imaginative website of the Mirror Foundation. It stood out to me as an organization that, very grassroots and holistically, lived and worked among the hill tribe people they are advocating for. I was pleased to later learn that most of their prominent roles are filled by hilltribe people and Thais, rather then imported western foreigners like many of the other anti-trafficking organizations in Thailand. Then when I found out that Heidi Tungseth from Solomon’s Porch was considering spending time with them as well, my mind was made up that Mirror was indeed the right group with which to spend my energy on this trip.

I’m not sure how the name “Mirror Foundation” was chosen, or what it signified to the students and artists who initiated it in 1991, but in my mind it represents a mirror that reflects back to the tribal people of the Mae Yao region, the unique beauty of their culture and people. A mirror to inspire these proud and independent people to continue to look inward- inside their rich heritage, rather than giving in to the increasing pressure to look outward toward mainstream Thai culture.
The prospect of keeping alive each tribe’s distinct cultural traditions, livelihood, and language, is looking less and less optimistic, as tribes are forced by the Thai government to relocate down into the cities from high up in their beloved mountain dwellings.

But the most critical issue facing displaced hilltribe people, is that increasing poverty and vulnerability is causing a rapid increase in their women and children being trafficked into the big cities and sold for prostitution. Mirror Foundation has made a bold choice to do the most difficult but most effective kind of anti-trafficking work. They have chosen to live and work intimately with the hilltribe people, locating their headquarters among their villages and sharing day to day life with them. In this way, Mirror has grown to understand the intricacies of tribal life and what role they can play in preventing the villages’ young girls from straying away from the life they know and becoming prey to traffickers.

Butterflies bounced and jostled in my stomache as an open-backed songtaew transported us from the Chiang Rai bus station, up a steep mountain path towards the Mirror community. It thumped over rocks the size of coconuts, and swerved threateningly around sharp curves. I was nervous, feeling intimidated by the unknown, and very much aware of the dozens of hilltribe faces gawking at us as we rumbled past their roadside markets and houses. Trying to keep our gigantic 6 month-suitcases, which were large enough to stow a small human body or two, from sliding uncontrollably towards the open back of the truck did nothing to calm my nerves.

Finally we found our way through the lush green hills and forest to the Mirror grounds, and pulled up to her main “office,” a small, cozy bamboo hut on stilts. Friendly faces, mostly Japanese, Thai, and Hilltribe (plus one awesome American named Alex) greeted us. Along with one, very frantic, intimidating woman called P. Aye.

The Mirror Foundation is actually a community of students, artists, and activists who live together in an intimate paradise of traditional hilltribe-style houses tucked into wooded groves and bamboo. Feels more like a peaceful commune than an organization of human-rights activists. But, boy do they keep busy, as we soon found out, with dozens of projects and a constant stream of new ideas to improve the lives of their neighbors. We wandered around the grounds where we discovered a small clay shop where hilltribe women make little clay birds and whistles to sell. There is a music studio for recording traditional hilltribe music to share with the rest of the world, and a radio/tv station for broadcasting hilltribe-pertinent news and information to the surrounding villages. There is a community kitchen and outdoors dining platform where all the volunteers cook and eat meals together, and where they compost their leftover food for gardening usage.

Right away we felt at home and at peace, with the hard-working but easy-going, environmentally-conscious, genuine people that live and work at Mirror Foundation. P. Aye took some getting used to with her intensity and almost bossy-ness, but I quickly saw that her drive and passion, coupled with task and detail-orientation are a huge part of what keeps Mirror so successful in accomplishing their dreams. These people are seriously some of the most hard-working activists I’ve met. They will the change they want to happen, with every activity of each day. On an average day with Mirror, we:

- mixed buckets of concrete to build a students house
- helped design a logo for their new eco-friendly hemp bag
- taught an English lesson to the hilltribe guides
- had a Thai lesson
- cooked a meal together
and met together to discuss the multitude of other projects that were being worked on in the community.

In addition to all the business of our days there, a thick solemnity and despair hung in the air as people frantically sent emails, made phone calls, and discussed arrangements to try and help their Burmese neighbors just over the mountains, who had been struck and shattered by cyclone Nargis just days earlier.

...story to be continued ;)

Sacred Grass

What is becoming trendy as an environmentally sustainable and “green” commodity nowadays, the Lahu tribe of Northern Thailand have known about and used for centuries. Bamboooooo!
To the Lahu, bamboo is a trusty old friend. Their daily life involves living intimately with it, depending on it for many practical daily uses. We could sense the deep respect that the Lahu people we stayed with on our village stay, had for this miraculous plant, which is very much a part of their cultural identity. Spending just three days with our guide Ja Ha and his family in the hill tribe villages, and we witnessed the multitude of ways that bamboo can be used, though it has been documented that there are actually a thousand known uses for it!

Va is the general Lahu word for bamboo, but there are dozens of other respective names given to bamboo determined by what the Lahu use it for. For instance, to refer to the bamboo used to cook rice when talking about the bamboo used to build a house would cause great amusement for a Lahu! The Lahu are so familiar with the many different species of bamboo that they employ, that most can identify the species of bamboo being cut down, simply by listening to the sound it makes. Incredible!

The Lahu village of Ban Yafu, where we stayed for 2 days, is the most beautiful, natural living environment I have ever seen. We came to the village by hiking up steep, arduous mountain, following our guide Ja Ha as he followed a trail that was either in his imagination, or marked by little plants that he recognized- I don’t know, but there was definitely NO PATH to be followed. When we arrived at the hill overlook above the small village, we stopped to just take it all in. Miles of lush green hills, not a power line or paved road in sight. And all the homes and buildings were constructed almost entirely of bamboo! The traditional Lahu home is built on stilts, and its floors and walls are bamboo with thatched roof. The steps or latter up to the first landing (or deck if you will) of the home are made of bamboo. We took our shoes off before entering the home, which is proper in Thai culture, and the light, springy bamboo floor boards under my feet felt amazing. We slept on blankets that night, that had been carefully laid out on the floor by our host family. The bamboo floor was so comfortable to sleep on! It felt like we were suspended in air all night!

After the end of each meal with Ja Ha and his family, Ja Ha would pour steaming herbal tea made of some smoky, earthy flavored leaves into cups he had carved out of a bamboo stalk. Looking around the village, we could see that the aqueducts and pipes were made entirely of bamboo. We also ate bamboo shoots with one of our meals. The best example of the Lahu’s efficient use of bamboo though, was one afternoon when Ja Ha led us up a steep mountain path, along with his 14 year old son and adorable little daughter, to the highest peak in the village. On the way up, Ja Ha stopped to cut down a couple bamboo stalks and when we got to the top he informed us that we would cook our lunch inside of the bamboo. He cut and hollowed out long pieces of the bamboo, then we stuffed them with rice, chili paste and vegetables and cooked them over the fire. I will never forget the smoky taste of that delicious meal.

On our hike out of Yafu village, at one point Ja Ha stopped to cut some bamboo to make us walking sticks. Then he amazed us by quickly carving a rough flute out of bamboo, and proceeded to play it, getting a good few notes out of the thing! It was fascinating and delightful to me to see the multitude of wonderful ways in which this nature abiding people incorporate bamboo into their daily lives. It gave me a greater appreciation for this important natural resource too!

Here are some interesting facts about BAMBOO

• An enduring, fast growing and truly renewable resource, it needs no replanting.
• A high-yielding, viable replacement for wood and petroleum based products.
• Important economic and ecological benefits including soil and water conservation, jobs, numerous product applications and food- more then 1000 documented uses.
• Amazingly short growth cycle, it can be harvested in 3-5 years versus 15-20, typical for many hardwoods.
• The fastest growing plant on the planet, some species can grow up to 1 meter or 3 feet per day.
• A critical element in the balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
• A renewable alternative resource for agro-forestry production.
• Bamboo shoots provide a nutritional source of food which can be made into bread, cakes scones and cookies.
• Environmentally friendly reduction of pressure on forests through wood substitution.
• Products can be made in rural environments, reducing industrial and urbanization impacts.
Bamboo is durable, sturdy and strong - harder than Red Oak and Maple.

Teresa Oaxaca

Here is another wonderful painter with whom Michelle and I have become friends. Here is her website: http://www.teresaoaxaca.com/

July Mix

In honor of Pitty's 'that time of the month' music mix, I'll try my hand at paintings.

1. Jacob Blessing the Sons - Rembrandt - 1656
2. Isle of the Dead - Arnond Böcklin -1886
3. Young Mothers - Eugéne Carriére - 1906
4. Lady of Shallot - JW Waterhouse - 1888
5. Sadko in the Underwater Kingdom - Repin - 1876
6. The Calling of St Matthew - Caravaggio - 1600
7. The Messenger - Odd Nerdrum - 2008
8. Sisyphus - Titian - 1549
9. Hope - Watts - 1885