My bags are packed, at the door, ready. They are ready without me, heavy heart, sighing soul, I sit, still. Remembering, reflecting, loving the glistening images and memories whirring around my head.  

In a disaster you can do two things. Sit back and watch or get up and do something. Anything. Whatever you can.

The first option didn´t really work out for me so I flew 9056.6 kilometres to do something. Anything. Whatever I can.

I have heard it said that people come into our lives for a reason. We are led to those who help us most to grow if we let them and we help them in return. I now believe that is true. I have grown and learned from this experience, and I have seen how people are the force that move me to strive for greatness in this life. To see those suffering and not willing to let the floods bring them down, to hear of those who have chosen to stay behind because once a home forever a home, and to feel the happiness of those receiving hope through aid packages has thoroughly changed me. 

In the shipwreck, the Thai people have pulled the splinters from their wounds, and together found a way to swim to the surface to breathe new air into Thailand´s future. In a disaster there is chance for new beginnings. Here is a toast to yours Thailand. Joy ruk khon Thai naka. 

Let me say before we part, you will be with me like a hand print on my heart. 

Only in Thailand would I ever be the only girl in a group of men and still be able to feel safe

It felt great yesterday to be on the go in the early morning, with pink rain boots, sunscreen, water and a broom, to Khlong 4 where a big clean up was being organized.

The neighbourhood had seen 80cm of water in their community. The first floor of houses had been flooded leaving behind a long trail of algae and a brown blanket of dirt along the houses. Trees and gardens looked now more like dried seaweed and a beautiful thick layer of sand and debris covered the streets. If you were wishing for a snowful (just made up a new word) Christmas, then this is the closest you would have come- Skiing on the sand would have totally been possible. 

But- snow melts, sand unfortunately doesn´t. So together, I and 100 workers from the “Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation”, sought to clean up the leftovers which the flood had left behind. As on the Big Cleaning Day of Pathum Thani, we too had a system of cleaning here. Three groups:

One- with brooms to sweep the dirt and leaves into a pile on both sides of the road

Two- with gloves, bin bags and shovels to put the piles into trash bags.

The third group spent their time going around the neighbourhood and picking up large branches, chairs, cupboards that had been left or washed away to the side of the road. They then would go around and collect the trash bags we had filled.

By lunch time we had made great progress, the entrance and main road were squeaky clean (I would even like to believe they were cleaner than before the flood hit!). It wasn´t as much the teamwork as the enthusiasm and “Christmas cheer” these guys worked with that really motivated me. No Grinch´s in this town! The hands-on work gets me on a high. When your muscles ache and you smell like a pile of “flooding aftershave”after the end of the day and you hop into the shower only to spend the next hour scrubbing off a layer of dirt- that´s what lets me know that it was worth every minute. 

Caught a motorcycle taxi and grazed around the neighbouring areas for a little investigating of the current situation. The smells are quite appalling, it is almost impossible to open the windows and slide door of the balcony to let in “fresh” air. The breeze sweeps up the monstrous scent from the, now only knee high, water in the soi, making it quite a stifling atmosphere to breathe in. I am currently awaiting confirmation from the Team coordinator for our big cleaning trip to Ayutthaya for Thursday, Friday and Monday. Fingers crossed we can go asap!

journalistsatwork:

Don’t always believe the Newspaper.

I thought this was a suitable thought. 

Finally got the pictures from the Big Cleaning day last week! 

A birds eye view of the, still very threatening, flood.

I was shocked to see that still so much of the land here was under water. All you could see was marshland and bushes and tops of trees sticking out and marking where the land actually was. Some water was a muddy colour while in other parts it was dark blue and green-ish. These snaps taken from 30´000feet up in the air this afternoon reminds me that this flood is far from over. And anyone who thinks it is news of the past is in for a very unpleasant reality check.

In the news! 

Therese! Hey Hey Hey freut mich sehr das Du meinen Blog folgst. Schreib mir bitte ein email so das ich deine adresse habe- joymkm@hotmail.co.uk

Waking up at 5.30 on a Sunday morning is an amazing forte to have. 

While the city sleeps, we are brought to see its inner most beauty. The sunrise, the old lady walking her dog, the welcoming smell of fresh roti´s on the hot pan softening the crisp air from the night, the lone jogger, the slow rumble of a city right before the sun sets it alight. I wonder what Chiang Mai was dreaming of this night.

In silence I recited my favorite lines from “Composed Upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802” by William Wordsworth. One of the most memorable poem from an AS English Literature class.

“…This City now doth, like a garment, wear
The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,
Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie
Open unto the fields, and to the sky;
All bright and glittering in the smokeless air…”

Mesmerizing right? Thought it captured the moment this morning.

As my sister and I made our way down the steps of the hotel for a 200 meter walk to the event venue- we confided in the silent whispers of Chiang Mai, happy to start the day by giving. While we looked for our assigned seats I caught a glimpse of the organization that had been put into this mornings event.

 Imagine it like this: The main road was divided into two 2km long cloths, red (indicating the area which monks would walk on) and white (the seating area for us lay people). From a birds eye it looked a bit like such: WrWrW. The wide white cloth and in the middle the narrow red cloth. A little example below:

Laypeople dressed in white waited patiently to donate the food packages to the 12´600 monks and novices from temples around Thailand.

The basics: Rice, lychee, chocolate milk and flavored yoghurt milk.  

Frauen Power. Volunteers from the Thai Army smile while proudly holding up some of the bags with the collected goods. 

Image 1: High School Soldiers in training

Image 2: Just a couple of the 12´600 monks that have come to support the flood victims

Image 3: A sea of humans- The people that have come with packaged foods to donate to the flood victims

Image 4: The collected food is put into plastic bags which will then be divided into groups and sent out to the areas where flooding is still predominant

Image 5: meters and meters of “food for flood”bags

Report from Thaivisa.com

Bangkok Governor Reserved on Opening Flood Gates

The Bangkok governor has pointed out that due to the raising of some sluice gates as demanded by protesters in Nonthaburi Province, the floodwater level in the Thonburi area has now increased.

He also says that it may take a long time to drain the floodwater out from the area.

Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra has claimed that after the Bangkok Metropolitan Adminstration was forced to raise some sluice gates as demanded by residents of Nonthaburi Province, the water level in the Thonburi area has risen gradually during the past 24 hours.

At the same time, drainage could only be carried out through canals on the Thonburi side of the Chao Phraya River which could prolong the flood situation in the area.

Sukhumbhand said that he has never promised residents of Nonthaburi Province that he will raise the sluice gates from the current 75 centimeters to one meter.

He added that all provinces already have their own flood management system in place which must be upgraded to address the problems faced by locals.

The Bangkok governor asked for 24 hours to evaluate the flooding situation in the capital before deciding whether to raise the sluice gates as demanded.

As for the overall situation east of the Chao Phraya River, the water level in the Saen Saeb Canal has declined by one to two centimeters, the Prawet Burirom Canal by two to three centimeters, the Ladprao Canal by two to four centimeters, the Prem Prachakorn Canal by two to five centimeters and between three to six centimeters in the Bang Khen Canal.

Meanwhile, most of the major canals on the Thonburi side of the river such as Mahasawat, Bang Cheuk Nang and Tawee Wattana are still seeing an overflow.

Danke dir Manuela :)

smile all the time and you’ll catch someones heart too

Viiile Dank Yolanda!