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Published: December 23rd 2006
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The Absence of Whirlwinds
My life here moves at a normal pace.
Yeah, normal. I get up and have a minute to myself before starting the day. The kids go out to the shower room to wash faces and brush teeth. Its just the routine.
I don’t want to leave. I don’t want to return to the fight to stay ahead, to keep gaining….I want to live. Like w. says. “I want to LIVE my life.” I never really understood her until now.
I don’t remember that last time I was happy with me. When I felt useful, positive about what I do on a daily basis. The kids and I returned to the orphanage today after two days away, and it was more like “coming home to something” than I remember feeling since I was a kid coming “home” to Tofino after a winter away.
I can’t help but wonder if I am wrong to feel this way. I just want to feel like I can “come home” every day.
Okay, so a few days to fill you all in on. I posted some pics this morning from the Bang Sak Children’s party
Ben May
Chairs for rent on the beach last weekend, but I am now just getting back to my laptop to write again.
My first report is some happy news. Kai Dum is talking…well sort of anyway. I had to put this picture of him in the blog because it is the first day of real spontaneous smiles I have seen from him. I am so happy this little boy is moving forward.
I moved him from the floor in the hall to his bed last night and he woke screaming…absolutely rigid….but this morning, he was smiling. He knows safety now in the daytime.
The kids and I spent two days in Phuket with a few of the staff doing some supply shopping and then spent two nights with Marina and Pennyela for their last days in Thailand before heading back to Sweden.
I can’t say too much about the beach in Phuket anymore except that progress and millions of foreign dollars have turned the old beach resorts into Vegas-post-Tsunami.
I did go back to the Patong Merlin resort where I was staying just before the Tsunami tore its guts out. The exterior and upper levels are the same building, but the lower room levels
Silly
Just too much fun and the garden/pools have been completely rebuilt. There was a tiny little memorial in the garden and I left some incense burning and a few flowers to pay my respects. The Gods of Fate and Karma did not choose me that day. I thought it appropriate to thank them….
The resort are of Karon (or Callon as the locals pronounce it properly) is miserable and full of anxiety. I was more than happy to get the hell-outta-there and head North again. I posted a few pics as the kids absolutely LOVED the beach…both ended up with heat stroke the first day…(I tried to keep hats on them…I swear!)
I also collected a few nice pictures at 8 am before the swarms of tourists showed up. But overall I can easily live without ever having to see Karon or Patong again.
We have seen quite a lot of activity in the last few days with visitors coming and going. Last week we had two visits from group conducting an impact assessment on the effects of NGO activity in the region since the Tsunami. With close to 80 original groups active in the area and approximately 35 still
running, the study is designed to summarize all the benefits and drawbacks of that heavy infrastructure on the region. Many of the larger societies and groups are closing offices and locations here and moving to other areas of the globe. While on the surface many are rebuilding their lives here, there are still many holes in patchwork rebuild. This is what I will return and assist with.
This week we have already had two visitors. We collected “Tim” in Phuket and trucked him back with us for an evening and morning with the children. He is a traveler who intends to donate to the orphanage. As well, we had a journalist crew from Japan here as well doing interviews for a book.
With the anniversary of the Tsunami only days away, there are many more people coming to the orphanage. It is both good and bad for the children. They LOVE visitors, but the frequency adds to the undercurrent of tension building each day as we prepare for the anniversary. The 26th is a full day of events and we will be at the Temple for part of it.
I will also make a visit in the
afternoon to a place called the Tsunami Recovery and Regional Identification Unit. Here, in large steel crates, lay the remains of some 200 people still unidentified. The processing area is much like the centers set up in Bosnia Herzegovina years ago to identify those bodies found in mass graves post warfare. I am told that the bodies are primarily body parts that have since been sorted by area located. It will be years before all the DNA testing is complete.
We are coming into a strange time in the next few days.
For those that pray, do so for the souls still lost and for the families still searching. For those sensitive to the spirits, take a moment and recognize them, for those who do not believe, take time to remember the trauma suffered here and if you are unfamiliar with any of these, go and hug your loved ones…all of us can lose them without notice.
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This moves me to tears
This is a very touching blog. I am moved to tears. I will pray for all the children and souls lost. Take care and hug your loved ones there. We miss you. Thanks so much for your call, it was wonderful talking to you and hearing the children. Love to all.