Sewing machines, and from poppies 2 tea on steep hills

The weekend of December 5th we combined "business" and pleasure when we went to deliver 4 commercial grade sewing machines to 3 villages located north of Thaton. Kids Ark applied for a grant and was awarded 30,000 baht (US $900) which was used to buy the sewing machines. We drove up on Friday in a rental truck so we could continue to explore the area on Saturday/Sunday since Rita needed to return to CM that day.
The villages were very interesting to visit - 1 was red Lahu and the other 2 were black Lahu; there is at least one woman in each village who knows how to sew, and in each village there is a group of women who want to form a sewing cooperative so that they can earn money in between the rice growing/harvesting seasons when there is no work. At one of the villages the women would like Resa to come and teach more of them how to sew and we are going to look for funding for that project; in another of the villages they had already gotten orders for blankets and had to borrow a machine ( which broke), so at that village we delivered 2 sewing machines. There are 6 women in that village who work together - 2 cut, 2 do the preparatory hand- sewing and then the other 2 use the machines - before we left they were already trying out the new machines. For each blanket they make they earn 70 baht ( about $2).

At all the villages the women were dressed in their traditional Lahu costumes which were just beautiful, and we had lunch at one of the villages - the one where we delivered 2 machines. The villages are all off the main roads and even though they have electricity there is not much else in terms of services for them.

After that Rita, Cado and Resa returned to CM, but Tom and I stayed in Thaton and went to visit Ban Pak Qui, one of the villages we assist. House of Hope 2 is based there and we went to see what had changed since we were there last April. Ban Pak Qui is right on the Burmese boarder and has a shortage of water in some seasons, no electricity, and very few toilets. We found that since we were there the school teacher's friends had some volunteers from Singapore build 2 toilets, a shower stall and a canteen/school room. Other groups have also promised to help them but so far it is just talk.... The classrooms were all painted and now have new desks and chairs.

Here are some pictures of the school:


Here are some pictures of the villages where we took the sewing machines. Notice some of the villagers' costumes are more red and others black - hence Red Lahu and Black Lahu ethnic minorities.


On Saturday we drove to Mae Salong, which was the last hold-out of the Kuomintang army. We stopped at an orange plantation along the way - it is a beautiful drive along mountainous roads, and 30 years ago not accessible by car. We looked for and found the guest-house we had stayed there when we had made the trip on motor-bikes! it made for some very bitter-sweet memories of those days. We also visited Khun Sa's old head-quarters - Khun Sa was the notorious drug-lord who was wanted by the Americans for many years, and who is now dead. 30+ years ago the tea- plantations were poppy fields!

Phra Boromathat Chedi is a chedi built on a hill near the village, in honor of the late Princess Mother, Srinagarindra. There is an excellent view of the Myanmar frontier from the top, an area that was off-limits when it was under the control of the warlord Khun Sa.
Here are some pictures of Doi Mae Salong:


Here are some articles about Khun Sa
Article about his life and death and another article

http://www.burmainfo.org/regional/lintner200202g.pdf
http://www.asiapacificms.com/articles/golden_getaway/