was in town fruit-shaking and copy-making when shwe aein called me: “sara, you have a guest.” ah. a guest. actually, a guest!?! i don’t get guests, except janis.

when i returned, i saw it was this woman, meela, who i had met last month. i had been, surprise surprise, making copies in town. she saw either my english worksheets or my appearance and asked if i was a teacher. she told me she ran an orphanage (what is the correct term? i’m going to go with child care center) and needed a teacher once the students returned. this did not happen.

but here she was. my first thought: how did you find me? but, oh yes, one can find out much asking around the village for the women’s group with the white girl. i admired her tenacity. she was with her husband and little boy, and explained that she is still in desperate need of a teacher. i followed them to their place and was filled in on many things.

for one, i will be teaching two evenings a week. i will only be here for another month, but that is still eight classes she wouldn’t have had. but really, the most important thing is that she is in desperate need of financial help. i told her i would do all i can. but i don’t know what i can do!

she opened the center in january- Our Happy Home. The children are Lahu, Karen, and Karenni. they come from villages near Pai; incredibly impoverished villages with very poor education systems. thus, the 15-year-old boy who gave me a lovely bracelet he made today is in grade 5. his mother also died last month and when he came to the center the only bag he had was a rice sack.

she and her husband started the center with money they had saved. the rent is being paid for by someone else but they are not willing to pay next year. her husband was a driver for the IRC but quit that when they opened the center, as he was building a study room and planting tons of gardens, from which they and the kids mostly survive from. they have practically no income. it seems she thought it would be simpler to find donors. right now, the only income is 200 baht (about 6 dollars) from a house she cleans once a week.

her heart is very much in the right place but from the little i’ve gathered she doesn’t understand the business side of it. unfortunately, i am not that savvy myself. i asked her if she had contacted the IRC, as i know they have donated building materials to PWU, so i know they do give grants, etc. she had not but will be this week. i’m also getting into contact with my organization, but i doubt they will be able to provide even a volunteer as we are a burma-centered program. i do have hopes because she is interested in helping children from burma and some of the ethnicities are from burma. hopefully, in the very least, they can provide me with some lists of people she can contact.

my last hope is this: while i was away i ended up travelling with these two men who took me to a similar place near Chaing Rai. we spent the night there. the woman who started it and continues to run it is swiss. she has had it going for 15 years and it seems very successful. i want to get her in touch with meela so she perhaps lead her in the right direction; financially,  however, i don’t know how much help she can be as i gathered that she started with money from switzerland. her center was beautiful and incredibly well organized; i was very impressed except for some disagreement with certain methods and goals. but more on this later.

i’m not even sure if meela has her organization’s goals, objectives, plans, etc. written out, which is of course necessary for writing proposals. i think i will take her to coffee this week and help her organize these things, just so she has them on hand.

i really wish i had more time here. there is so little left and she needs so much help. i am also ill-equipped knowledge-wise; i can only read up on so much in the time left.

uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. i am nervous that i won’t be able to get her on her feet. which is what needs to happen, and it needs to happen quickly. the end of the year is coming and their rent is incredibly expensive. it’s also cold season, so i don’t imagine much will be coming from the garden.

and teaching wise, they are very much beginners. i’m not quite sure what to do with that.

i am fretting. yes yes. but it is also good to be busy and doing something worthwhile (if i can manage to effectively learn what needs to be done and how!).