A few days of my life in Fang

Written by: Renee Giuseppini - 16 February 2009

I started this day with making a beginning packing my backpack since I will leave Fang tomorrow. A strange idea it is to leave after being here with joy for four weeks. This small town in Northern Thailand is the home of Blood Foundation and it was a pleasure living and working here.

Fang is more than just Blood Foundation. The whole area is beautiful and the people are friendly and hospitable. Tourism hasn’t taken over here yet and it’s the right place to enjoy the best curries and all the other amazing dishes that the Thai kitchen has to offer.

To give you an impression about my adventures here I will share a few days of my life here in Fang…

Thursday morning we went as a group to the temple. The temple had changed overnight from a quiet peaceful place into a place full hustle and bustle. Stalls were set up with food and local products like scarves, key hangers and clothes. The atmosphere was great and was accompanied with very loud Thai music. Between the many stalls were some projects of Blood Foundation on display.

People could have a look and even play with the XO laptops from Moung Choum school and there was a sort of fundraiser going on by the novices for poor children. By buying a little plaster sculpture and painting it, the profit went to the project ‘Novices for Children’. Together with my housemate Rosalie I painted some plaster fishes.

Painting plaster sculptures for a good cause!

During our painting we practiced English with the novices and enjoyed all the Thai sweets they brought to us to try. Finally we watched a traditional Thai dance from ladies in beautiful dresses.

On Friday Rosalie, Kate and I watered the Moringa trees. The trees are part of the Food to Grow project. The trees are full of vitamins and minerals and very useful for kids who don’t have a sufficient daily diet. Dressed in rubber boots and armed with watering cans we watered all the trees.

On Saturday morning Rosalie and I were picked up by Jildou and her parents and Kate. Also two novice boys came with us. The novices went in the back seat and the rest went in the back of the truck. You know pictures of cars fully loaded with people and stuff; well that was how we looked too. The big difference was that we clearly needed some more time to get settled in than the average Thai family. One needed some sun lotion or travel medicines and the next needed another pillow in her back. After some lingering we finally managed to get going! It was a four hour trip to Wiang Heang district. After a journey with amazing views we arrived in Piang Luang where we left all our stuff in the hostel.

In the afternoon we went to a small village named Huay Kray. Jildou and Rosalie had been there before and knew where some help was most needed. The lady who could use some help was the mother of Peerapon, one of the novices. She is partly disabled since a severe accident. She is missing a part of her scull and can’t walk anymore. She only can drag herself over a concrete floor. It’s a real sad situation. Fokke (Jildou’s father) and the novices laid simple laminate on the floor so she no longer needs to rub her legs on the rough concrete floor. Further there was taken care of new blankets and a pillow. As a surprise she also was given a radio. Now she has something to do while being by herself whole day. It was great to see her becoming so happy because of all these things. She laughed and thanked us for everything. Also her son Peerapon was glowing seeing his mum so happy. As a thank you, the family invited us for a meal that evening.




In the late afternoon we all went for a beautiful walk and we watched the sunset. While we were all enjoying it we were surprised by a monk who came to bless us. He brought for all of us a red cotton bracelet. A wonderful closure of an impressive day.



After a nice breakfast we went towards Lak Teang. This village is on the border with Thailand and Burma. I can’t explain what it did to us but it was very special. There was a big area covered in bushes between the old and the new checkpoint. Jildou told us that it was no longer in use because of the landmines. A few meters further we talked with the Thai army that was situated opposite the Burmese army. I tried to take some photo’s of the Burmese but felt a bit uncomfortable. I realized while looking trough the lens of my camera that I wasn’t just watching them, they were also watching me with a binocular. I also was uncomfortable because the soldiers carried big rifles.




When we were about to leave we run into a monk who started to talk with us. Before we realized it we were listening to his most horrible story about Shan people who fled from Burma to Thailand through the mountains. Some were killed on the way or saw their family members dying. It was such an awful story and the monk told it with such an emotion that we all hardly could keep our eyes dry. What a sadness for these people. Why do we hear so little about all this in The Netherlands.

With a lump in our throat we left for our last destination, the Shan camp. This camp was build 7 years ago by a group of Shan people who managed to get over the border. The Thai officials do tolerate the existence of the camp but the Shan have no personal documents and no official refugee status.

The camp looked beautiful, well taken care of and nowhere was rubbish to be seen. In the middle of the camp there is a place where some Shan ladies are weaving scarves. Blood Foundation is trying to help the ladies by selling them. From the earned money the ladies can take care of their families and their children can go to school.




The atmosphere in the camp was tranquil and peaceful. It was beautiful to see that playing children look the same anywhere around the world. They might not have a game computer but they had fun by pulling the tale of the cat next door.



The hospitality was overwhelming. You are in a very poor village but still you get invited everywhere! We tried all nice food like rice cookies with coconut and yellow bean crackers.

Just after 15.00 we picked up the novices from Huay Kray and started the trip back to Fang. It was remarkable quiet in the car. Everyone was occupied with their thoughts and enjoyed the beautiful views. The whole weekend was so fantastic, so impressive…


View from the truck

I’m happy to have experienced all this and that I could help with the projects of Blood Foundation. During your stay in Fang you don’t just do volunteer work, it is a cultural discovery which opens you eyes and shows you what’s happening in the world. Too many things are unspoken and there is so much ignorance in the world! I know a little bit more and shall retell my experiences.