The past year, just like Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai now dedicates one of it's main road Saturday night for vendors  and the residents of Chiang Rai for a night of culture, food, fun, dance, culture, shopping and music.  They call it Walking Street, because cars are not allowed to go through, only pedestrians for walking.  Last night we took the kids from baan AYUI to do take some photos there and it was fun for all of us involved.  We split up into three different groups and gave them an hour and a half to roam up and down the street with us.  We will be heading out to baan Paseuth to do some photography this afternoon. 

my group with their cameras...

my students helping each other out with Gimp. I showed the kids how to edit their photos last night using Gimp as the main tool because it is free and easy enough for them to understand.  The challege is to help them to understand the functions of the tool in Thai because they don't read or write English that well.  Some of them really caught on just by watching the other kids learn.  I wrote the steps on the white board in English and they write their notes in Thai after I translate it to them in Thai.  My Thai isn't that great, but thank goodness for dictionaries.   Here they are at the AYUI Youth Hostel.

I am not an anthropologist nor do I claim to be someone who understands these thiAkha woman in her traditional hat. ngs, but my trip through one of my students' village Saturday made me sad.  Sad in a way I cannot seem to understand...but throughout the two or three villages that we stopped by that day, I saw two or three Akha women dressed only in half of their traditional costume while everyone else was wearing clothings like the mainland Thais.  Some of them have been converted to Christianity and so have abandoned some of their culture all together.  The kids at the youth hostel do not seem to remember much of their traditions.  An example that was shared with me was the dying of the egg during New Year.  Some of the kids were told by their parents that it signifies Jesus Christ and Easter while others have no clue what it was about. 

As I've gotten older, the need to connect with my roots and heritage becomes stronger.  I want to understand my parents' language, their food, their culture, their costumes and dress.  It makes me sad when I see that children from multicultural backgrounds not seeming to care and that their parents are not teaching them about their lives that they've experienced in their homeland.  Homogenous is never good.  What can we do to preserve the cultures of these minority groups and yet still be able to help them move forward economically and socially?

I flew into Thailand Tuesday morning (July 7th) and started working with AYUI a few days later.  AYUI is an amazing non-

for-profit organization that provides a home environment, educational opportunities and future pathways for disadvantaged hilltribe teens with poor family situations.  The teens in the hostel are all Akha children.  Sadly enough just like any minority groups living anywhere, the challenges they faced includes discrimination, poverty and a loss of a culture due to other influences.  Saturday morning was spent visiting one of the children's villages.  We took some amazing photos and here are some of the photos taken of them that day. 

my first time visiting the young mother with her new baby girl. Some of you might have heard that I won best in show of a photograph I have taken of a young mother who lives in the landfill of La Chureca for Skyway, a collegiate juried competition between several community colleges around the area.  It was a true honor to be competing amongst so many young and talented artists.  After winning the show, Waubonsee College, the college that I was taking photography lessons from then, bought both of my photos that were in the show. 

I wanted to give something back to the subjects of my photo that won me best in show.  So after talking to Lillian Hall, the co-ordintor of Pronica, we decide that the best way to give back to them without causing tension and rift within the community or associating me with gift giving was to say that because I posted that photo of her on the internet, people started sending me money to help her.  After visiting her house and her new baby yesterday morning, we asked her what she needed for her baby.  She said basically she needed food and milk for the baby.  I did my shopping and got her what I thought she needed later thatsome gifts for the baby. day with Carmen, my translator. 

The mother was very surprised and happy for the gifts.  Even though we made it clear that the gifts did not come directly from me, they were asking me for money to buy gasoline and plastic for the roofs to prevent the rain from dropping on their beds afterwards.  It broke my heart to have to say, "no, I do not have money to give," because it was true.  I am planning to go back there to work with the children and I just do not want them to associate me with money giving or gift giving. 

There are just so many needs and people are always needing something...and the subject of the day seems to be money.  I am feeling overwhelmed and wondering how much more can I do?  what else can I do?