For me, it is a bit anti-climatic right now. Allison is off to Rasi Salai w/ students (see water unit post) to work with their learning center, Sam is headed to Na Nong Bong to support Thai university students and our students while they lead a joint campaign in local schools against gold mining, and Lukas is off to Yasothorn with two students while they do consumer surveys in conjunction with Kutchum Hospital and the Green Farmer's Market.
WOW, that's a lot, right? Our 10 students, together for the whole semester, and now spread across Isaan with very different projects and schedules. Everyone is coming back on Dec 4 for a check-in, and then it's off again!
Now, you might be asking... how am I writing a blog post during all this craziness?
Well, I am actually working on two projects, but neither of them will get going until more like Dec 5. The projects I'll be working on are as follows:
Baw Kaew with two students: The villagers in the protest village located in Chaiyaphum province have been charged, among other things such as trespassing, with causing global warming. (See previous post about Baw Kaew for more info). The government claims that the villagers are causing global warming because when they plant things and move the soil, it releases gases into the air. Aside from being completely laughable, these charges carry a hefty fine. Apparently the government ripping out the forest and planting soil depleting eucalyptus trees is nothing compared to these farming protesters. Thus, the students are going to work on constructing a 3 pg summary of what is happening and research a legal argument in support of the Baw Kaew villagers.
Civil/Political Rights: The program did a series of human rights reports 2 years ago that looked at Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ESCR) and evaluated several communities in Isaan to see how these rights were being affected by government and global policy. These two UN Declarations, CP and ESC, have both been signed onto by Thailand. While the program has focused more on ESCR in the past, we are now looking at more CPR, especially in light of the contentious political situation in Thailand and the Emergency Decree which is still in effect in some places. Myself and three other students will research and compile info, write something, and put together a detailed pass-on for next semester. The goal is a series of CPR reports that can serve as a mechanism to unite several of the communities already working together as a part of P'Kovit's law internship program. This program means that law school grads are placed in communities and educate villagers about their legal rights.
SO, both of these projects are "B", meaning they are no one's primary projects ("A"). At the moment, I am spending my time reading UN Declarations, Thai Constitutions (there have been quite a lot), General Comments on CPR/ESCR, and previous Human Rights reports. Pretty exciting stuff!
And hopefully, in the next few days, I can post the 2010 CIEE epic talent show in which many odd things happened, along with the students' videos from Thai class. Maybe no one else will think they're funny... but I was weeping with laughter by the end. They did such a good job! :) But I will have to translate them, hahahaha, which is almost as funny.
Also just discovered Girl Talk... I know, I'm probably way behind the trends. But it is perfect work music, and a nice change from my usual iTunes mix.
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1zmLda/mashupbreakdown.com/
LAST, but not least.... LESS than a month until I get to see these fabulous people!!! [If you got left off... oops, I probably still love you. And we should try to take a pic together while I'm home, how about that?]
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