“Tell the Panda You’re Sick”
Sawadii ka- I’m the newest intern/volunteer at Warm Heart and I’m currently writing my own blog at http://whereileftyou.blogspot.com/ . I’m going to be posting some of those entries here at Warm Heart At Work, so keep reading!
-Rachel
On Sunday the 24th, Shafer, P’Aoy, P’Pleuy, PJ and I drove over to the beautiful old wooden house where 15 year old Ng M* and her grandmother live together.
*Name is changed
We sat in the shade underneath and discussed the situation- explained by the grandmother and translated by PJ. Simply put, Ng M is refusing to attend the eighth grade at her school any longer.
Ng. M’s grandmother
The resistance spawned from a chain of events which sounded, as told by the grandmother, like Ng. M’s teacher was discriminating against her- discouraging her from coming to class and making nasty comments, all rooted in the knowledge of Ng. M’s status; which is HIV positive. In addition, the girl’s schoolmates treat her horribly and the constant harassment and exclusion finally won- she absolutely would not attend any longer.
Ng. M’s beautiful neighborhood.
Shafer’s original intent was to try and talk her into at least going to school for the next six weeks- when the school year ends. However, Ng. M said she would rather repeat eighth grade at a different school- in Mae Pang- next year than go back. The grandmother is under a truckload of pressure- she loves her granddaughter deeply and will do anything to keep her from hurting herself, which she has done in the past. We left an hour and a half later, feeling lost.
PJ
Laundry in the yard
P’Aoy ponders the situation
Our next stop was Ng. M’s school, to hear the teacher’s side of the story.
Team Warm Heart entering the school
We sat in a strange receiving room- a blue table stood in the middle, covered in a shimmery cloth covering and in the shape of a tight U so that our delegation sat on one side and the teacher and principal sat on the other- facing each other in such a fashion it felt like we were opponents in a match. The two talked for a long time (in thai) with no translation, since we were in a private setting and P’Pleuy and P’Aoy handled the questions. At one point two girls came into the room, walking on their knees and keeping their eyes to the floor- to serve us cold water, using the center slot of the U as an aisle. After giving each person their glass they would wai so deeply it looked painful. It was kind of an uncomfortable exchange.
Sneaky photograph of the receiving room
In the car on the drive back P’Pleuy explained what they’d said. Apparently, Ng. M has been behaving badly (an example was that one time when the teacher was spanking the kids (yes eighth graders are often spanked) and she didn’t spank Ng. M because she had been in the hospital recently (she is very often) and Ng. M complained of being treated differently). When Ng. M said she didn’t want to be there the teacher had thrown up her hands and said Fine, don’t come. (Ng. M is old enough to decide legally whether to attend school or not). Shafer analyzed the teacher’s words as an explanation of Ng. M’s behavior, but with a certain lack of understanding.
The solution we have come to is that, since we cannot force Ng. M to go back to school, she is going to come to the WH office every day and help out with the little tasks she can. She will fail eighth grade, but apparently she doesn’t mind. Next school year (tentatively speaking) she will move into the Children’s Home so she can go to school in the Mae Pang district- hopefully a fresh start.
WH has worked extensively with the HIV/AIDS community in Phrao (sadly it’s quite populous). Although no one is sure of the real numbers- the government gives out free anti retrovirals to all “registered” patients- that is those who will declare their status as HIV positive, an ominous social stigma.
On the drive back P’Aoy’s nerves caught up with here and she busted out her Super Menthol Gel Stuff which she uses like smelling salts circa 1895.
The Northern Thai countryside. Soi.