A permaculture plot for Mong Kong, Thailand
It’s 85 degrees in Mong Kong, Thailand. Bunk beds are against the left and right walls with a few feet of walkway in between. It’s 4:00 a.m. and Hannah can’t sleep. She walks over to the bathroom in the bungalow she shares with four other volunteers. The bathroom, a hole in the ground as a toilet and another as a drain, doesn’t bring much comfort to Hannah. Feeling queasy, she lies on the tile by the “squatty potty” the entire night as her stomach reminds her she is no longer in America.
“I try to forget all this,” said Hannah Kenzie when asked to describe how she felt that night.
Kenzie was six days into her Thailand trip, volunteering with an organization called Growth International Volunteer Excursions or GIVE. Her and 35 others had volunteered from universities all around the states to go abroad and help communities become sustainable, with a different mission in mind each summer. Their focus this trip: a permaculture plot. An area where food is grown utilizing the patterns observed in an ecosystem. Food is not grown in traditional rows; rather, crops are placed together for optimal growth and irrigation.
“Our focus for the permaculture plot was to plant food that would flourish throughout the year and supply the nutrients the kids needed,” Kenzie said.
Cacao, peppers, banana trees and a frog pond where among some of the things Kenzie had worked to bring the community. She tells me that the frog pond is essential for them, as frogs are a big part of their diet and bring lots of nutrients.
Kenzie’s trip began when she was united with the rest of the volunteers in an airport four hours from their destination, Mong Kong. They piled into the beds of trucks, about 30 women and five men as they drove up the mountains. Locals were celebrating Vassa, a holiday that introduces the rainy season when crops are flourishing and labor is intensified.
The truck drove past the school, where it was evident that past volunteers have made their footprint. The eight groups of GIVE volunteers before them had already started the permaculture plot, Kenzie’s group would finish the project. Before GIVE, the land had blended into the background of trees. Once finished, it would serve as the student’s “food pantry” while they are at school. Kenzie felt a sort of happiness that she was the last group since she would get to see the final product.
“GIVE decided to come help the school build a permaculture plot so the kids wouldn’t have to leave to find food,” said Sydney Smith, a volunteer in the first group to go to Mong Kong. “The locals are busy with other jobs, so I think our work was appreciated,” said Smith.
The school, Wong Mari Yu, held about five or six classrooms where the children were separated by age. The classrooms, all with no seats, were bare in the middle. A teacher’s desk sat in the corner with a few books and posters along the walls, both in Thai and English. The students generally had smiles on their faces as they enjoyed learning and the volunteers.
The school held dorms for students to stay during the normal school months, since many kids live too far to walk miles to and from school each day.
The first day, Kenzie was given the choice of how she would spend her 11 days volunteering. Her choices: working on the permaculture plot or in the school teaching students English, a skill as equivalent to a degree in the United States.
“We teach them English as a business skill, so that they can get jobs in hospitality and tourism,” said Kenzie.
She signed up to work on the permaculture plot all but one day.
“I liked the labor intensive work. I got to physically see the progress of the work we were doing,” said Kenzie.
She describes a project she got to see from beginning to end.
“The king of Thailand, Bhumibol Adulyadej, had recently passed away when we arrived. All the locals loved him while he was in reign. They asked us if we could do something in remembrance of him.”
Kenzie and about 10 other volunteers put together a plot made of flowers with the Thai nine in the center, what looks like an upside-down question mark with the dot as a connected line.
“They told us the number nine was important because he died on the ninth month of the year and had been the ninth king to serve,” Kenzie said.
Guides woke the volunteers from their bungalows around 8:00 a.m. The locals prepared breakfast, as they did all three meals. Kenzie and others worked until noon and then went to what they called an “educational talk,” where they learned about the environment, their mission and the community around them. It was back to work at 1:30 p.m., digging holes and planting seeds until 5:00 p.m.
On the sixth day of her trip, Kenzie sat through a dinner as the guide went through the group discussing “good vibes,” a nightly routine. Each volunteer was required to say something on their mind or something that had happened to them that day.
“I just wanted to run away and go to the bathroom,” said Kenzie.
It was a sign that she was experiencing the same bacteria sickness all the other volunteers had gotten the previous nights before.
She lasted throughout the dinner and talk, poking her plain white rice around unable to eat. She knew it wasn’t the food. The locals kept their meals plain, avoiding any spices or foods that their stomachs aren’t used to. It was rainy season and with all the rain meant the bacteria from the ground was lifted into the air. She couldn’t quite make sense of why everyone was getting sick, but the guide reassured her it was because their bodies aren’t used to the bacteria circling throughout the air.
Kenzie went to bed early that night to hopefully feel better in the morning. After hours of sitting on the tile floor puking and going to the bathroom simultaneously, she decided to stay in the bungalow and rest that day.
On the eighth day, Kenzie was signed up to work in the school. She wore flowy bohemian pants and a t-shirt. She took off her shoes before she entered the classroom, remembering the customs her guide had told her the night before.
She sat on the floor with a student named June, shocked to hear such a Westernized name. She soon discovered students make up their names to make it easier for volunteers.
Kenzie stood in front of the class writing English words on an oversized pad with crayon. She was careful to avoid words like “who” and “when,” as the similarity seemed to confuse the class. The students didn’t speak much English but Kenzie was amazed to see how quickly their skills progressed just in one day.
On their last day, Kenzie and the rest of the volunteers sat around a stage made out of wood, not far from their bungalows. Students from the school performed a dance with free hand movement and heavy footwork. Men played music from instruments hand carved from native fruits.
Kenzie made her way around the circle dancing and exchanging thank you’s while a local woman, Pien, helped translate her gratitude to the people who cooked them food and guided them throughout their stay.
As the locals passed out handmade bracelets to every volunteer, Kenzie had the chance to reflect. She looked around at the progress that had been made throughout her trip. Once a plot covered in trees now stood a permaculture plot that would grow crops all year long for the students. The impact her work had on the village, made her realize how much she enjoyed helping people. Once home, she changed her major from marketing to environmental studies. She wanted to continue making a change and with her newfound major, she hopes to help more communities become sustainable.
