Theparak 5 Slum Community near the Railroads in Khon Kaen: 

Sunday, August 26, 2012-Tuesday, August 28, 2012

This is a very interesting picture that brings out the contrasts in Khon Kaen city.

Do you remember my last blog about Central Plaza? Remember how prestigious the mall is? Do you see it in the background of these underdeveloped slums? It is sad to see how well advanced these malls are and how much money it is bringing to the city, yet just across the street, there are people living with no running water, poor sanitation and no public access to electricity .

We had a chance to walk along the tracks from Central Plaza to the slums that we will be staying in for two nights. These are the conditions of the houses that we saw:

In this particular house, there was no sanitation system that was set in place. If you can see it in the photo, there is a lot of garbage in the river and fecal matter. I suppose it would not be so bad if people can avoid the river, but in order to get to their house, they have to pass through the river (they literally have to step into the water) in order to get to their house. I am unsure of their hygiene situation, but I can't imagine that it is any better.

This is the NGO that works with these slum communities and has the following goals:

1. Solve conflicts within the community

2. Allow the community to gain a sense of ownership over the land that they live on. 

As background, when families began migrating from the rural areas to the urban areas to find jobs, they "illegally" settled onto the land next to the railroad tracks. Now, as the city is expanding (central plaza, etc), the government wants to evict these people because they do not legally own the land even though they have lived there for generations. Since the government does not  recognize them as a legal community, it will not provide electricity and other public needs to the villagers in the community. Thus, the community receives electricity from a private company, but they have to pay at least three times more just because the government does not recognize them as "legal".

3. Get the communities to work together in order to fight for their rights and receive the public services that they deserve, including education.

After walking for a while down the tracks, some Thai kids decided to join us on our walk. In the left hand picture, a boy doesn't have shoes-- he wears only plastic bags around his feet.

We stopped for a little while after our walk down the tracks in order to meet our host meh (mom). The kids gave us great entertainment while we waited!

After meeting our meh, we continued to walk until we reached our house.

I am not sure whether you can read this, but on the sign it says, "Police Box". I think that this is a police station.

This is what the Theparal 5 Slum Community looks like. Pictures can't even grasp the whole view of the community.

First dinner at the slum community host family. Rice (regular and sticky), fried egg, cucumber salad, som-tam (papaya salad) and mango.

Second dinner at the slum community host family. Rice (regular and sticky), grilled chicken, som-tam and green bean salad.

This is my phaw, meh, (me), and then a lady who lives across the house that I stayed in for the two nights.

My host family really enjoyed taking pictures together! I promised them that I will develop the pictures and bring them back. I hope to go back soon!

This is the inside of my house that I stayed in for two nights.

This is the bathroom and shower area. 

You are not allowed to wear shoes in the house, so I had to go inside the bathroom bare-footed. The floor felt really moldy, sticky and wet and it made me feel really uncomfortable to use the bathroom and wash myself. There was also no electricity, so if you had to shower at night, you had to leave the door open so that some light could come through from the other rooms. Just as reference, most Thai people shower 2-3 times a day, so when I came to the community, the host family immediately told me to take a shower, or ab-naam.

The shower system is also different. In the little square area next to the blue bathroom (that sort of looks like a tub), there is water inside. You scoop up the water with a bucket and dump it on yourself. I had to do the same thing in my rural homestay, but it was more uncomfortable here because the door had to be open and I could not stop thinking about the sanitation system, hygiene, mold, etc.

This is the kitchen area.

This is where I slept.

This is just another area of the house (the back, to be specific)

I brought this book of Chicago from home and gave it as a gift to the host family. I tried to show them where my university is, where I live, where you can go to the beach, etc. I think they definitely enjoyed learning about a new place!

These are the meh's from the community that hosted other students from our group.

Theparak Slum Community Home-stay: Honestly, this home-stay was a really difficult time for me. It was a complete culture shock to me to stay in this slum community and live without the luxuries that I was accustomed to at home.

I suppose, however, that this home-stay was meant to be a shocking and learning experience. When I first landed in Bangkok and I stayed in the Vengtai hotel, I thought to myself, "Wow, this is not bad at all. These are comfortable beds, the shower has nice water pressure, the people are wonderful, the food is delicious, etc" Then, we went to a beautiful resort and I couldn't help but think how amazing everything was. Although we slept on mats on the floor and had the bathroom floor be the same floor as the shower floor, it did not phase me because everything was still sanitary and I felt comfortable. Last, when we arrived to Khon Kaen University and I got to see the apartment (dorm) that I will be staying in, it turned out to be exactly (probably better, actually) than the dorms in America. After seeing these three environments, I thought that I would never see poor living conditions and I would never encounter struggles. However, I reached my challenge at this slum home-stay. 

Reflecting on it, I think what made me the most uncomfortable was that I could not properly communicate with the family and that I was alone through the experience. I could not ask for a light to be in the bathroom (so that I could close the door), I could not ask if it was ok if I wore my flip flops in the bathroom area and I could not hold a long conversation with the families, which meant that there were a lot of silent moments. 

Down at the core, however, the thing that probably affected me the most was the sanitation aspect. Studying Public Health, we have learned how many diseases are correlated to proper sanitation systems, how unsanitary the food and water is and the prevalence and incidence of certain infections in Thailand. For instance, how many times does someone tell us to wash our hands after going to the bathroom in America? Here, there are not the same expectations. It is difficult to find soap to even wash our hands after going to the bathroom (and this is not only in the communities, but even restaurants, food vendors, etc), when the bathrooms do not even supply you with toilet paper. So, from my experience, people go to the bathroom, use their hands instead of toilet paper, do not wash their hands after going to the bathroom and then prepare food for you to eat. This to me is the hardest reality to deal with. 

So, if I had to pinpoint my biggest struggle at the slum community, it would have to be the condition of the bathroom. The bathroom was a struggle not because I had to squat to use the toilet, or the fact that I had to use stagnant water to wash myself, but it was the thought of the bacteria, the mold and the countless infections that I could acquire by trying to get myself  "more clean." In America, by simply going to the pool you could get athlete's foot. I could not even imagine the infections that I was exposed to by stepping into the bathroom.

The saddest part, however, is that I had an escape route, whereas the family that hosted me could not. This is their house and this is their lifestyle. They encounter these struggles every day and are prone to various infections daily. Is there something that can be done? I hope to find the answer to that question.