Rivers is over

It is a strange feeling to be done with the rivers course and also be half way done with the ISDSI program. So much has happened and it has flown by as it always does. I am at a loss for words after my time in the field it was great in so many ways. This course called Human Rights and the Environment: Rivers, Dams, and Local Struggles blessed me in a lot of ways. We spent the first week living in the village of Nong Pho where we met with surprises. One has no idea what will happen when staying in a homestay in a village. We arrived during a Buddhist celebration and were met with loud music and dancing in the streets. It was really fun to live there, my family was great, it was a lot different than my family in Chiang Mai. It was a lot harder to communicate here as the dialect is a lot different. The Isaan dialect is fast and uses many different words it is pretty much the same as that spoken in Laos. It was hard to overcome at first but with some time it was really rewarding to be able to say some simple things and then know how to say the food is really good in Central, Northern, and Isaan Thai. The Village headman was a character, a man full of energy, knowledge, and also an unquenchable thirst for more knowledge. I will not forget him. He lived near by and taught us a lot about strange new fruits and also some freshly sprouted mushrooms after a rain. They were all really good eats, as was all the food here. There was a lot of sticky rice, and I mean a lot, but that was okay I love the stuff, and also blah-raa, a fermented fish sauce, a variety of other fish dishes, vegtebles, spicy papaya salad (som taam), raw meat, and also water buffalo stomach. Me and my roomies enjoyed the presence of many bugs, spiders and giant geckos called Took-Ays in our home. Resulting in some screams late at night from a windowsill lizard visit near where we slept.
The village is near the Mun river and depended on fishing. This river was dammed and its floodgates remain closed for 8 months of the year. As a result 70% of the village goes to cities like Bangkok to make money. It was sad to live with families broken by this and so impacted by the dam. Two of my siblings in my Host family in Nong Pho were in Bangkok and also a number of aunts and cousins. My Grandma here had between kids and grandkids 10 people living in the city for work.
During this time we met with a number of groups. The fisheries department, The Irrigation department, and also EGAT (Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand) who built the dam on the Mun river. We also met with local anti-dam activist Mae Jaran who was displaced by the dam and also lost a son to it last year due to an unexpected gate opening.We also conducted ecological tests of the river and went fishing with some of the village members of Nong Pho. From learning from all these sources it was clear that dams had some real serious consequences on the environment and the people. It is really hard to know what to do as there is a push for development and power production fueled by population increase and yet it harms so many people and the environment as well. I am saddened by our power as humans to impact this earth. It is often seen in degradation and destruction but I still have hope we have the power still to bring positive change.

It is very difficult to blog so much happens and so many great experience each day! No matter where we are. I am now studying hard for the next course Political Ecology of the forrest. This past post is just the first week of three in the field. I hope to write more later but this is all I can give you for now. I will be in touch when I can and will fill you in a short two months time goes way too fast. Thanks for all the continued prayers and support.

Much Love from Chiang Mai,

Ben