WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE

It's all in your perspective

2012-01-18T18:57:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I went to visit McKean Hospital with our CAM staff and a volunteer that is here helping us for 2 weeks. McKean Hospital is one of the first hospitals in Thailand that was devoted solely to treating people with Leprosy. McKean Hospital was founded in 1908 by Presbyterian Missionaries Mr and Mrs McKean. McKean is surrounded on one side by a river and a stream that connects the river to create an island of sorts. The hospital grew in stages of being a leprosy colony and hospital to a leprosy rehabilitation center providing physical and occupational therapy. Their goal is to empower these patients to attain their maximum potential physically and to be psychologically healthy with a sense of worth and self acceptance, and to be able to live productive lives with acceptance and dignity in their own community.

I had visited several times before and have always enjoyed the serene atmosphere and the sense of community that this place exudes. Today we were visiting to celebrate many holidays with the patients such as Christmas, New Years, Children's Day and a few other Thai holidays.

We had a worship service to start with and had all the patients in a big circle sitting in wheelchairs or regular chairs. We all sang together and had gifts set aside for each one of the patients living there. While watching this whole thing unfold I kept thinking to myself how lucky I am to be healthy. I was thinking about all the times that I feel sorry for myself or feeling that life has been such a struggle. Then I look around at all the patients and my struggles and challenges seem embarrassingly minuscule. I started to get emotional watching the scene play out with all the joy and love that was surrounding these people. People who were deformed with missing limbs or nubs for hands and feet, but with beautiful redeeming hearts and souls. Sometimes I think it is good to get a sobering dose of reality to gain a better perspective of what real challenges look like. It is reminders like these that put it all in perspective.

How is God challenging your perspective?

Muddy Christmas and Gloppy New Year!

2012-01-07T17:24:00.000-08:00

This year we wanted to have a fresh clean start to the new year. Nothing says clean like a good old fashion mud bath. This debauchery actually took place before Christmas and so we decided it would be a good early Christmas present for the girls. They also invited their friend Micaiah who was a major playah in their mud fight video last year. Which has only 50,018 views/hits on youtube thats all.

Remember doing this kind of thing as a kid? Man, it seems so long ago when one could just let loose and start slinging the mud. Then I got to thinkin how playing in the mud is alot like being a missionary. It's a stretch I know, but like a mud fight it can be exhilarating and adventurous and at the same time very messy and uncomfortable. Sometimes I feel like I have mud all over my face when I am out and about trying to speak Thai. Often I feel that Thai people are looking at me as if I actually had mud on my face. "What is he saying" "Is that Thai he is speaking"

Just like the picture here of the kids in the Charlie's Angel pose it just goes to show one needs support. Whether it is during a mud fight or trying to walk alongside people sharing your faith.

Life is messy and chaotic, but it is also can be filled with joy, just like playing in a mud puddle. What is the chaos and joy that God has put in your life?

Daniel and the Lion's den

2011-10-14T18:02:00.000-07:00

Here is the next installment of Bible stories told by Anna.

Enjoy!

Savoring the moment

2011-10-07T19:38:00.000-07:00

All was quiet in the house as everybody was asleep in bed except for me. I was downstairs in the office working on the last minute details for an upcoming HIV/AIDS workshop. I finally decided I was useless for the rest of the night so I headed upstairs to get ready for bed. My oldest daughter Acacia likes to read in bed by the light of her nightlight until she falls asleep. Tonight was no different. I usually go into her room to give her a kiss on the cheek and pet her cat "Lucky" who often sleeps by her side and then I turn out the night light. Tonight she must of been playing out an imaginary community on her floor. There were all sorts of plastic animals, people and make shift buildings scattered across the floor. I partially stepped on what looked like a plastic bed for a 2 inch person. My normal reaction to situations like this is to get upset at how messy her room is and especially when trying to navigate it in the dark without severely injuring myself.
But, I didn't react that way. I stopped and just looked at her peacefully sleeping and scanned over how cute and precious her pretend village looked. I kept thinking to myself that I've got to remember this moment. Remember the sweet innocence of a 10 year old girl. It was all I could do to keep from crying over the fleeting moments in life. Acacia has grown up so fast and I don't want to trivialize those truly special moments.
Someday soon she won't be so innocent and quite possibly have that cynical and somewhat jaded outlook on life like her Dad. Why can't she just stay this age forever!
I know it is selfish of me to want to keep my daughter innocent forever, but time moves at such a rapid rate and they way we live our lives now of days makes me very sad. I guess that is why tonight seems so poignant. I am stopping and taking the time to look at my daughter, really look at her and I appreciate all that she is. I love that her room is a mess and that the light is still on and that the cat is sleeping by her side. It is what being a kid is all about.

I feel sad sometimes when I think how I so often waste time on the computer or TV when my girls are right there growing up before my very eyes.

You can't go back in time to relive what you've missed. These precious moments are but a fleeting glimpse.

What are the moments in your life that are special?

Bible stories by Anna

2011-09-08T19:08:00.000-07:00

During our morning routine of riding our bikes around the neighborhood we often take turns telling stories. Anna's stories always seem to be very animated and full of energy. She told me this story from the bible the other day and I knew I had to get it on video. She told the story with great detail and didn't miss a beat. I know the audio is a little shoddy in some spots and the video is shaky too. I just wanted to capture the way she told the story while doing an everyday thing like riding her bike.
I hope to make this a series of Bible stories that Anna will tell.
Enjoy.

Night Bazaar (Chiang Mai)

2011-08-27T01:09:00.000-07:00

I decided to go out and try my hand at some night videography at the Night Bazaar here in Chiang Mai. I wandered around taking various clips here and there. This is just one of several shots.
In post production I added a magic bullet effect called blockbuster to try to give it that cinematic look. My arms were aching after carrying my camera around on a tripod all night.

Canon 7D
lens: Canon 70-200mm f2.8 IS USM II
Manfrotto tripod with a 501 fluid head
Post editing with Sony Vegas Pro 10

How He loves us

2011-08-10T01:47:00.000-07:00

I can't imagine life without my girls! Sometimes I get overwhelmed with emotion when I think about how much I love them. It amazes me when I think about how much I love them and that my love for them pales in comparison to the love that God has for us. I have to remember that when I don't feel very lovable.

Once again I've been practicing with my video and editing skills. I still have so much to learn

Don't you know

2011-07-30T02:15:00.000-07:00

Untitled from Brett Faucett on Vimeo.

I originally shot this video to practice my skills at running while videotaping. I used my tripod as a steadi cam. I thought the shots were pretty good especially since I was running during most of it. While I was looking at the footage later I kept getting nostalgic about the girls. They seem to be growing so fast and I feel that the time I am spending with them is slowly slipping away. Pretty soon Dad will go from being the coolest guy to being the biggest dork who ever lived. I also can't help but notice how beautiful my girls are. I know I am being biased, but just look at them. They have such a sweet innocence about them that is precious. It makes them look even much more beautiful. God has truly blessed me with two beautiful little girls. How has God blessed you?

Songkran 2011

2011-04-16T03:53:00.000-07:00

You gotta love this country!!

Songkran is a 3 day country wide water fight that is quite exhuberently celebrated in Chiang Mai. It is actually the Thai New Year that is being celebrated. Songkran is celebrated every April 13-15th, but it usually starts a couple of days before and lingers on afterward too. If you are in Chiang Mai during Songkran this is a must see and if your actually trying to get anything accomplished during Songkran you might as well forget it.

Our wonderful neighbors the Conserva's took their family and our family all over Chiang Mai in the back of their pick up truck for 3 days to partake in the madness. It is something you truly have to see to believe. I wish America did this!

Enjoy!

Give me your eyes

2011-03-08T00:51:00.000-08:00

Eyes from Brett Faucett on Vimeo.

Music really stirs my soul and makes me feel closer to GOD. I can't count how many times a poignant song will make me cry. I felt compelled to put together this video after listening to this song because I often feel that I may be looking at the world, but not really seeing it. Do you know what I mean? I recently attended a week long workshop on HIV/AIDS in Bangkok and during the workshop there was lots of talk of how we need to reduce stigma and discrimination in the HIV/AIDS community because we are all the body of Christ and when one of us is hurting we are all hurting. We all agreed on that and felt very strongly that we needed to love each other as Christ loved us. During the evenings of the workshop the group went on their own to find dinner on the streets of Bangkok. The area where we were had lots of beggars and I never know how to deal with beggars. Do I give to them and possibly perpetuate their continued begging or do I ignore them and pretend they don't exist? I went to my default and ignored them and tried to pretend they don't exist, because they make me feel uncomfortable. I was feeling like shit because here I am attending a workshop on HIV/AIDS to reduce stigma and discrimination and yet I am intentionally ignoring a person (part of the body of Christ) that is hurting. Which means that I am hurting, but hurting from the lack of my response to my fellow man. I feel like such a fraud sometimes. I decided to go out of my comfort zone the next night and approached a young lady sitting on the overhead walkway that I had walked past the previous three nights. I smiled brightly as I approached her and was greeted with an equally big smile and I asked her what her name is and where she is from. I learned her name is Doi and she is 25 years old and is from Cambodia. She has one child and is living on the streets. It was a little difficult to get the information because she spoke very little Thai and English. I gave her some food and a little bit of money. I felt much better after I got to talk to her and treat her like a human being. It doesn't mean I will always go out of my comfort zone, but I will certainly try harder. What is keeping you from going out of your comfort zone and reaching out to those who are in desperate need? What is GOD showing you that you are not seeing? I've taken these photographs in the video during my time in India and here in Thailand. These are the things that GOD has shown me.

"My Story"

2011-03-05T18:59:00.000-08:00

For the last 2 years CAM has been working with an amazing group of young people by helping them tell their story. These 18 kids ranging in age from 8-17 years old were trained and equipped with cameras to help document their lives and how HIV/AIDS affects them. All the kids are in some way affected by HIV/AIDS either through infection or they are caretakers of family members that are HIV infected. In reality, they have no sense of a normal childhood. They are voiceless and have been put on the margins of society due to no fault of their own. CAM wanted to be a catalyst to help these young impressionable kids process what is happening in their lives and to help them by creating a peer support group. The kids were brought together every 4-6 weeks for fellowship with kids in their own situation and it was a time to share and reflect on what is going on in their lives. During these times together the kids would edit their photos and were working on their scrapbook.

The staff at CAM became more than just people doing their job, they became like family to these young lives. They became the parents of the kids that have lost theirs due to HIV/AIDS. I have been amazed at the resiliency of some of these kids as I hear their tragic stories. Yet, despite their circumstances they are open and upbeat and have a zest for life.

The kids finally got to put together a photo exhibition of their lives and share it with the community. This was also a great chance for them to say how much the people in their lives meant to them. The turn out to see the Photo Exhibition was great and was very well received.

One by one each kid had the opportunity to show his/her exhibition board and explain what the photos represented and how the people in them were important in their lives. In between groups of 4-5 kids showing their photos was a video presentation of their work with music in the background.

I was very impressed with all the time and effort the kids put in on presenting their lives and felt I was watching lives transformed before my very eyes.

My Favorite Things

2010-12-22T17:31:00.000-08:00

Watching my girls have fun is one of my favorite things!! We all love this time of year and the girls love doing any kind of craft. Especially the kind they can eat afterwards. Enjoy!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Love,
Faucett Family

Twas the day after Thanksgiving

2010-11-29T04:29:00.000-08:00

Need I say more!! I think Anna's choreography speaks for itself.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

Mud fight

2010-11-20T21:11:00.000-08:00

It was almost too quiet for the longest time until I heard peals of laughter and screaming. I should of known something was going on. Acacia had a school friend over and I don't think Micaiah expected a mud fight. It was good ol' fashion tom foolery. Mommy finally got out the hose in an attempt to clean them up. They seemed to like it. I know I enjoyed it and I hope you do too!

To Bee or not to Bee

2010-11-12T22:56:00.001-08:00

That is the question!

We've recently been noticing lots of bees around our place and especially around our front entrance area. Just 2 weeks ago I was stung in the right calf by a hornet while jogging. That was a first.
Unfortunately, the point of entry of said hornet stinger caused a small abcess in my calf.
I spent the following 2 weeks draining pus and blood from my calf. Sorry about that for those of you who get queasy at the mention of such things. Since becoming a Nurse nothing fazes me now. I am able to look at really gross things while eating my lunch at the same time. It is amazing how desensitized one can get.

We noticed this massive beehive/hornets nest up on one of the high branches on the tree in our front yard. The picture really doesn't do it justice because that thing was gigantic.

We called our landlord to see what he could do and he sent out his handyman. We heard from our landlord that the handyman said it was the biggest nest/hive he has ever seen.

Fortunately, none of the girls were stung and the situation was taken care of. If Shelly had been stung she would of had a huge welt. She doesn't react very well to bee stings.

I can't believe we didn't notice that hive before. I must have taken awhile to get that big. The handy man removed the nest during the night and used fire to get rid of the bees. Shelly and the girls were here to see it, but I was at a meeting. I was bummed out that I didn't get to see it.

You don't get to see something like that everyday!

Acacia's first swim meet

2010-10-20T01:36:00.000-07:00

Actually Acacia and Anna are on the swim team. I am also one of three coaches that teach the elementary team. I coach the 10-12year olds and the other 2 coaches have Acacia and Anna in their groups.

I have also been coaching the girls on the off days to help them with their stroke technique.

I was very impressed with Acacia's performance. She came in Third in the 25m freestyle. Unfortunately the swim meet was stopped at the half way point due to a torrential downpour.

They have their final meet of the season on November 3rd. Hopefully Anna will get to swim too.

The girls have been very excited about me teaching them the different strokes. Acacia especially has taken it real serious.

Good Job!!! I think I may have a Acacia Phelps on my hands. Maybe even an Anna Phelps. Anna has got some crazy strong legs and can motor across the pool.
I will try to get pictures of Anna on our final meet. Enjoy!

Anna's 7th Birthday

2010-09-30T21:07:00.000-07:00

Tradition dictates that I make a pancake in the shape of the girls age, so I oblige. I feel it is my duty to keep this tradition going. Besides, pancakes are delicious.

One of the many presents Anna opened on the morning of her birthday. Wow!!!! I can't believe she is 7 years old already. Where is the time going?

Anna wanted a pool party at her favorite slide pool. It was a nice little intimate party with 4 of her school friends.

The kids spent hours in the pool. Great times for the parents too. Unfortunately both girls got pretty bad sunburns. Anna and Acacia must have pretty crappy parents.

The girls enjoyed icecream sundaes at the pool side. We sang happy birthday to Anna and punched the air in jubilation.

Happy Birthday Sweetheart. Love you more than words can say!!!

Goodbye Dad

2010-09-18T00:22:00.000-07:00

Fred C. Faucett 1926 ~ 2010 Fred Faucett lived a long, full life, which came to a peaceful end on September 5, 2010. He was 83. Fred was born on Oct. 23, 1926 in Provo to Joseph Carl Faucett and Eliza Whiting Faucett. He overcame polio and graduated from West High School in 1944. During World War II he enlisted in the Navy and was stationed on an aircraft carrier in Okinawa. He witnessed the devastation of the Nagasaki bombing before returning home to Utah in 1946.
When he met Audrey "Mickey" Bailey, they were engaged by the end of their first date. Their courtship lasted all of three weeks before he put a ring on the finger of the love of his life. Married March 18, 1949, their partnership lasted 49 years. Audrey Faucett passed away in 1998 at the age of 71. Fred is survived by their eight children: Terry ("Milo") Leonard, Michael (Julie) Faucett, Kim (Kaye Lynne) Faucett, Sandy (Lynn) Faucett, Pam (Kale) Timothy, Lisa (Steve) Canham, Brett (Shelly) Faucett, and Trisha (Michael) Cottrell. He had 22 grandchildren and 12 great-grand-children. Fred is also survived by three sisters, Evelyn (John) Langton, Helen (Maurice) Lee, and Bet (Robert) Backus. Fred lived life simply. He walked to work at the Midwest Casket Company every day for 48 years, enjoyed British comedies, Tom and Jerry Cartoons, and fishing (his buddies nicknamed him Killer).

He ate whatever was put in front of him and couldn't get enough of his Werther's Originals. He was born with a silly sense of humor and generously passed that "gene" onto his children. He was a character and will be missed. A viewing will be held Friday, Sept. 10 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Memorial Estates, 6500 South Redwood Road. A graveside service at the same location will begin at 11:30 a.m. on Sat., Sept. 11, with a viewing one hour prior. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests an online donation to Fred's youngest son, Brett and his family, who are serving a humanitarian mission for Children with HIV/AIDS. Select "Partner Support" and designate "FAUCETT" as recipient at the following website www.capitaldynamics.com/interserve. Special thanks to everyone at Christus St. Joseph Villa for their loving care and kindness.

I read this obituary of my Dad at his funeral with tear filled eyes and a cracked voice. I'm going to really miss you Dad! I love you and will see you on the other side.

LOVE,
Brett

Acacia's 9th Birthday

2010-08-28T20:59:00.001-07:00

Where does the time go? It seems like only yesterday I was changing Acacia's diaper and now she is already 9! That means I must be getting older too, but that can't be right, could it? Pretty soon Acacia will be changing my diaper. Not looking forward to that day. We continue the tradition of number shaped pancakes for the birthday breakfast. I think for my birthday we will have to make a double batch of batter.

Acacia posing with her plethora of gifts. She was a happy camper this morning. She woke to a number 9 pancake, presents on the table and a room full of balloons.

One of Acacia's presents proved to be quite popular. She has been wanting in-line skates for some time now. Here she is demonstrating her prowess.

This year Acacia wanted to have a bowling party with a few of her friends for her birthday party. 2hrs of non-stop bowling fun!!! Here is Anna showing her excellent form for delivering her numerous strikes. It helps to have bumper guards too.

Acacia would literally run up to the line and throw the bowling ball down the lane. She was pretty darn accurate sometimes. On her 3rd game she broke the 100 barrier. Sweet!!!!! Great job honey!

Bowling is exhausting! If you don't believe me just ask Anna.

One of the coolest presents Acacia got was this Goliath beetle. Her friend Jonathan gave it to her. They are sold everywhere this time of year in Chiang Mai. They are huge, hence the name Goliath. He is tethered to a stick of sugar cane, his constant food source. The Thai's often have the male Goliath beetles fight with each other and they bet on the outcome. Good times! Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

Another Life

2010-08-20T01:06:00.000-07:00

I spent the better part of the day with an amazing woman named Dodo, who showed me what true compassion and selflessness looks like. Dodo is Burmese and lives on the border of Thailand and Burma in a town called Sangkhlaburi. Dodo is a medical worker that has started an HIV/AIDS project in this small border town and has been here since 2003. She takes care of 62 adults and 14 children all with HIV and all are living on the edge of society. We visited a small home where Dodo takes care of 3 boys and a 12 year old girl living with HIV. Dodo was on her way to the hospital with a little boy and I was lucky enough to tag along. The little boy has been sick lately with diarrhea and nausea. Dodo takes all of her patients to this hospital since she has built up a rapore with the Doctors and Nurses and can trust them to take good care of her marginalized loved ones. The main reason for this visit was to get a CD4 count to better assess his HIV status. If he drops below 200 he will be started on anti-retro viral medications that he will have to take for the rest of his life. We won't know the results for a couple of weeks, so we are praying and crossing our fingers.
The poor little guy was set up on the chair to have his arm outstretched and have his blood taken. He was trying to maintain a brave face, but his dirty little chin was quivering and his eyes were starting to tear up. Dodo promptly started to distract our sick little one and I threw my two cents in to help create a diversion away from the needle stick. We were pretty successful and it was short lived.

I am often amazed at the resiliency of the people that I am walking on this journey with. I don't know if I would have as much grace and understanding as they have shown. I don't know what the sick little boy's future holds, but I do know he has someone that cares for him deeply. Thank God for people like Dodo. Please pray for Dodo and all the people that she has dedicated her life to helping.

Memorial to Mai

2010-08-11T20:08:00.000-07:00

A Time of Tears and a Time to Trust
It is with great sadness that we tell you about the death of Mai. Mai was the young boy with cerebral palsy that lived in a bamboo cage for 12 years before coming to Hope Home. Mai was a special boy whose smile could light up the room. Although this past year he lived in a new home for boys with special needs, I still continued to visit Mai, take him on outings and bring him to special events held at Hope Home. Mai taught us all so much about unconditional love. No matter what kind of day I was having, whether I was stressed out or worried or had a headache, after spending time with Mai I always had a smile on my face and my burdens were lifted and seemed insignificant. Last Sunday Mai suffered a seizure and died in his sleep. Although our hearts are mourning his passing, I trust that Mai is safe in God’s loving arms. Mai was a sweet, sweet boy who will hold a special place in our hearts forever.
~Shelly and Brett

Please click on the link below

Memorial to Mai

What dreams are made of

2010-08-06T01:17:00.000-07:00

I woke up at about 6am this morning and stumbled downstairs and made my way to the kitchen to make myself a cup of coffee. I sat in front of the computer for a few minutes and went through some emails. Morning's are the only time I get to myself and I like to savor the quietness and calm before the storm. I heard Acacia strolling down the stairs and plop down on the couch at about 6:30

I got up from my desk and joined her on the couch. I started to joke with her a little bit. Acacia unfortunately acquired my sarcastic sense of humor and we love to go back and forth with the jokes. However, this morning when I was talking to her I noticed that her eyes were welling up and her little chin was quivering. "What's wrong honey"? "Nothing Dad", as she turns to try to hide her face and avoids all eye contact. "Hey Acacia, I want to show some pictures of the kitties we saw yesterday on the computer".

She follows me to the office and climbs onto my lap to look at the pictures. I ask again, "Acacia, what's wrong sweetie". She covers her eyes and keeps trying to change the subject. My interest is really peaked. "Are you sad about something or have a bad dream"? Her bottom lip and chin start to quiver and her eyes are getting glassy and moist. "I dreamed of a wonderful place, but I am so sad it will never really happen." "What kind of place honey." She begins to describe the dream all the while on the verge of tears. I cradle her in my arms and I encourage her to tell me more about this dream.

In Acacia's own words.

My dream started when I woke up in a small tent it was bigger inside than outside. I was going to a special camp in heaven. The first day at camp we swam in the ocean, it was wonderful. Then we went to a cabin and played go-fish in the cabin. Day 2, we went surfing on whales and I heard God's voice trying to tell me something, I tried to figure it out then the door opened. It was a big treat...My family: Anna, Shelly and Brett were there. I gave them a seashell made of rainbow gold. Then we kissed and hugged and I went to my tent.

Day 3: I went mountain climbing and saw God's face (I can't remember what it looked like) I was shocked, then I went to a cove where God's face was carved in the stone. Then I woke up startled.

She seemed relieved to talk about it and I asked her to draw some pictures of what she saw and experienced in her dream. This dream seemed to profoundly affect her and I felt it was an incredible bonding experience with my little girl. Did she see heaven? I don't know, but I saw heaven in her. Love you with all my heart honey!

Sunday Afternoon

2010-07-25T00:03:00.000-07:00

We are back! It has been 5 1/2 long months since we've been back in the "Land of Smiles." We like to spend some of our Sunday mornings going to the Wawee Coffee and then walking across the bridge to the Warorot Market. Warorot is a huge flower market and they have great outdoor food stalls as well. It is a very chaotic place teeming with masses of people and vehicles of all kinds. I don't know how I lived without Wawee coffee before coming to Thailand. It is very addicting! Must be the caffiene.

The girls aren't too adventourous when it comes to Thai food. However, Anna will try most Thai foods. We ordered "Kow Phak Gai" - translation- fried rice with chicken. Can't go wrong with fried rice. While we are eating we just try to blend in with the rest of Thailand. Occasionally people will realize we are foreigners and Anna will usually get her chubby cheeks pinched. The Thai people can't seem to help themselves. For some reason they don't get too excited about pinching my cheeks. I don't get it! Maybe it is the cute factor and apparently I don't have it.

We feel so at home here and it is wonderful to be back. The girls are getting back into somewhat of a routine and our sleep patterns have started to become regular. I think it is safe to say that we are over our jet lag. It still seems so surreal that we are actually back in Thailand. We have been back only 11 days, but sometimes I have to pinch myself, usually on the cheek, since nobody else will.

The girls seem to be adjusting well to being back here, although the heat and humidity is draining us of energy. I forgot how hot and humid it can get here. I have to take 2-3 showers a day just keep me from feeling sticky all the time. I had heard from my friends that we were gone back to the States during one of the hottest years on record for Chiang Mai. Thank God for that one. Even the Thais were complaining of the heat. If they were complaining, then you know it was hot.

I also wanted to appologize to all who follow this blog that I haven't kept up on the posts regularly. The time spent in the States doing fundraising was an all consuming job in itself. I do appreciate your patience.

It was just about to rain as we headed back to our car to go home. Great timing. This is the Monsoon season, so it rains practically everyday. The girls love this season and look forward to playing in the rain every chance they get.

We will keep you all posted on this next chapter in our lives and hope you can walk this journey of faith with us. Until next time Acacia and Anna would like to say "Sawat dii Kaa"

Thailand Commissioning

2010-06-20T01:44:00.000-07:00

This is a 3 minute video of our work in Thailand with HIV/AIDS, Disabled children and Human trafficking.

Committed to the Calling

2010-05-12T19:11:00.001-07:00

This is an interview that Shelly and I did with Commpassionradio.com. We were able to share with Norm Nelson what we are doing in Thailand as followers of Jesus.

Click below on "Committed to the calling" to hear our radio interview.

Committed to the Calling

Posted using ShareThis

Transitions.

2010-03-04T14:56:00.001-08:00

Life is one continuous transition. Big transitions and small ones that all have an impact on which direction one's life is headed. We are on home assignment from serving 2 1/2 years in Chiang Mai. As you may or may not know we are transitioning to a new Mission Organization. We will now be a part of "Interserve". Which is often called the best Mission sending organization you've never heard of. We spent about 10 days in the city of brotherly love (Philly) to participate in the Interserve Candidate School. Basically orientation and training.

So far, we've been back for about a month and a half and I still feel out of whack. The girls have their routine which is great and Shelly and I have the monumental task of trying to raise support to go back to Thailand. It is proving much more difficult than we thought. We are trying to follow God's path, but it has a lot of twists and turns and I can't see what is around the next bend. I trust He will show us the way. I want to say thank you to all the people that helped us, supported us and prayed for us during this difficult transition. I love you all dearly. We look forward to returning to Thailand and continuing what God has placed in our hearts.

Acacia and Annapurna with Mrs Debbie (Leader of the kids program for Interserve)

Faucett Family Mission in Thailand Introduction Video

2010-02-04T08:15:00.000-08:00

Chiang Mai Photo Exhibit

2009-11-07T02:36:00.000-08:00

I have entered my first Photo Exhibition which starts on Nov 14th and runs until the 29th. Let me back up though and tell you that I'm not a professional photographer and I joined a photography group in Chiang Mai to hone my skills. This is the 2nd year the Chiang Mai Photographic Group (CMPG) has put on an exhibition. I feel very lucky to have 7 photos represented in the exhibition. The theme of the exhibition is Chiang Mai and Asia in general. I have 3 pictures from my Mission trip in India and 4 pictures from around Chiang Mai. I originally had 19 pictures entered, but we all had to vote on other photographers pics and I ended up with the final 7 in the show. This announcement is showing 2 of my pictures in the exhibition. The small picture on the left was not voted in. It is actually a picture of Acacia running in the rain during the monsoon season here in Chiang Mai.
I'll post the other pictures that made the cut in another blog post. For those of you living here in Chiang Mai come on out and check out the show. There are some fantastic photos of Chiang Mai and Asia.

My Work with Mai

2009-11-04T21:51:00.000-08:00

In a previous post I told about my work with Hope Home, the Christian residential home for orphans with disabilities. I was matched with Mai, a 13-year-old boy who was neglected and spent his first 11 years in a bamboo cage in a remote village. Mai was progressing very well with physical therapy and receiving lots of love and attention. I looked forward to our twice-weekly visits. However, one day I went to see Mai and he was gone. The staff said that his legal guardian came without notice and took him away. I was devastated. He had spent a year with us and the staff, and he was loved by everyone. Acacia and I had a special bond with Mai and didn’t understand how something like this could happen when things were going so well.

It turns out that the reason Mai’s guardian withdrew him was due to a dispute amongst adults about something that had nothing to do with Mai. I vowed to track down Mai and make sure he was OK. About three weeks later, I saw an ad pinned on an expat news board seeking a volunteer to work with a neglected boy named Mai. I was interviewed by the guardian, who made it clear he wasn’t thrilled with Christians, but I was readily accepted since no one else had volunteered!

I visited Mai at his new “home” and was sad to see his new living conditions. Although his caregiver was very caring, she was also running a daycare out of her home and was taking care of 13 other small children. I know how hard it is to take care of my own two children, let alone a special needs child and 13 others! And this was her first experience with a disabled child. Her home was a very simple, rustic home with a concrete slab for a floor. This is where I first found Mai, lying on the concrete by himself, being taken care of physically, but he was again being emotionally neglected. I continued visiting him twice a week and constantly informed the guardian about Mai’s dismal living situation. After two months, Mai was moved to a new, permanent residential home which was better able to care for him. I am happy to say that Mai has a good home he shares with two other boys and is receiving quality care. I still go out and visit him when possible.

Surprisingly, a few months later I received a phone call from Mai’s guardian. He asked if I could help with finding a Christian assistant at the new home. He said that the Thai caregivers he had hired kept leaving and were not committed to working with the children. The main caregiver said that he should hire a Christian because they had good hearts and would be loving and faithful to the children. Oh, how God does work in mysterious ways!

I am so happy that I was able to be a part of God’s plan for Mai. I was able to act as a neutral party between Hope Home and Mai’s guardian and help assist in his new placement and assure that he was being well take care of. Also, God was beginning to open Mai’s guardian’s eyes to Christianity. Although the staff of Hope Home and I dearly miss Mai, I trust that I was used for His wishes.

Please keep the children of Thailand, especially the orphans and ones with special needs, in your prayers.

Shelly Faucett

Anna's 6th Birthday

2009-11-04T19:55:00.001-08:00

"Happy 6th Birthday Honey" Once again tradition states that a pancake in the shape of the birthday persons age has to be produced. The girls love this tradition and love Daddy's pancake making ability. I am quite the pancake maker if I do say so myself.

After the Birthday breakfast Anna was hard at it opening presents from the family. Anna is actually a slow present opener. Sometimes it can take days for her to open presents. We wonder sometimes whose kid she is??????

Anna had invited several friends from school to join in her Birthday party. There were lots of fun games and activities like this quick change relay race.

Poor Anna took forever to blow out these relighting candles. It was sure fun to watch.

Anna and all her friends hamming it up for the camera! Happy Birthday Sweetheart!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!!!

Acacia's 8th Birthday

2009-10-14T21:31:00.000-07:00

First of all, sorry it has taken me so long to update the blog. Second of all, Happy Birthday Acacia!!!!!!!!! 8years old!!!! Where did all the time go? This has become sort of a birthday tradition of making a pancake in the shape of the number of how old the girls are. I put in lots of chocolate chips and sprinkles. The girls love em!!

We couldn't find a candle in the house, but did find a sparkler. She didn't try to blow the sparkler out.

One of the many gifts that Acacia received. Acacia loves animals and loves to help Mommy and Daddy with all our injuries. I think she will make and great Nurse, Doctor or Vet someday.

Acacia had her birthday party at Laguna Homes pool (the girls favorite pool). They love it here so much because they have the slide. That is Acacia catching some air at the end of the line.

I swear the girls did this train about a thousand times that day. They had a blast!!!

Acacia and her friends making the big leap into the pool together! You go girls!

Acacia on a solo flight down the slide. Nice superman pose honey!

All that swimming makes you hungry and what better to eat than a ice cream sundae.

No party is complete without a game of twister.
Happy 8th Birthday Acacia WE LOVE YOU!!!!!

Gone before their time

2009-08-04T16:48:00.001-07:00

I was at the CAM office last week doing my usual thing. Working on the computer, sending emails and organizing photos for our new youth peer photo project. I went to go get a cup of coffee and I saw my office director Jaruwan going through old photos of kids that CAM took care of back 10 years ago. I stopped to look at photos with her while she described the kids lives. All the kids looked so happy and Jaruwan had a big smile on her face as she was telling stories of these kids. Like the kids in the swimming pool. That was the first time any of them had ever been in a swimming pool. After she tells me the story, she has kind of a sad expression when she points to the young boy on the left of the swimming picture because he passed away shortly after that due to HIV/AIDS.

She said the boy was around 8 or 9 at the time of his death. All I could think about was that my oldest daughter was almost 8. I couldn't fathom losing her at such a young age.
She went on to describe the other kids in the pictures. Each one had her smiling as she reminisced about the laughs they shared and how they touched her life. During all of this she kept pointing at kid after kid and said he's passed away and she's passed away. I could feel the tears start to well up in my eyes. I felt so helpless. These kids didn't do anything wrong, yet they are the ones paying the price with their lives. In America these kids could have been saved with Anti-Retro-Viral medications. Over here it was a different story back then. Fortunately, the situation is better in Thailand now although we still have a long way to go. There are many kids that fall through the cracks and don't receive any treatment. CAM tries desperately to reach all the kids affected and infected by HIV. Please pray for all the forgotten children that are suffering with HIV/AIDS.

Hope Home

2009-07-27T05:50:00.000-07:00

I thought my work in Thailand would be primarily related to HIV/AIDS education due to my background as an ESL teacher and having been an HIV/AIDS instructor for the American Red Cross. While I have been assisting Brett with grant-writing and proposals for the Church of Christ in Thailand’s AIDS Ministry (CAM), I have also found my own calling.

I heard about a place called Hope Home, which is a residential home for kids with special needs that opened up seven months ago. I visited and met the lady running the home and the seven kids living there. All of the kids have cognitive impairment, cerebral palsy, brain damage, or fetal alcohol syndrome. They’re either orphans or have been abandoned.

The kids are now getting proper medical care and nutrition and physical therapy. I saw that the caregivers were busy taking care of the children’s physical and emotional needs, but could use some direction playing and interacting with the kids. I immediately knew where my gifts could be used!

I have now started “play therapy” at Hope Home. I visit the home and bring differently themed play to the children. I received some generous donations of cognitive toys from friends in the United States and now have different baskets of activities and toys for different themes. For example, Tuesday is music day. I bring in basic musical instruments, and we sing songs and play music. Friday is texture day when I bring in different textures and things for the kids to feel. Last month I brought in chunky crayons and it was the very first time that six of the kids had ever held a crayon. They needed assistance, but they were coloring! The great thing is that the caretakers are getting involved and are playing and interacting with the kids more.

Mai, who spent 11 years in a bamboo cage, now receives phyical therapy and the attention he needs.

One boy, Mai, touched me very deeply. When I first saw him I fell in love with his smile and bright eyes. I inquired if there was a child who needed extra one-on-one attention and was matched with Mai. I learned that Mai was rescued from a poor village and spent the first 11 years of his life in a cage underneath a bamboo hut. Luckily, he has found a home at Hope Home. In the past six months Mai has put on weight, received medical care, and is now getting the physical therapy and attention he needs.

In addition to play therapy, I am almost finished painting murals on the walls in the physical therapy room! When I began, the walls were plain white. I have painted Noah’s Ark, baby Moses floating in the reeds and Miriam, and a boat with “fishers” of men. I still need to finish Joseph and his coat of many colors, but should be done soon.

I never imagined myself working with special needs kids, but when I visited the Hope Home it just felt right. It shows you that God has his own purpose for us and leads us to where we are supposed to be.

4th of July in Chiang Mai

2009-07-17T19:16:00.000-07:00

The sweet taste of fresh watermelon shared among good friends. Ahhhh...... this is the life. Of course we have to eat it as fast as we can because it is a watermelon eating contest thank you very much. Every year during the 4th of July the U.S. Embassy puts on a celebration. It is great to see all these Americans get together and show their patriotism. Makes me glad to be an American. The 4th of July is one of our favorite holidays and we all miss going to the parade in downtown Huntington Beach. It was a yearly tradition that the girls loved.

Anna enjoying her Thai friends and Farang friends. They ran around all day/night playing. It was great to see them have so much fun.

Acacia doing her best at the tug-o-war. Look at that determination on her face. Wow!!!! Keep going honey!

There were lots of kids games like the egg race. Steady........ don't drop it honey! Acacia got to see a lot of her friends that she hasn't seen during the summer.

Happy 4th of July everybody. We miss and love you all. Maybe we will be home sometime during the 4th one of these years.
Love the Faucett Family
Brett,Shelly,Acacia and Annapurna

Typical day in Chiang Mai

2009-06-17T23:54:00.000-07:00

I was taking Keith and Shelly, who are friends visiting from Albania, to get a Thai massage. Shelly and Keith were in Peace Corps with us in Moldova and now Shelly is the Admin Officer for Peace Corps Albania. On the way out, while we were driving in the Moobaan (neighborhood), we spotted an elephant walking along the street. Which, surprisingly, in not an uncommon occurance. Just a typical day in Chiang Mai. These pictures are taken while sitting in the car at the gate exit of the moobaan. It still amazes me sometimes to see an elephant just walking along the street. What a trip!

The mahout (elephant handler)always has food that you can buy to feed the elephant, which this case is was bag of sugarcane. The elephant reached into the car with its trunk and was practically in my lap while I fished a 20 baht bill out of my pocket. The elephant immediately took the 20 to give to the mahout. They have quite the system going.

The money changes hand and the transaction is complete. Now I can feed elephant his well earned sugarcane. I'm also trying to take pictures during all this with Shelly's camera. Shelly is sitting in the back seat and enjoying the show of me getting acosted by the elephant.

Here we go again for another round of "grab the sugarcane from Brett's hand". Man, elephants are strong in case you didn't know. Especially their trunks. At one time I thought he might take my finger with the other sticks of sugarcane.

Wow!!!!! what an experience! Bye Mr. Elephant and we hope to see you soon!

Wave bye-bye Keith and Shelly and welcome to another typical day in Chiang Mai. I wonder if they will have a chance to see an elephant walking the streets of Albania? I doubt it! It was great having Keith and Shelly visit. I'm also glad they got to have a surreal experience like this.

Baby Sparta and Lucky Charms

2009-06-09T16:56:00.000-07:00

Here we go again! We adopted 2 new kitties, teenagers really. Baby Sparta the tabby and Lucky Charms. We got these lovable little purr boxes from a guest house/restaurant here in Chiang Mai. They had about 10-12 cats hanging around the place and all up for adoption. We actually just happened to stop by the place not realizing it was a kitty sanctuary.

I hope that there won't be any sad stories to report in the near future with these ones. They seem really healthy and are very lovable. Acacia and Anna are in love with them. I think they are Ok too. They are quite comical with all their running around the house attacking each other. Let's pray that these guys are keepers!

Blurry

2009-06-07T23:51:00.000-07:00

When Shelly and I joined Peace Corps we had to go through a lengthy physical exam. During our eye exam the opthamologist performed the vision test where you had to say which way the "E" was facing going from larger letters to smaller letters. Shelly and I were surprized that we both scored 20/15 vision. That is better than the standard perfect vision score of 20/20. That was 10 years ago when I was 34 and still had the remnants of a 6pack too. At least a 2 pack for sure, or was that Toopak Shakur. I don't know, anyway.....Where was I? I think I'm losing brain cells too!
Oh yeah, ever since coming to Thailand I've noticed that I have trouble reading books in the 12in to 16in range. But, how could that be I have 20/15 vision. The Doc even said so. I am falling apart. Instead of the 6 pack I now have a pony keg and I feel like I'm going blind. I have to hold reading materials at arms length to read anything.

I would keep rubbing my eyes, maybe I just had sleep in them. No, it was old age. I came to a realization that I'm an old fart. At least I have my hair!!
Shelly got me these reading glasses and now it is like I can see again. Wow!!!! vision neat! Brett like read book. Thanks Honey for kickin it with your old man for all these years.

Chiang Mai Challenge 2009

2009-05-12T19:50:00.000-07:00

My good friend Andy says "Hey Brett do you want to be my team mate for the Chiang Mai Challenge this year". Shelly and the girls were off to the States for a month so this would be the perfect time to train for it. So, I said yes with some reservations because we only had 5 weeks to train. I really had no idea what I was getting myself into. I hope Andy knows CPR? I'm not in the best shape anymore and this sounded like a serious race. Andy assured me it would be FUN!!!!! Really a laugh riot! So, we started our training regimen by doing multiple disciplines a day. For example, we might do a bike and swim one day and the next would be a run,bike and swim. Every once in a while we would throw in a kayak after a bike ride. It turned out to be a lot of fun training and it was great to be outside getting some much needed exercise too. The big day was coming up and we were trying to squeeze in training sessions here and there as much as we could. The girls arrived back in Thailand on May 7th and the big race was on the 9th.

Unfortunately, these are the only pictures of us during the race. I wasn't about to lug a camera around the course. Shelly took these pictures as we were about to begin the race. Look at how oblivious and happy I look. The night before the race the sponsors put on a dinner and explained the rules of the race. I asked during the Q/A session what the distances of the different legs of the race were and received the response " If I tell you it wouldn't be an adventure". I still don't know what the distances are today. The race was a combination of mountain biking, trail running, kayaking and swimming. We started the race off with a run around the stadium and made our way to the mountains and began a very steep ascent. Our running turned into mountain climbing. Andy and I decided before the race to start off very slowly so that we would not burn out in the middle of the race. It turned out to be a good strategy because we were passing people left and right along the steep ascent. A lot of the racers were jetting off fast in the beginning. We just kept going slow and steady. The end of the first run we had to climb a rope wall and then start the mountain biking stage. Our time for the first run was 1hr 33min 58sec. Everybody was racing in teams of two. Andy and I were in the Masters category which meant our combined age was over 80yrs. They also seperated participants in categories of Extreme and Adventure. We were in the Adventure category. We decided to fuel up on power bars and rehydrate ourselves. We seemed to be the only people in the water station area eating and drinking. Everybody else was racing to get on their bikes to start their next leg of the race. We also started passing people on the trail that left immediately after the run without drinking or eating. They started to burn out too quickly.

At the end of the first bike leg we ended at the edge of a resevoir. Our 1st bike time was 1hr 11min 28sec. Fortunately, Andy and I trained on the same mountain trails that were in the race so it was very familiar to us. After each leg of the race Andy had to scan the wrist band with a chip in it at a computer for our times.
The swim section was actually kind of a joke. We had to put on a life vest and wade across the resevoir to the other side. Half of the swim was walking through the thigh deep water. 1st swim time was 11min 41sec. Next stage was the kayaking. Each team was given a map to reach 3 points around the resevoir and collect 3 tokens to take back to the race staff to prove you went to all these spots. My shoulders were killing me at this point. My right hip and right knee were throbbing too. The time for the kayaking portion was 34min 11sec. In between all these legs of the race was spent at the water stations guzzling water and gatorade and sponging off with ice water. The temperature was in the high 90's low 100's with very high humidity. The temperature was the killer because it would sap all your strength. After the kayaking we started the 2nd run leg which was by far the hardest. There was no running involved, it was all mountain climbing up the steepest trails known to man. We had sections that had ropes set up to climb up parts of the mountain and bamboo ladders set up because it was too steep to climb without this help. The descent was steep and dangerous too. The trails were very narrow in parts with sharp drop offs on the sides and leaves covering the trails. Very precarious! The end of the 2nd run seemed to last forever which followed a long canal and had no shade whatsoever. This was a point in the race that I thought what in the H&!! am I doing here.

We finally made it to the water station and I squeezed ice water from the sponges in the ice water buckets all over me with great relief. The 2nd run time was 1hr 42min 40sec. The scenery was beautiful and the second run followed along a spectacular waterfall. Too bad I couldn't enjoy it!

We had a second swim/walk across the resevoir to pick up our bikes for the final leg of the race. Our 2nd swim time was 15min 37sec. The final bike leg was great because we were so familiar with the route it was liking being at home. We ended up passing two teams during this portion and were actually racing to the finish. Before the race I was joking with Shelly that she could visit me in the hospital after the race. I thought for sure I would be in room 215 at Chiang Mai Ram Hospital. Our 2nd bike time was 37min 59sec and our overall time was 6hrs 7min and 11sec. Andy and I placed 15th out of 29 teams. Not too bad for our first time and only 5 weeks of training.

This is a typical day in the life of a Mission worker here in Chiang Mai. Hey, Andy we better start getting ready for next years Challenge! I say that now after the soreness has worn off. I hurt in places I never knew I had.
It was great fun and I'm glad I did it.

SONGKRAN

2009-04-20T00:33:00.000-07:00

Songkran is the traditional Thai New Year. It marks the time when the Sun passes from the zodiac sign of Aries into that of Taurus and is celebrated every year on April 13 or 14. In fact, Songkran, which once was not only the traditional but also the official Thai New Year, spreads from over 3 days from the thirteenth to the fifteenth. But in reality it is over 5 days.
In the provinces, it remains an occasion for young men and girls to meet. The season is just right for leisurely courtship, with the rice harvesting finished and the planting of the new crop not yet begun. In the North, around Chiang Mai, sand is taken into temple compounds at this time. It is believed that this will bring good health and prosperity, and that the more sand one takes into the compound, the better. The sand is built into miniature chedi, or pagodas, which are then garlanded with flowers- another good chance for boys and girls to meet.
It is also one of the BIGGEST WATER FIGHTS' you'll ever see in your life! If you don't want to get wet you better not leave your house for three days.

Most of the action is centered around the moat which also serves the purpose of becoming an endless water source to be hurled at anyone and everyone. There are tons of trucks circling the moat with its bed filled with people. They usually have a large trash can filled with water and often the water is cooled down with big blocks of ice. Fortunately, Songkran coincides with the hottest time of the year. The country wide water fight becomes a welcome relief to the scorching heat.

It is a family affair with everybody getting into the action. Unfortunately, the girls are back in the states and I am by myself here. I know next year they will not want to miss it. I felt like a 7 year old boy during Songkran. What an amazing feeling to have a water fight for 3 days in the middle of town. Think of that happening in the States. Surreal!!!!1

This is our friend Melody throwing water on a little kid and vice versa. Melody was Acacia's first grade teacher last year.

The streets are filled with families on motorcycles. Can you imagine get a bucketful of ice water thrown on you as you try to navigate a motorcycle. I don't know how they do it.

This little girl was so cute! I insisted that she throw some water on me and she was kind enough to oblige.

Melody helping fellow Chiang Mai residents beat the heat. Keep up the good work Melody.

This is a view of the moat. The water is quite dirty, but after a while of bucket after bucket thrown in your face you forget to care.

People dress up and wear silly hats like this guy wearing an appropriate watermelon hat.

I don't believe that is their real hair, but I'm not sure.

Oh, man! She got them good! When you are in the back of a truck you are a sitting duck.

Nice throw. I think they were a little wet after that.

There are bands playing and parades going on throughout town. It was such a fun and festive atmosphere. It was like the whole country was a huge Chuck- E- Cheese "where a kid could be a kid". It was AWESOME!!!

It is hard to tell in this picture but I am soaked to the bone. GOOD TIMES!!!!!!
So many of the expats and missionaries living here in Chiang Mai talk about how they hate Songkran because they can't get anything done around town for 3 days. I found it to be the funnest time I've ever had in Thailand. I love it. I know my girls will love it too. Are you kidding me a country wide water fight for 3 days. They won't be able to get enough of it.

A Broken Heart

2009-03-24T07:11:00.000-07:00

It was Sunday night and we were just saying goodbye to a friend that was visiting us from our church back in California. I dropped Erin off at her hotel and I start heading home. During the drive home I get a call from Acacia that her cat Tiger Lilly is having a hard time breathing and her tongue is dark purple. All this is happening at about 11pm. I get home and Shelly and Acacia grab Tiger and wisk her off to the animal hospital. They seem to be gone forever. I start to worry and call them to get an update. Shelly tells me that they took an X-ray and it shows that Tiger is only able to use 10% of her lungs. She apparently has some sort of infection and because of her previous injury it is making it worse. For those of you that follow our blog you may remember when Tiger had her ribs broken and her heart was bruised. Evidently somebody had kicked her really hard. Shelly calls me back to tell me that the Vets will keep her and do whatever it takes to keep her alive. Shelly and Acacia finally arrive home around midnight and Acacia is off to bed. We get a call about an hour later that Tiger had died. My heart sank. This is the 3rd cat that has died in the short time that we've been here. In the morning I took the girls to school without telling them that Tiger has gone to heaven. Just as a side note, Shelly left that morning to go to Nepal for a week. She was very hesitant to leave due to the circumstances. I assured her that it would be ok and that I would handle it. When I picked the girls up from school I had a very heavy heart. I sat at a bench in the school playground and told my little girl that her cat went up to heaven. She immediately started crying and I held her in my arms and started crying too. I wasn't crying so much for the cat, rather I was crying that my little girl's heart was breaking once again. The girls have a tendency to gravitate to their Mom when something like this happens. I think maybe Shelly leaving and myself having to deal with this alone was not a coincidence. I think God has some hand in this to create a deeper bond between my daughter and myself.

Acacia asked if we could bury Tiger next to Love Bug in the front yard. She held Tiger one last time and we dug the hole together.

As a way of saying goodbye I had the girls write a note saying what they felt about Tiger Lilly. Acacia's drawing of a broken heart just about broke my heart.

We covered the box that held Tiger and had a little funeral ceremony.

Anna and I both wrote a note to Tiger to send up to heaven.

Acacia standing on Tiger's grave site to pack down the earth.

We attached all of our notes to Tiger on the hot air lantern to be sent to heaven.

As the hot air lantern floats up we say our last goodbyes.

I am so sorry honey that Tiger had to leave this world. I know she meant a lot to you and that you will miss her deeply.

I love you more than all the stars in the sky sweetie!

Love Dad

Burma Fun Run/Walk 5k

2009-03-16T18:37:00.001-07:00

This T shirt says it all. This fundraiser for the displaced people of Burma was organized by the "Free Burma Rangers". The Free Burma Rangers (FBR)are based in Thailand and have teams that go into Burma to bring in aid, supplies and provide training. To learn more about FBR go to www.freeburmarangers.org. They do fantastic much needed work and could use your support. The Burma Fun Run has been held several years to raise support and awareness for the people of Burma. Burma is one of the most repressed countries on Earth. The Fun Run was on Saturday morning and it seemed like the entire expat/missionary community was in full force. Unfortunately, this time of year in Thailand and in Chiang Mai especially the farmers burn their trash and crops and the pollution is horrendous. Not great for running!

Acacia pondering what to buy from the handicraft table. She ended up buying Mommy a nice handmade purse.

Acacia posing the event's MC. The MC said she was going to run, but her shoes were hurting her feet. Whatever!

The whole group rallying around the event organizer Dave Eubanks. Dave said a word of thanks for all the support and love and he finished off with a prayer to the people of Burma.

Ready, Set, GO!!!!!!!!

I turned out to be a walker instead of a runner. I just got over a sinus infection and the pollution was horrible. Not to mention I was lugging around a big camera.

Run.....run lass.....run like the wind.... Anna you are going the wrong way. You silly girl!

Shelly and her friend Monica in the back of the picture to the left pushing a stroller. We thought Anna might get tired after about 10 feet so we brought the stroller to control the whining factor.

Acacia and Anna have a rest after all the festivities.

Acacia on the far right competing in the under 10year olds dash to the finish. Good job honey!!

Afterwards all the kids got a treat. We visited and talked with friends and then went out for nice big breakfast.

Please pray for the people of Burma and keep them in your thoughts.

Chiang Mai flower festival

2009-03-01T19:35:00.000-08:00

Every February Chiang Mai blossoms with its annual Flower festival. The center of the city is full of parade floats made entirely out of flowers, seeds and other natural ingredients. The floats are pretty detailed. Many hours were spent putting it all together.

Of course no Thai event is complete without a sprawling market with food stalls and people hawking their wares. Anybody need a pair of sunglasses?

Beauty and the Beast! Along with the market and the beautiful flower floats comes the trash. I just liked the juxtaposition of the two.

It was cute watching this man trying to photograph his son on the float. Like most kids he couldn't keep still. I wonder if he ever got off a sharp photo. Kids and animals are the hardest things to photograph.

This is the moat that surrounds the city center. The water looks nice,but don't let it fool you. You would get quite sick if you went into the water, its a little dirty!

A young Thai examining the intricacies of the flower float. Very impressive.

It is very similar to going to the Rose Parade for those of you that have done that.

One thing is for sure in Thailand is that you will never go hungry. Food stalls are everywhere. I love this place!!!

Color abounds. you can buy anything here too.

A row of "tuk tuks" to shuttle you on your way.

Poor Ajan Sanan

2009-02-11T04:42:00.000-08:00

I'm heading into work this morning and I see a co-worker starting to drive out of the parking lot and I also noticed that the whole office is closed up. She motions me to get in the car with her and I learn on the way as she is driving that Ajan Sanan (my boss)just had back surgery. What!!!!!!
I do remember Ajan Sanan being in the hospital a couple months ago shortly after receiving a Thai massage. Man, that must have been some kind of massage. For those of you who have never had a Thai massage it can be quite painful at times and you also become a contortionist of sorts. Lots of twisting, bending and popping of joints. It does actually feel good afterwards.
Anyways, I guess it was a continual problem for him so he opted for surgery.

These are the fragments of bone and other inside stuff (that is medical terminology). Ajan Sanan tried to tell me what it is and about his surgery. My medical Thai vocabulary is pretty lacking so I nodded a lot and said "Oh" at the right places and was able to pretend I knew what he was talking about. That's pretty much how I go through life. My nursing friends could probably attest to this.

The dressing looks nice and clean and the patient seems to be healing nicely. He anticipates being in the hospital for a week or so. Depends on how well he does. I hope he recovers quickly and has no further problems. I jokingly said as I was leaving that I was on my way to get a Thai massage. The humor did translate in Thai and there was uproarious laughter heard throughout the room. My work is done here. Get well Ajan Sanan!!!!

Horizon Park

2009-01-30T22:50:00.000-08:00

Acacia and Anna running through a hedge maze at Horizon Park. This place is a nice tranquil respite from the city of Chiang Mai. The park is filled with beautifully sculpted bushes and trees. Gardens, animals, waterfalls and a small manmade lake are all surround by tree lined shady paths. We've only come here 3 times so far, but I think we should make it a regular thing. You can rent bikes and leisurely ride all around the park.

This is the lake with dolphin sculpted trees. They also have paddle boats to rent and putt around the lake. We didn't do that on this outing, maybe next time.

I think the sign says it all! Acacia and Anna's combined age is 12, so I think they will be ok

Anna showing her prowess as a monkey bar specialist. You go honey! You've got mad skills sweetie!

Acacia showing off her monkey skills. She was able to traverse these bars several times without seeming to tire.

Where do they get all their energy?

Back and forth, back and forth. I was getting tired just watching them. Acacia kept egging me on to do it too.

I couldn't even make it all the way to the end. I told Acacia you try lugging around 190 lbs and see if you can do it! She didn't seem too impressed.

One of the many sculpted garden areas. This one was sporting a dragon. Cool huh!
They even have camels and deer on the other side of the park. The girls love going over there to feed them.

We all worked ourselves into a frenzy and then finally had to break for lunch. This is a silhouette shot of Mommy and Anna enjoying the scenery while eating lunch.

I slowed down the shutter speed to get that blurred effect in the waterfall.

Acacia riding her bike on her way to the playground area.

Anna coming back from the snack shop with Mommy and our visitors from the States. The Wallihans joined us over the Christmas holiday season.

Mommy riding a rental bike. Show em how it's done honey! We love coming here and the kids can't get enough of it.

History in the making!!!!!

2009-01-21T04:58:00.001-08:00

I came so close to calling in hopeful this morning to work. I had a serious case of Obama fever. My symptoms were uncontrolled giddiness, uncharacteristic hopefulness. I also had reduced amount of saracsm. What is going on with me? Maybe it is also because I was up so late watching history unfold before my eyes. The Presidential Inaugural speech did not start until midnight here in Thailand. But, that didn't stop anyone from celebrating. This is a picture of my friend Greg sporting an Obama tee shirt written in Thai. We had a gathering at the U.N. Irish pub in the heart of downtown Chiang Mai.
Greg his wife Liz and I showed up early to get a good location. Today was also Liz's birthday. What a memorable birthday for her.
Liz intently watching CNN among the expats of Chiang Mai.

That is me giving a thumbs up to my peeps.

Anytime Obama was shown on TV the crowd would erupt in cheers. I felt like I was watching the superbowl.

This is the moment when Barak Obama took the oath of office. We were all like a bunch of giddy school girls. What a memorable night. Some of my friends were crying and we were all hugging. I will never forget it.

It really felt good to be an American again!

New Years 2009 with friends

2009-01-09T21:34:00.000-08:00

The night started out with a friendly game of "Texas Hold em" with our good friends the Wallihans and Matt and Melody. The Wallihans are visiting us from America. Matt and Melody are teachers at Acacia's school. No money was involved so there was no breaking of legs or anything. We purchased this game quite some time ago for the outrageous amount of $1 and this was the first time we played it. It was a lot of fun.

We accidentally set the clock ahead to convince the little ones that it was already midnight. They were completely fooled and were bamboozled into giving each other a hug and then departing for their rooms for a night of slumber. Man, they are so gullable.

Here it is hugfest 2009!!!! Acacia, Anna, Jessica and Jacob you ROCK!

However, prior to all this time deception was the fireworks display. We lit this paper air lantern and watched it float up in the night sky.

The kids holding the lantern while it fills up with hot air. They are very excited to see it float away. It also can get a little hot holding it that is why they are kind of turning away.

We hired a pyrotechnics expert to launch all our fireworks, oh wait just a second, that is Shelly. Be careful Shelly!!! That stuff is hot!

Annapurna showing off her sparkler. Happy New Year sweetie!

More pyrotechnic wizardry in action. You can't see it, but there were lots of ooohhhs and aaahhhhs. Still shots just can't capture that.

Brett Wallihan helping the little ones to light their sparklers. After they were lit they ran around the street waving their sparkler all around. It brings back memories when I was a little kid during the New Year. I loved running around the streets with a piece of metal on fire.

Acacia striking a New Years pose. You look beautiful honey. Happy New Year to everyone. Thank you Wallihans for coming to visit us and help us ring in the new year. Thanks Matt and Melody for joining us to celebrate 2009.
Best wishes to everyone in 2009 Love the Faucett family

A little Christmas cheer

2008-12-26T19:32:00.001-08:00

Merry "shiner" Christmas !!! Now if she only had a few teeth knocked out too. I think it would tie the whole ensemble together. This is the gift that just keeps giving. This is what happens when you try to play soccer with the big boys. Poor Acacia has had two black eyes since coming to Thailand.

This was the day after Thanksgiving. We wanted to get in the Christmas spirit early this year. There are not that many reminders that it is Christmas around here. I don't think there is any snow in the forecast either.

Daddy's attempt to get a family Christmas picture. We tried to hold two of the cats on our laps, but they kept fighting so we opted for Tiger Lily.

Two of Santa's helpers showing off their nutcracker moves.

Ok, I lied about the snow forecast. We were able to take advantage of this small snow storm and plastered it against our sliding glass doors. I think the girls did a commendable job of making it look Christmassy.

Acacia showing off her favorite Christmas present the siamese webkins kitty on the right. She got her first webkins which she is carrying in her right hand from her good friend Brooklyn. Acacia loves her webkins more than anything in the world. In fact she has to go to a webkins anonymous meeting soon for her addiction. Thanks Karen!!

Shelly is supervising the girls with cracking their walnuts and almonds that they found in their stockings. The girls middle names are Fearless and Danger and they are interchangable for both girls. Hence the need for close supervision!

This is Christmas Eve night with all the Christmas lights on in the house. Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

Acacia making the black eye look vogue. Christmas style

Acacia and her friend Yurina at her school Christmas program.

Acacia and her class playing Christmas songs on the recorder. They did a great job.
Proud of you honey!

Anna at her school Christmas program sporting the traditional Christmas grass skirt. I think Anna is going to be in the theater someday. She loves being on stage. You go girl!!

Merry Christmas everybody!!!!!
Love Brett, Shelly, Acacia and Annapurna

Magha Puja Day

2008-12-11T19:08:00.000-08:00

Magha puja day is considered one of the most important Buddhist celebrations. It refers to the worship that takes place on the full moon of the third lunar month (about the last week of February or early March) to commemorate the day on which Lord Buddha recited the "Ovadha Patimokkha" (the Fundamental Teaching) to his disciples.

This day marks the great four events that took place during Lord Buddha's lifetime, namely;

The time of the full moon in the third lunar month,

1,250 Buddhist monks from differents places came to pay homage to the Lord Buddha at Veluwan Temple in Rajgaha City of Magaha State, without any appointment,

all of them were Arahants (enlightened monks) who had attained the Apinyas (Six Higher Knowledges),

all of them had been individually ordained by Lord Buddha himself (Ehi Bhikkhu).

Later, the Magha Puja ceremony was widely accepted and performed throughout the country.

The evening of that day, Lord Buddha gave the assembly a discourse "Ovadha Patimokkha",laying down the principles of His Teachings to be followed by all Buddhists, summarized into three acts, i.e. to do good, to abstain from bad action and to purify the mind.

Magha Puja Day was never celebrated in Thai kingdom. King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) explained that "..the Magha Puja was never performed, the ceremony has just been practised during the reign of King Mongkrut (Rama IV) of the Chakri Dynasty". Having realized the importance of this day, King Rama IV ordered the royal Magha Puja Ceremony to be performed in the Emerald Buddha Temple in 1851 and to celebrate it yearly.

Later the ceremony was widely accepted and performed throughout the kingdom. It was declared to be a public holiday back then so everybody could go to the temple to merit and perform other religious activities in the morning and to take part in the candlelit procession or"Wien Tien" in the evening.

I set my alarm for 5am to drive out to witness this spectacular site of Buddhism. There were actually about 10,000+ Buddhist monks participating in this yearly ceremony. The first picture on this post was taken at 5:30am

I've never seen so many saffron robes in my life. It was amazing how quiet this place was despite the enormous amount of people here.

These are alms bowls that the Buddhist monks fill daily with food solely from the generosity of the Thai people. The Thai people in turn gain merit by giving food to the monks.

People came out in throngs, some of the little ones were a little tired but awfully cute!

The Thai people praying and paying their respects during the ceremony. The monks recited a chant for about 20 minutes and then they formed long lines to receive food from the observers

It was an incredible site to see so many people fill the streets.

I liked this shot for its surreal ghost like appearance. These two shots were taken earlier in the morning. Everywhere I looked I kept seeing monks coming from the side streets to take their place. It felt like they were never going to stop coming.

It was interesting to see the wide age ranges of the monks. Some of the monks looked like they were around 8 or 9 years old and some were obviously pretty old.

There was a stage set up in the middle of the street with monks sitting in chairs on each side of the stage. 5,000+ on one side and another 5,000+ monks on the other. They had 4 senior monks on stage performing the ceremony

This is my good friend Rachel who lives on this street and was not originally intending to watch this ceremony, but she had no choice because the whole street was blocked off and she couldn't really go anywhere. She lives on the 2nd floor of this building and I wanted to get some overhead shots. I asked if I could go up to her apartment to get some good shots. We were standing next to her landlord who has an apartment on the 6th floor and he offered his place to take pictures. What a great guy!

This picture is looking in the other direction. All that orange is the thousands of monks. AMAZING!!!!

This is the last shot I took before leaving. I had to go because I am the under 11 year old girls basketball coach and we had a practice that morning.

I'm so glad that I had the opportunity to witness such a spectacular display of the Buddhist religion in action. Something I would never see in America.

World AIDS Day December 1st, 2008

2008-12-09T20:01:00.000-08:00

The estimated population of Thailand is 65,493,000 people of which approximately 614,000 are living with HIV/AIDS. These numbers can be further broken down to Adults 15 years and older who comprise 600,000 cases. Women aged 15 years and older make up 250,000 of the total adults. Children from birth to 15 years old account for 14,000 cases of HIV/AIDS. The estimated adult HIV prevalence rate in Thailand is 1.4%. Total number of AIDS related deaths reported in 2007 is 31,000 (UNAIDS).

December 1st commemorates World AIDS Day,unfortunately due to Thailand’s unstable political circumstances the World AIDS Day celebration was quite subdued. The original plan was to have a march of WAD participants from each corner of the moat to the center of town. The central part of Chiang Mai is surrounded by a moat. Speeches were supposed to be given and lots of networking between HIV/AIDS organizations. This was curtailed by the government’s fear of large groups of people gathering due to the recent protestor activity.

Church of Christ in Thailand AIDS Ministry(CAM) along with 6-7 other HIV/AIDS NGO’s and FBO’s organized a WAD celebration in the sub district of Saraphi located in the southern part of Chiang Mai. The celebration was a gathering of approximately 150-200 people with a stage and several HIV/AIDS information booths surrounding the perimeter of the facility. CAM manned an information booth and also constructed a “tree of love” which was made from branches of a real tree. CAM provided heart shaped paper cutouts and people were then encouraged to write a note of love and compassion for people suffering from HIV/AIDS. These heart shaped notes were then hung on the tree branches like leaves on the tree. It was to symbolize that we are all connected even though we may feel like we are way out on a limb it still leads back to the center of the tree. We are all a part of one big tree and that we are all affected by each other.

This morning I attended a prayer service held at one of the Church of Christ in Thailand (CCT) conference rooms. The service was attended by several church members who are under the CCT and also several community members outside of the CCT. The Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) and the Asian Interfaith Network on AIDS (AINA) were among the groups represented at the service. There was an advent service with the lighting of 3 candles. One young HIV positive girl was brought up to light a candle and was prayed for by an Elder in the community. The young girl and her younger sister acquired HIV after being raped and both are now living in a place called “House of Love”. “House of Love” takes in children that have been abandoned, orphaned and HIV positive. The children are primarily from Hill tribes and are more at risk since non Thais have difficult access to health care and services. At the end of the service we all wrote a note of love and compassion on our heart cutouts and tied them to the tree branch.

Ajan Sanan Wutti the Director of CAM who is also a reverend participated in preaching church sermons devoted especially to HIV/AIDS in Phrao and in Saraphi. We were surprised during his sermon to the Phrao congregation on the directness of his speech regarding the church’s responsibility to acknowledge and address HIV/AIDS in their community. This is not the typical Thai way of sending a message across. The Thai’s tend to be very indirect and issues especially ones that are sensitive in nature like HIV/AIDS are often talked about in a round about way. The response from the congregation was positive and we will monitor if it will have a lasting effect.

Please pray for the people of Thailand and their continued efforts to care for those suffering from HIV/AIDS.

HIV/AIDS awareness exhibits at Chiang Mai University

2008-11-29T17:03:00.000-08:00

We are coming up on World AIDS Day on Dec 1st. Several Faith Based Organizations and NGO's around Chiang Mai get together at Chiang Mai University and man information booths. This is Khun Jaruwan sitting at the CAM booth. Jaruwan is the co-director of CAM (CCT AIDS Ministry) along with her husband Ajan Sanan Wutti. The week prior to World AIDS Day several organizations plan events to bring greater awareness of HIV/AIDS.

One of the many participants showing his support by donning the traditional HIV/AIDS red ribbon.
The whole group from CAM posing for a picture in front of our booth and tree of love.

Some of the several college students painting a canvas bag with a message about HIV/AIDS. To be sold and the money to be used for HIV/AIDS education.

There were quite a few talented artists painting these bags. I was very impressed.

This is CAM's tree of love. Participants write a message of hope and love to those suffering from HIV/AIDS and then hang the heart up on the tree.
Banners of information about HIV/AIDS surrounded the event.
It was interesting to see all the creative ways people displayed information regarding HIV/AIDS. It was bright, colorful and attention getting.
Several of the college students putting in hard work and talent to make the exhibition a success.

There was live music and skits to bring all the important information about HIV/AIDS to life. It was a great venue and had a good amount of participation. There will be a much larger celebration tomorrow on Dec 1st in the middle of town. I will take lots of pictures and post another blog on the World AIDS Day events.

LOI KRATHONG

2008-11-12T22:41:00.000-08:00

The full moon day of the twelfth lunar month is Loi Krathong. Thais in massive numbers congregate around the rivers and open fields to release floating fire lanterns in the sky and lotus shaped baskets or boat with candles and flowers down the river. The most impressive is the release of the floating fire lanterns which they do in massive numbers. This festival area is called "Yi Peng". The monks perform a meditation while people follow along and then they announce that it is time to release the lanterns. Loi Krathong is my favorite time of the year in Thailand. The town is decorated beautifully with a very festive atmosphere and it also marks the beginning of the cool season. Which is glorious here. We went to Loi Krathong last year but unfortunately we had to leave before the releasing of the lanterns because the girls were getting tired and fussy. This year I went with a friend who likes to take pictures as much as I do. What a great time.

Prior to releasing the lanterns the monks proceed down off the stage and ceremoniously light the torches/candles that will be used to light the fire lanterns.

The flame holders are quite ornate

People are starting to get their lanterns ready
The excitement is building as more people are filling their lanterns with hot air.
It is just about time to let them go!
Here we go!
Let em goooooo!!!!!!

This is one of the most spectacular things I've seen! The pictures don't do the event justice.
I keep firing away with my camera trying to get the best shot.

Sometimes it is hard to really appreciate what you are seeing as it is all happening so fast.

I believe there are approximately 3,000+ lanterns being released simultaneously.

They finish that first huge wave of lanterns and people continue to release lantern after lantern until the night sky is filled with little glowing orange dots.

The winds carry the lanterns up and in a swirly pattern and decorate the black sky. The weather was beautiful with clear night skies. What an amazing night!

Towards the end of the evening they shoot off fireworks in the midst of all the floating lanterns.

Groups of monks gathered together to send off a row of floating lanterns (comb loi). The Thais believe at Loi Krathong that when they release the lanterns and float the Krathong(banana leaf basket) down the river they are washing or releasing the years sins away.
UP
UP
AND AWAY!!!!

Bali Indonesia

2008-11-08T01:26:00.000-08:00

Acacia has her first break from school during October, so we decided to visit our PC(USA) Missionary loved one Becca Young in Bali. Becca works in PDA Presbyterian Disaster Assistance for the Tsunami area and also teaches systematic theology. I think she has a Master's Degree in just about everything. Let's just put it this way, she is smart! Since all the planets were aligned we were also able to coordinate with our other Missionary loved one Carmen Goetschius from Zambia to join us to soak up the Balinesian sun and culture. Carmen will also accompany us back home to spend a week in Chiang Mai before she returns to Washington State. This first picture is of a Balinese temple built on a rocky outcropping which is a beautiful backdrop at the hotel we are staying in. Thankfully Becca has some sort of residency card and was able to get us rooms for about half off and speaks fluent Indonesian. You ROCK Becca!!!

This is Becca wearing traditional Bali head gear for riding a motorcycle. She says everybody is doing it, besides it feels so good.

This is our wonderful friend Carmen who spent 13 months in Zambia (Check out her blog she has amazing stories and pictures)
We stopped at an Indian restaurant and Carmen is helping Acacia decide on what to order. Acacia is quite the picky eater so Carmen has her work cut out for her. Good luck Carmie!

This is Daddys pathetic attempt at tranforming Acacia into the "Little Mermaid". Acacia also got to bury Daddy in the sand. Then we both ran to wash off in the waves. I think I may still have some sand somewhere on my body in all the nooks and crannys.

Anna loves to ride on Daddy's shoulders!

I asked Carmen to take a picture of the family sitting out on the golf course which has grand views of the ocean and is especially beautiful during sunset.

I was going to put a flower behind my ear, but it kept falling out.

Shelly laying down in one of the many pool side cabanas reading to her hearts content. The hotel also offered free supervised kids activities that the kids loved so they were happy and we got time to just read and relax.

Carmen and Shelly making their way into the jacuzzi amidst the many pools and slides that surrounded the hotel grounds. The kids were in hog heaven with all the pools. They also had a very long twisting/turning slide that was well hidden among all the greenery.

Shelly got to celebrate her birthday in Bali too. So, we had a nice romantic birthday dinner at this beautiful cabana overlooking the ocean. I can't believe Shelly is already 30 years old. Time sure does fly!

This is the birthday dinner cabana from a distance.

The whole Faucett family enjoying the Bali sunset.

Does it get any better than this! Thanks Carmen! Thanks Becca! We had a wonderful time with you all!!!

Poor Tiger Lily

2008-10-15T21:56:00.001-07:00

We let Acacia's cat "Tiger Lily" out for the evening about a week ago and didn't see her for about 2 days. She finally showed up in the backyard and was very lethargic and meowed/groaned whenever she was picked up. We saw a lump on her right side and brought her into the vet. We came to find out she had 3 broken ribs and a bruised heart. We thought maybe she was hit by a motorcycle or something, but the vet thinks she was either kicked really hard or hit by some blunt object. She was in the animal hospital for 5 days and we were really worried about her. We've already buried 2 of the girls kittens and didn't want the same fate for this one. We were able to take her home on the 5th day and she seems so much better. I have to give her antibiotics and antiinflammatories for 7 days. She has to wear that bandage around her rib cage for 7 days also. We are very glad to have "Tiger Lilly" back and it looks like she is on the road to recovery.

"Princess Party"

2008-10-15T21:28:00.001-07:00

Well,after a couple weeks of trying to schedule a birthday party for Anna and her school friends it finally happened. Of course it was a Princess party. It was a nice little gathering of young up and coming Divas primed for some Princessing around.
Oh my gosh, there she is!!! She looks just like an angel with that amazing glow about her.

So there's this princess that walks into a castle and tries to order a drink at the ball...... Oh, I've heard this one, it is so funny!

The princesses all had to search the yard for a princess shoe that they got to keep. How great is that?!

As we all know there can't just be princesses, so we had batman too. He's kinda like a prince, sort of.
Chocolate..........Oh, sweet chocolate. HA HA HA HA HA.... MMMMMMMMMMM. Hey, can I have some more? Mommmmmmmmmmmmmm can I have some more chocolate? All the divas got to decorate their own cupcakes. Don't worry all the kids had to give up their keys since they were drunk on chocolate. Happy Princess Birthday Party!!!

Anna's 5th Birthday

2008-10-09T19:55:00.001-07:00

Our little girl is now 5 years old and she is already a DIVA. Anna raced down stairs to a table full of gifts and sat down for her birthday breakfast. Mom bought her the perfect gifts-Princess dresses. Anna will wear the same princess dress for weeks. The Thais love it!!!
Whats for breakfast Mom? How about a birthday cupcake to start the day.
Anna tells me that it is all about accessorizing. YOU GO GIRL!
Acacia likes to get in the mix and help with fashion tips too. Anna received 3 other Disney princess outfits for her wearing pleasure.
"There's no place like home", "There's no place like home" Unfortunately the shoes are a little on the narrow side and Anna has wide feet so it looks like she has swollen feet. She walks a little funny in them too. Anna, do the shoes hurt your feet? No..... They're perfect.
Thanks Mom and Dad this was the best birthday ever. I can't believe what great parents you are!!! I mean anybody would be lucky to have you as parents, I can't say enough. I feel honored to be your daughter. Oh, honey please stop you are embarrassing me.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ACACIA !!!!!!

2008-09-05T23:51:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday sweetheart!!! (August 28th)I can't believe you are already 7 yrs old. Where did all the time go? Acacia woke up to presents and balloons in the living room. Breakfast was being prepared by Mom.
It's not everyday you get a number 7 shaped pancake with sprinkles. Really a once in a lifetime experience.
We got to celebrate later with ice cream sundaes. Unfortunately, Acacia came home from school with a bad headache on her birthday. The original plan was to have all her friends come over after school and have a birthday party at our house. We cancelled since Acacia wasn't feeling very good and so we scheduled it for next Friday. Her party with all sort of activities was centered around a kitty theme. Acacia loves kitties/cats!!!
So, Mama with her great creativity came up with fun activities and crafts to do, all with kitties in mind. As you can see she is sporting cat ears and a collar. Each child made their own collar and ears in the very beginning and then wore it during the entire party.

We played games like (dog, dog, cat) basically the same as duck,duck, goose. The kids loved it and were able to run some of their sillies out. If you know what I mean.
Acacia sporting her new fashion statement. I think it is Kitty Dior, or something like that. I'm not quite up on the fashion these days. I do like how she is striking a pose.
Anna having fun watching the other girls play pin the flower to the hello kitty while waiting for her own turn.
Acacia is showing her friends how pin the flower on the hello kitty is done. Good job Acacia!!!
The kids also got to decorate their own cupcake with all sorts of goodies to create, what else....... a cat.
This is Miss Melody, Acacia's 1st grade teacher last year. The kids kept chanting for Miss Melody to take a turn. It is hard to refuse 14 screaming girls.
Acacia is leading a game of Kitty says. Are you noticing a theme here. I'll give you a hint......Meeeeooowww!!!
Time for the traditional fishing for prizes. This one was a crowd favorite since everybody received a couple of gifts each.

This last game involved two teams competing against each other by batting a ball with their paws up to a milk dish and then lapping up the milk from the bowl.

Acacia and Tona are the first ones to go and both did a great job.

This is Acacia's friend Jordan showing great kitty technique of lapping up milk. Way to go Jordan!!

I don't know what happened and why they turned, but this ended up being something out of the "Lord of the Flies". Parents finally showed up and picked up their little ones and all was well again.

Happy 7th Birthday Acacia
Love Dad, Mom and Annapurna

"That's Entertainment"

2008-09-02T02:22:00.000-07:00

TV...... Who needs a TV when we have non-stop entertainment at the drop of a hat. We have fashion shows, American/Thai Idol shows and So you think you can dance shows. The selection is endless. The girls feel it is their duty to entertain us.
Today we are being treated to a puppet show. One thing you can't see is off camera and that is Anna singing background songs for the production. Acacia did the same for Anna on her puppet show. They really are team players.
Hey Shell check out what Anna is doing! Shell, Shell get up you are missing the best part. Ok, so the productions run a little long and can sometimes be a little hard to follow.
Anna tends to use every part of the stage and has quite the imagination. Sometimes she really surprises us with what she comes up with.
I hope they have tickets available for their up coming shows. I hear they sell out fast! I don't want to be left behind. Break a leg girls!!!!

Love Dad

Chiang Dao

2008-08-28T22:26:00.001-07:00

Part of my job with CAM is visiting HIV/AIDS patients at their home. We provide them with much needed emotional and spiritual support. Today we were accompanied by 2 members of the Uniting Church in Adelaide Australia. Michael and Anna. Both of them are pastors in their church. Our destination is Chiang Dao which is a 2hr drive north of Chiang Mai. We often pass vehicles like this loaded up to the sky. There are many times that the backs of trucks are filled with poor Thais and Hill Tribe people being shuttled to work sites. In Chiang Dao we will be visiting 2 families that have multiple members infected with HIV/AIDS. We also bring food and some clothing to help the families.

The trip up to Chiang Dao is a beautiful drive along the lush green mountains that follows the Ping River. It is hard to tell in this picture, but there are 2 farmers on the left side of the picture. They are working the fields located on the upper edge of the mountain.
When farangs arrive in the village the kids are sometimes shy. I tried to talk to this young girl, but she apparently felt embarrassed or maybe it was my poor Thai language abilities.
This is Sanan in the red shirt(my boss at CAM) and John and Anna conversing with some of the local villagers. Sanan has been here so many times that we have to stop several times to chat with the locals along the way to the families we intend to visit.
Some of the smaller Thais curious about the visitors to their village.

It was interesting listening to this family's story. The mother on the left has had HIV/AIDS for approximately 11 years and her daughter next to her is 11 years old and is also HIV+. The gentleman on the right of the picture is the uncle. The father passed away some years ago from HIV/AIDS. The mother is very sick and emaciated and will be going to the hospital soon to start a second line of ARV's. Unfortunately when patients start the second line of ARV's there is difficulty with compliance due to the fact that the medications often make you feel worse for the first few weeks to months.
I asked how old the family members were and was told they were not sure the mother thinks she is around 38, and the daughter was 11 or so per the mother. How could you not know how old you are? I've never met anyone that didn't know how old they were.
This is the interior of their bamboo hut, which is very sparse. How would you like to be sick as a dog and have to live in these conditions? Everytime I go on these home care visits I thank God for all the blessings that I have in my life. I can't imagine my life in some of these peoples shoes. I am also amazed at how gracious and generous they are too, despite the fact they have so little to give.
The gentleman on the right side of the picture is the local church leader and he often coordinates cares for the patients that CAM visits. For instance, he will make sure the mother in the previous picture gets to the hospital and he will also help translate for her since she is from the Lahu hill tribe and they speak a different language. Not to mention it is much more difficult for Hill tribe people to access the health care system here.
This cute little boy was startled by all the huge white visitors and clung to his HIV+ mother. I'm not sure how long she has been HIV+. Her 1st husband died from HIV/AIDS a couple years ago. Her second husband was not around and I'm not sure of his status.
This is the local church and also the place where we took a break for lunch. We were able to reflect on all that we had seen and we were amazed at the resilience of the Chiang Dao community. I will be going on home care visits every month and look forward to building relationships with the people we visit.

Thai for Dummies

2008-08-23T01:20:00.000-07:00

This is Kaew our language tutor and Shelly at the local coffee shop "Wawee" where we meet for our thrice weekly lessons. That means lessons three times a week. We initially picked this coffee hang out for its tranquil environment with birds chirping and the soothing sound of their rock waterfall. Not to mention they have great coffee and they are experts at IV's to get the caffeine in just that much quicker. We take turns each Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. I mangle the language for 2 hrs first to warm Kaew up and then Shelly gets to hurt Kaew's ears for an additional hour.

I started learning to read and write in Thai months ago and now Shelly is just starting to learn. I feel her pain and frustration at the start of learning how to read and write. I know it seems crazy, but they do have rules in their language. Just getting a grasp of those rules is the fun part.

In the Thai language they have 44 consonants and those consonants are divided up into classes. High class, Mid class, and Low Class. This is important because each class has specific tone markers attached to it and this shows you how to pronounce the word. The names of the consonant classes (high, middle and low) are completely arbitrary. For example, a low class consonant can generate a high tone and a high class consonant can generate a low tone. Neat, huh!!!! There is an algorithm that you can follow to decipher how to pronounce a word in a easy to follow manner. Oh, sweet innocent Brett, so trusting, so loving. I would almost rather have shards of glass in my eye.

Oh, hey look here is the Thai bible! It is a great book and does explain things in simpler terms which is great for a simpleton like me. Just to let you know there are 32 vowels and 4 tone markers in Thai. Every Thai syllable starts with a consonant. Although the consonant sound comes first, the vowel may be written before, above, below, after or around the consonant depending on the vowel. Also the Thais have no breaks in between words so it is one continuous stream of letters. That is why it is so crucial to memorize where the vowels are located because that will help you know where a word ends or begins. Ahhhh...... good times!
You probably can't tell in this serene picture of two people having a conversation and enjoying some smooth rich coffee, but Shelly's brain is actually imploding at this moment.

There are some pluses too, it's not all negative. For one thing there are no verb conjugations in Thai, we just add time markers. There are no articles like(a, an, the). There is no verb "to be" with adjectives, so she is beautiful would be "She beautiful. I like this one the best because it fits my Cro-magnon mentality. "Me go store", "Me like food"
This is a page of reading exercizes from the "Thai bible" and astoundingly Shelly and I both can read and understand them. I guess there is hope for us after all. Of course it takes us a couple of hours to read one page, but we can do it.
Ahhhh.... learning languages. Thai has been an extremely difficult language to learn mainly due to the tones. Thai language has 5 tones (mid, low, falling, high and rising). The same word can be spoken with 5 different tones and they mean completely different things. For instance (Mai) could be mile, new, no/not, ...,right, and silk depending on the tone you use.
So, sometimes it's frustrating when you are talking to someone and you know you are using the right word, but they keep looking at you like you have an arm growing out of your back. Some people can't seem to figure out what you are trying to say because of the wrong tone used even though the context is clear.

Even though I'm complaining about the language I do love studying Thai with Kaew. We have good days and bad days when it comes to language, but we are going to stick with it since we know we will be here a long time and we think it is important to really know the language. Maybe when the girls have another year under their belt they can tutor us. It's just a thought.

Sawat dii khrap gap choke dii na khrap
Love Brett

Oma and Opa's visit to Thailand

2008-08-07T01:44:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Thailand! We met Oma and Opa at the airport on July 5th and shuttled them to our humble abode. They were very tired and needed to rest. Acacia and Anna were absolutely excited to see their Oma and Opa! Anna for the last few days kept asking in the mornings "is Oma and Opa here yet" We had to keep reminding her that they will be here soon. Finally, the day arrived.

The girls greeted Oma and Opa Thai style, with fragrant leis placed around their necks. We still can't believe they are here. The first few days we took it easy on Oma and Opa so they could get used to the time change. We had a lot of fun activities planned for them and the girls couldn't wait.

We visited a Tiger sanctuary on the outskirts of Chiang Mai. They have adult tigers and cubs that you can pet for a 15min period.How awsome is that!! If all that petting gets you hungry they have a restaurant that surrounds the tiger cage and you can eat while watching the tigers. I wonder if that is really a good idea having food served around tigers?

This is the market just outside our moobaan (neighborhood). We shop here quite often and sometimes the girls get free fruit from one of the vendors. So I guess they can buy things with their good looks. I always thought that was a myth about buying things with your good looks. I think it only works with little blond cuties.

Girls day out for tea and scrumpets or something like that. This is a nice tea house on the banks of the Ping River. Shelly, Oma and Acacia enjoyed a relaxing tea and had a great time.

Oma, Opa and the girls enjoying a day out in Lampang which is a sub district just south of Chiang Mai. They saw temples, rode a water buffalo driven cart and took a cruise on the river.

Oma, Opa and Acacia visiting Daddy's work at the Church of Christ in Thailand AIDS Ministry (CAM) office.

"Khum Khantoke" is a touristy dinner show with traditional Thai dancers, music and fun. It is a great place to get your fill of Thai food and enjoy and entertaining show.
They do dances from all the regions in Thailand and from various hill tribe groups.
The girls loved the show and hammed it up for the Thai performers. The girls were dressed in Thai attire, which illicited oohs and ahhs from the Thais. This was one of the last nights in Chiang Mai for Oma and Opa and we wanted them to see traditional Thai dancing.
Acacia and Anna love imitating Thai dancers like the one you see here. I hope someday they show a real interest to actually learning Thai dance.

Ahhhhhhh!!!!!!! The beautiful islands in Thailand!! This is Railay Bay in Krabi. Oma and Opa met us here after they took a 4 day tour of the temples in Cambodia. This was a nice place to do nothing but relax, which Shelly is quite aptly demonstrating here. Good technique Shell!!

The beautiful beach and limestone mountains that surround the Krabi Province. This place was picture postcard perfect. If you look closely that is Oma,Opa and the girls playing on the right side of the picture

The major form of transportation around the islands are these long tail boats. You have to be very careful where you sit because they rock side to side very easily. The girls loved riding in the boat looking at the craggy rock formations all along the coast.
Acacia and Anna enjoying the scenery!!!
Acacia holding the sun so that it wont set and we can enjoy a longer day. Thanks Acacia!
I went on my own one day to a secluded bay that was a haven for rock climbers. I had to traverse a steep rocky trail to get here, but it was worth it.
Opa and Anna playing in the sand.
The girls having a great time on these swings. I was going to try it, but I thought I would break it. So, no go for Daddy!

Anna and Oma enjoying the wonderful pools. They actually had two pools. The one where Anna is by herself is right next to the beach and the one with Oma and Anna together was right next to our room. Cool, huh!
A crabs eye view of the beach.

BANGKOK! This is a view from the temple "Wat Arun" or the "Temple of Dawn". The river is the Chao Phraya which snakes throughout Bangkok. The temple is crazy steep to climb and can be a little scary.

Oma,Opa and myself riding a "tuk,tuk" to the Grand Palace. This was Oma and Opa's first "tuk,tuk" ride. Congratulations.
Anna, looking at all the ornate fixtures and Buddhist images. Some people were taking pictures of her instead of the temple.

The largest reclining Buddha in the world.
The amazing temples at the "Grand Palace" This place is a must see!!!
Oma and Opa standing in front of a golden Chedi. I don't know if it is real gold, I doubt it. Man, is it shiny. It almost blinds you looking at it with the sun reflecting off it.

We had a wonderful time with Oma and Opa and wanted to thank you for creating such fun memories with us. We all miss you and love you very much. Thank you for everything. Love the Faucett Family

"MUAY THAI"

2008-07-18T00:56:00.000-07:00

I was invited by a fellow missionary friend to see a typical Thai cultural event "Muay Thai", which means Thai kickboxing. My friend Andy has lived in Thailand most of his life as a MK (which is short for missionary kid). His parents have lived here as missionaries for 40+ years. Andy, needless to say, speaks fluent Thai. If you were to talk to him on the phone you would bet your life that you were talking to a Thai. When we bought our tickets Andy did the talking and every person he talked to would just start laughing and telling their friends to come over here and listen to the farang (foreigner) speak Thai. We got our tickets and took our seats in a small kind of run down rickety stadium. There was a good mix of Thais and Farangs here to enjoy the show. They schedule 12 bouts of fighting with weights ranging from 41kg to 75kg. The show began as every event in Thailand begins, with everybody standing up during the King's song to pay homage to the King. After everybody has taken their seats the action begins.
There is traditional music that is played during the fight with musicians playing cymbals, bells, drums and a salor (kind of a crude violin). When the fighters enter the stadium to fight the musicians start playing. The fighters will then enter the ring and do their ancient rituals of dance and prayer in the ring. Each fighter will pray to each corner of the ring and bow solemnly. They actually spend quite a bit of time on this, which was interesting. They head to their corners and get rubbed down with oil and are ready to fight. If you've never seen Muay Thai, it is brutal. They can use knees, elbows and feet to inflicted punishment on their opponent

Every fighter's dance is similar, but with their own unique variation to the ritual dance and prayer.
It was fascinating to see the way each fighter performed his dance and prayer.

These young men were not playing around, you could hear the thwack of a foot against a rib cage or the head and see the welts afterwards. They would also get each other in a head lock and both fighters would knee each other in the ribs. All this while rolling around on the ropes. The lighter weight guys were lightning quick with both their fists and their feet. Unbelievable balance and stamina was the name of the game.
Each fight was 5 three-minute rounds. In between rounds the fighter would get a vigorous rub down and be stretched like a gymnast.

Ringside was home of the raucus Thais who were betting on who would win. It was like the floor of the stock exchange with money changing hands constantly. They were a loud, boisterous bunch and created the atmosphere that I anticipated seeing with the smoky haze and gambling.

I don't care who you are, thats gotta hurt!!!

One minute you're kicking somebody in the face.
The next minute you are getting knocked on your butt.
Why yes, I WOULD like a knuckle sandwich!!!
This Farang was in the heaviest weight class of the night at 76kg. He was actually a tough cookie.

He was able to trade punches pretty well with his opponent, but was not as good as the Thai was at kicking.

Looking at this picture you would never have guessed that the farang had won the fight, but he did in the 5th round with a knockout that kept the Thai on the canvas for several minutes. They actually brought a stretcher to carry him off. He eventually got up on his own and stumbled out of the ring. The blood on the farang's face is from a strategically placed elbow from his opponent.

It was approaching midnight and we were on fight number 7 of 12 fights. We were all sweating from the packed stadium and the humid night. We decided that we had seen enough and headed for the exit. We talked all the way home about what an exciting night it was.

Tiger Lily

2008-06-20T20:41:00.000-07:00

This is yet another new addition to the Faucett Family. Our neighbor's mommy cat had kittens and the neighbor brought over this runt of the litter. In my limited understanding of Thai I think he was just trying to pawn off the kitty to us. They know our girls love cats and that the kitten would be taken care of with us. Acacia came up with the name "Tiger Lily", I thought "Scrapper Lily" was more appropriate. I was vetoed. We washed her up and took her to the vet for de-worming and antibiotics for the discharge by her eyes.
The kitten really seems to have taken to Acacia and likewise.
Anna loves the kitty too, but we have to keep a close eye on her because she loves animals in that "Lenny" sort of way.

Acacia and Anna holding "Tiger Lily" and her brother "Love Bug" the neighbor's kitten. Their first meeting since we took "Tiger Lily". She has cleaned up nicely and has a baseball for a belly. She was nothing but skin and bones when we first got her. I think she would have died if we didn't take her in, she was in bad shape.

Now, we have a total of 3 cats. Milo, Cosmic Creepers and little Tiger Lily. The older cats just hiss and snarl at poor Tiger Lily and she is blissfully ignorant. She just wants to play with them and they bat at her and want nothing to do with her. The girls absolutely love the cats and they have made our transition more enjoyable.

Doi Suthep

2008-06-19T02:59:00.000-07:00

Our girls were a big hit with the Thai people in that they were constantly being hit up to take pictures with groups of Thai's. For some reason adorably cute little girls are hard to resist being photographed. Acacia was a trooper and accomodated quite a few people wanting to take her picture. On the other hand Anna would have nothing to do with anybody trying to take her picture.

I've made a previous entry on Doi Suthep, if you don't believe me just check again. This time we were joined by our good friend Kirsten Pihlaja from our Peace Corps Days in Moldova. She is actually in the last picture.

The last time we were here it was pouring down rain and yet again this time. A little rain is not going to stop us.

Doi Suthep is a huge Buddhist temple located on the mountain within view from the city. It is a beautiful landmark nestled among the lush green mountains.

Wost in Twanswation

2008-06-19T00:27:00.000-07:00

You know what amazes me is that they seem to be able to spell indistinguishable correctly but can't seem to spell standing (stabding). All of these wonderful snipits of the english language were witnessed at the Chiang Mai Zoo.
We stopped to get some lunch during our outing at the zoo, hummmm.....what sounds good.....I think I'll get the "fried hot at rice," and the little lady will get the "fried vegetable socy with pork. Our friend here will have the "fried pork with garic". Man, it all sounds so delish.....
This last one was a beaut. See how many wost in twanswations you can find. I know it may be difficult to read, but give it a go. I know there are at least 7, maybe more!

This will be a recurring theme since there is so much great material here.

Enjoy!

Kingpin

2008-06-15T01:08:00.000-07:00

This was our first time bowling in Thailand and I must admit, it was a lot fun. This actually all happened about a month ago. I'm just slow at blogging our daily lives. My apologies. One of the only gripes I had during bowling was that our scoreboard on the computer kept entering the wrong score and had to be corrected for each frame. Oh, and this nasty huge tumor that I had on my right leg. I've never seen a tumor grow so quickly and it practically rendered me useless.

I can't count how many times Shelly and I finished our frames in this position hoping for that elusive strike.
You may have picked up on the bumper guards in the picture of Acacia bowling. I can't remember if we requested those for the kids or ourselves. My memory seems to have faded in my old age.

ANNA, ANNA, no,no,no,no watch out for your fingers, the ball is going to pinch your fingerrrrrr........ Wailing and screaming ensued with all Thai eyes upon the the foreigners with the screaming kid. Ahhh, anonymity.
Anna giving us the finger. See my boo boo!! Poor thing we made it all better with ice cream after bowling.

Wardrobe Malfunction

2008-06-12T01:33:00.000-07:00

Acacia has a great time dressing up Anna in ridiculous costumes. Anna being Anna loves it and is not afraid to go out in public in her new threads. I figure I can use these pictures when the girls get older for discipline tactics. Smart,huh!

Anna, Anna, sweet misguided Anna. What are we going to do with you.

The girls love to make up silly costumes and then perform interpretive dance routines. It's better than TV.

Superstar!!!!

Thanks girls for all the wonderful memories.

Love DAD

Chiang Mai Zoo

2008-06-10T02:11:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Chiang Mai Zoo! I had the honor of being a chaperon for Acacia's 1st grade field trip to the zoo. This is her 1st grade class and her teacher Ms. Melody. The zoo was actually better than I anticipated. Although, I don't know what I anticipated. The kids were a little excited. Trying to keep track of them was a nightmare. I'm glad there were other parents there to help out.

It was crazy how close you could get to some of these animals. Especially something as huge and dangerous as a hippo. The kids were allowed to feed some of the animals like the hippo and giraffe. Thankfully, they weren't allowed to feed the lions.
We all had a great time and look forward to taking the rest of the family to the zoo during our summer break.

Acacia is feeding a giraffe a long string bean. Look how long that tongue is!!!!!

Thatsa one spicy meetaball!!!

2008-06-04T23:57:00.000-07:00

We have a really good Italian friend named Joe who loves to cook amazing Italian meals and wouldn't you know it, we love to eat amazing Italian meals.

The girls learn to make homemade pasta. Anna is cranking out the pasta and Acacia is following Joe's instruction to collect the pasta and then it will be set aside to continue making more.
Unfortunately we had our last dinner with Joe because he has to return to Italy since his visa ran out. Boooooooooo....

I'm only happy when it rains!

2008-06-01T08:35:00.000-07:00

The rains always come on quick and strong. All I heard was "Hey, Dad get my swimsuit."

"Singing in the rain, just singin in the rain, what a glorious feeling, I'm happy again"

"Girls just wanna have fun"

Yeah, whatever.......(courtesy of Milo)

We always enjoy it when it rains for the coolness it brings and the obvious joy it brings the girls. We have a tradition every time it rains to have hot chocolate and popcorn. It seems the girls have been having a lot of these treats lately. No one is complaining about the rain. These are two seperate days of rain showers as you can tell by the different bathing suits.

Lalitpur India " A Gallery of Faces"

2008-05-30T01:38:00.000-07:00

All of these women are an amazing example of empowerment. It was an incredible experience to see how their lives have changed.

I'm sorry folks I don't know how this picture got in here.

Continuing on our Journey of Understanding through India, we found ourselves in Lalitpur. Lalitpur is located towards the central part of India in a very arid, dry region of India. We took the overnight train from Delhi to Lalitpur, led by Mission Worker Scott Smith (Community Development), who has been serving in India and Nepal for several years. Unfortunately, I did not sleep on the train due to a bad case of Delhi Belly. After a short rest, the health team boarded a couple of all-terrain vehicles and headed out on a dusty road to what seemed like the middle of nowhere. We were on our way to visit three villages that had begun women’s co-ops.

When we arrived at the first village we were surrounded by women of all ages, adorned in beautiful sari’s and eyes that lit up with a smile when we greeted them. Scott was speaking to them in their native tongue “Hindi” and asked them about their progress since his last visit. Scott told us that when he first visited, all of these women had their faces covered by veils and were very shy and submissive. Over time, the women became empowered by working with the women’s group. As the women gained confidence, they began to remove their veils, revealing their faces. You could see the confidence in their faces and in their body language. It was amazing to see what empowerment can do to change one’s outlook in life. India can be a very difficult place, especially if you’re a woman. Culturally, women are not regarded in the highest esteem and are often treated like second class citizens, particularly in the rural regions.

As the women spread blankets on the ground and sat down for a discussion, we learned that they had started a co-op and had begun an income-generating project by selling honey. Three young girls then came out and performed a skit on how to solve problems in the community. It was very encouraging to see the next generation embracing the values and confidence of the women’s group.

The second and third villages proved to be less inclined to participate in the women’s groups. Perhaps this was due to the dynamics within the village or the cultural dynamic with husbands not allowing their wives to participate. In either case, these groups seemed less cohesive and many of the women had veils covering their faces, had minimal eye contact and appeared less confident.

We hope that the women in the first village can serve as an example of what can happen in a community if the members are committed to positive change. By gaining empowerment, the women can begin to take charge of their lives and their own bodies. With increased self-confidence and peer support, they can lead healthier lifestyles and insist on protective measures thereby decreasing their chances of contracting HIV/AIDS.

Shillong India

2008-05-26T23:39:00.000-07:00

The illustrious Dr Les Morgan. Les and his family have lived in Bangladesh for the last 18years as mission co-workers for the Presbyterian Church USA. Unfortunately, Les' son has "Ewing Sarcoma" and is receiving treatment in Houston Tx, so the whole family is now in Texas supporting Everett. Les is one of the most compassionate Doctors I have ever seen. He was amazing to watch during our trip in India. He has a special gift of really connecting with people on a deeper level. He also likes to joke and goof around which help lighten some of the sad situations we witnessed. Thanks Les for the wonderful insight and advice you gave me. I'll be praying for your son Everett.

This is a "De addiction" place set up by the Presbyterian Church in Shillong India. We talked to many of the patrons and also the staff running the place. Apparently there is a big alcohol problem in Shillong.
We had several meetings in Shillong with the Church of North India, with people coming from all over India to meet with us. These three gentlemen on the right drove 38 hrs just to visit with us for about an hour and a half. Shillong is up in the mountains up curving, winding roads. WOW!!!
Out in the street in Shillong. Very cold at night. I always pictured India in the stifling heat, but this place was freezing. I was totally unprepared with my clothing.
Hello....... Can't you read, it says "only fooding". It's not like it is a hotel or something!
Visiting the mission hospital. We met and talked with several of the staff and received the Grand Tour.
This is the room they hang dry the latex gloves after they have been cleaned. I wonder what my nurse friends think of this? This is life here. They don't have many options.
One of the many units we visited in the mission hospital. I liked talking to the nurses and I shared a little of my experiences with them as a fellow nurse. They all seemed a little shocked when they found out I was a nurse. It is similar to the states in that there are few male nurses. Even fewer in Shillong.

Some local kids ham it up for the camera during our walk around town. Kids are great!!! You gotta love em!!!

CALCUTTA

2008-05-23T02:46:00.000-07:00

We participated in Sunday service at this beautiful church in Calcutta
This is the PCUSA Health Team
Washing day in the streets.
One of the several beggars that we encountered while on our way out to visit a hospital.
A nice serene stroll by the river.
This unfortunate baby was orphaned shortly after birth. His Mother died of complications and his Father died of AIDS a couple months prior to his birth. He is now in an AIDS hospice called Arunima AIDS hospice. He is only 2months old and will eventually be tested for HIV/AIDS when he is 6months old. Very sad!

This young woman is also a patient and Arunima AIDS hospice. I'm not sure how long she has been there and what her status is.

Walking along the streets of Calcutta you are sure to run into plenty of beggars. So many of them have missing limbs and so many of the children are used as a form of sympathy to get more money.

Calcutta was an incredibly congested and dirty place that was worse than I ever imagined. I've never seen so many people living on the streets in my life. It really makes me appreciate all that I have. I had an incredible opportunity to see another side of India other than the touristed places I've been. It was an eye opening experience. I also saw how truly caring other people can be despite the conditions they live in.

Stay tuned for more posts from my India trip with the PCUSA Health team. Also check out my newsletter at pcusa.org/missionconnections/profiles/faucettb for more stories about India and our life here in Thailand.

SONGKRAN

2008-05-07T23:41:00.000-07:00

Songkran is celebrated every year on April 12-14th. It is basically Thai New Year, but they celebrate it by having a country wide waterfight for the weekend. I think this was incorporated into the festivities because it also is the hottest time of the year. Thai's love to have fun. We however, decided to skip this mayhem and head for the hills. We hiked up a mountain called Doi Khun Than along with 10-12 other families trying to beat the heat and the crowds down in Chiang Mai. Missionary Families have been coming to Doi Khun Than for years and years and it holds a special place in their hearts. It was great to be up in the cool mountains with nothing to do but relax. In fact it was the most relaxing time we've had in Thailand so far. We were able to just sit and read for hours while our kids played with the other kids for hours on end. They were great baby sitters. I almost felt guilty, but then thought, nah!!! We went on hikes, played horseshoes, swung on two tire swings, bonfires with roasting marshmallows,smores, water fights and lots of games. We spent five nights up on Doi Khun Than and loved every minute of it. We think this might be a yearly ritual. Maybe one of the years we will stay in town for the waterfight. We hear it is quite the spectacle to see.

Jeem's Wedding

2008-05-04T01:21:00.000-07:00

We had the wonderful opportunity to participate in our friend and helper Jeem's wedding. Jeem is from the "Karen Hill Tribe" group, which is one of the many Hill Tribes that occupy Northern Thailand. Jeem and her new husband Somchai were dressed in traditional Karen wedding attire. We walked from her house to the church, which was only one block away. A vast majority of the Hill Tribe people are Christian. I'm glad our girls were able to see a traditional wedding in Thailand. We were the only foreigners present so we kind of attracted attention, especially with two blonde little girls. The ceremony was lovely and afterward we all gathered outside for a traditional Thai dinner. Shelly worked all day making desserts for the dinner, her peanut butter chocolate balls were a big hit! It was an honor to witness and participate in this beautiful wedding.

International day at CMIS

2008-04-19T18:27:00.000-07:00

It was an international day extravaganza at Acacia's school. CMIS (Chiang Mai International School)is a very diverse school with many countries represented. They celebrated with lots of games, activities, food booths, and a talent show that had dancing and singing from various countries. Shelly was in charge of the U.S.A booth and did a great job of decorating and organizing the booth. The U.S.A booth provided hot dogs, potato salad and apple pie. There was also a craft for the kids to make a flag pin with beads. Each booth sold food from their country and was decorated in their countries theme. It was a great day sampling all the different kinds of food and visiting all these different countries. It felt like the 4th of July with all the excitement in the air.

NAKLANG VILLAGE

2008-04-09T20:33:00.000-07:00

Every year on the 2nd week in January there is a kids day celebration. I was fortunate to participate in this with a group of University students. The students are from Payap University located in Chiang Mai. This is the 3rd year in a row that they have travelled to Naklang village to celebrate kids day. We packed up a pick up truck with lots of toys, games, blankets and clothing that were donated to distribute to the kids. The trip to Naklang was 4 hours long up winding mountain roads. We spent 3 days in Naklang for the celebration. Naklang village is very poor and has received aid in the past from Japan to help fund a dormitory for the school and an Australian group that helped construct the dormitory. The majority of the school children live at the dormitory near the school despite that their families live in the same village. Several children are sent to Naklang for schooling from other outlying villages. The reason being that the parents of the children can't afford to feed their children an adequate diet. The school feeds and provides sleeping facilities for the kids. Albeit in very poor condition it is still more than they would get at home. The kids help with all the chores around the dormitory and also help with gardening a small plot of land that they use for their food.

For the kids day celebration we set up various stations with games and activities. We had a balloon toss which everyone loved. We had bowling, musical chairs, singing and dancing. The kids had an absolute ball and were very appreciative. The whole village came out to watch the festivities. The university students were great and very organized.

For me it was an amazing experience to be the only foreigner in the entire village and see how people in rural Thailand live. It was also exhausting to muddle through my weak grasp of speaking Thai for 72 hours without a break. YIKES!!!! My brain hurts.

We concluded the trip by visiting the Village Elder which was a must to show our respect. We sat and had tea with him and his family for about an hour. We discussed all the activities that we had done over the past three days.

I felt very humbled to be amongst a group of poor village people that had very little, but were very open, generous and friendly. It was a great experience overall!! Next time I would like to bring my kids to show them how village life is and how lucky we are to live where we do.

P.S. I accidently inserted a picture of the village twice and I can't figure out how to delete one of them. So, enjoy it twice as much

Goofy girl

2008-04-04T19:43:00.000-07:00

I thought it would be fun to take some pictures of Acacia by the little pond next to the pool area. The place is nice and green and is very peaceful. Little did I know that she would start goofing so much while I was taking the pictures. She is just like her Mom.

Happy Easter!!!!

2008-03-30T21:01:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter everybody. I know, I know, we are slackers and haven't update our blog for quite some time. Sorry about that. Life has a way of speeding along without you realizing it. Our Pastor of our church decided to hold a Easter egg hunt at his house and of course we wouldn't miss that. The kids were all gathered around to hear the story of Easter and then with anxious anticipation were allowed to find the eggs after the story. We saw lots of friends there and was able to have a relaxing afternoon catching up. It was weird to have Easter in Thailand not because it was Thailand, but because is was so hot and humid. I've never had such a hot Easter. We were all drained from the afternoon heat and decided to invite friends from the Easter egg hunt to join us at our neighborhood pool. We had a great time and it was nice to cool off. We hope all of you out there had a great Easter. We will try not to wait so long to update the blog.
Lots of love to everybody
The Faucetts

Goodbye to a friend, goodbye to Love Bug

2008-02-13T05:51:00.000-08:00

It was a sad, sad day today. Unfortunately, our beloved kitty Love Bug died. We only had him 4 1/2 months, but he was well-loved and a member of the family. Love Bug is Acacia's first ever pet and he was extremely helpful to Acacia's transition. When she was missing family and friends back home she could always count on Love Bug to make her feel better. He was one of those great cats that played with the girls, even when they played a little too rough. He always greeted us when we got home and in the evening he loved to sit on our laps. One of those rare cats that always came when you called and always put a smile on your face with his goofy antics.

Brett, our friend Jeem, Annapurna, Acacia and I held a memorial service today. We wrote and read to each other about how much we loved Love Bug and all the great memories we had. Acacia decorated Love Bug's box "coffin" and we buried him in the yard, along with his favorite toys, one being a dolly that he would drag around. Then we attached the notes to a kohm loi(a paper hot-air lantern)and sent them up to God. We all held hands in a circle and prayed for our dear sweet Love Bug. It's going to be a rough few weeks here, especially at night-time, since Love Bug always slept with Acacia. He would meow pitifully, and loudly, outside Acacia's door until we let him in to curl up next to her and fall sleep.

We will miss our beloved kitty.

Green with envy

2008-02-04T00:17:00.000-08:00

What is this? Some rare tropical disease that turns little girls legs and arms all green polka dotty. I sure hope it isn't contagious. I thought we banned Anna from using all markers in the house. Apparently, I was wrong!

McKean Hospital (Leprosy Colony)

2008-01-20T23:57:00.000-08:00

I visited a colleage that works at McKean and received the guided tour. Leprosy is nearly eradicated, due to education and care,however, McKean continues to administer care to a few rare cases of leprosy, but now is more focused on elderly care. Quite a few former leper patients are now working for McKean by doing handicrafts, making prosthetic limbs and making bicycles. The island also has housing for assisted living patients.

McKean Hospital was founded in 1908 by Presbyterian Missionaries Mr and Mrs McKean. This was the first Leprosy center in Thailand. McKean is located on a island surrounded on one side by a river and a stream that connects the river to create an island of sorts. McKean is located south of the Chiang Mai city center. The hospital grew in stages of being a leprosy colony and hospital to a leprosy rehabilitation center providing physical and occupational therapy. Their goal is to empower these patients to attain their maximum potential physically and to be psychologically healthy with a sense of worth and self acceptance, and to be able to live productive lives with acceptance and dignity in their own community.

The whole island is beautiful and lush and is its own self-contained little community. I felt very thankful to see the center and talk with the staff and patients at McKean. McKean is a success story here in Thailand. There no longer is a stigmatization of lepers like there once was, due to educating the public about leprosy and the caring and nuturing work of the people that work at McKean.

Wrong turn

2007-12-22T18:14:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago we were told of a great outdoor market called the "Royal Project". We had our directions but ended up making a wrong turn and ended up at the foot of the mountain by a beautiful lake. You never know what lies on the road ahead. We stayed here for a little while and finally packed up and asked someone for directions to the Royal Project. Yes, I asked directions even though I am a man, it has been done before. We finally found it and walked all around. The girls got sugar cane juice served in bamboo glasses. What fun!!

Sunflower fields forever

2007-12-22T17:45:00.000-08:00

This field of sunflowers is located at Payap University where we go to church every Sunday. We pass this field and often think it would be fun for the girls to play in there. Not to mention a great photo opportunity as well. The day was suprisingly hot, but the girls had fun tramping around the flowers. We even found a dead snake in amongst the flowers. Ok, girls I think it is time to go. I was kind of worried about snakes there. Afterwards we cooled of with a fruit shake and an iced coffee for Dad at the Coffee Bus. (Our favorite place for drinks).

Acacia's Christmas presentation at CMIS

2007-12-22T17:29:00.000-08:00

Acacia actually had 2 different performances, one at school during the day and one a couple of days later at a outdoor theater near school. She is not as animated as Anna but she loves to perform. Lots of Christmas songs and dancing. The girls are growing up too fast. I feel like time is flying by and I'm running to keep up, sometimes literally.

Anna's Christmas presentation at Little Stars preschool

2007-12-22T17:09:00.000-08:00

Tis the season!!! Kids dressed up all cute and all the parents jockying for position to take the best picture of their little darling. Each class did 2 presentations. It was very hot and poor Anna had to wear a fleece with a hood along with her class. They sang christmas songs and danced. It was all very cute. Once again there was a ton of food. I love this place!!!! I thought I was going to lose weight here. No chance of that. Afterwards we chatted with parents and laughed about certain performances. Anna is quite the performer. Very, very cute!

Night time Christmas celebration at Payap Church

2007-12-22T16:47:00.000-08:00

Food, food and more food. The Thai's love to eat and thankfully so do I. The atmosphere was festive with lots of people milling about dressed in their Santa hats. The church had performers doing skits about christmas with a little twist to it, Thai style. Traditional Thai dancing was performed, sorry I didn't get any pictures of them. The whole family had a lot of fun and look forward to Christmas again next year at Payap.