Songkran 2011

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

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"

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

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

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

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

Mud fight

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

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!