If you have any traveling experience in Thailand or know someone who has please let me know. I am thinking of studying abroad there.
dc
Thailand
I'm pretty sure Ben Little from Missoula just got back from Peace Corps. He did a write-up of sorts on his thoughts on the experience here, 3rd post down.
http://modified.in/footbag/viewtopic.ph ... start=1600
http://modified.in/footbag/viewtopic.ph ... start=1600
James Randall
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I'll save you a step:
E-mail from Ben Little (original member of the Missoula Footbag Alliance), who is just finishing up a few years in Tanzania for the Peace Corps:
I've been thinking a lot lately. Perhaps its the Poe, vielleicht the german philosophy, the seeming imminence of concluding the greatest adventure of my life, or the abundance of absolutely nothin to do at night in the village, but I've found myself ruminating on much more than the standard ugali and beans lately. Most of these thoughts are raw and powerful, lacking refinement and direction. The situation isn't helped by the constant influx of new catharses, which prevent me from completing any single contemplation before the onset of the next... which is why i've decided to divulge them before they've completely matured. I usually don't like to expound upon any concept which i haven't scrutinized to the point of knowing exactly where I stand in regards to it, but I feel that if I don't start throwing them out there then they'll get lost in the deluge of detritus that seems to be overflowing my mental sub-strata. Plus, maybe some of you can add some objective perspective that will help me rake some meaning from the muck.
But enough chengachenga(zig-zaggin round the topic). I'll just blurt it out, and then do some stream of thought from there. I've decided that the entire mode of application of Peace Corps, and indeed nearly every major international development organization in the world, is plagued with a fundamental fallacy. In common parlance of our times, I've realized almost everything I and all the other do-gooders out there is contributing towards a better tomorrow doesn't amount to jack shit. I'm not saying that the idea of good-will to men and peace on earth is unfounded or unattainable, but rather our methods for achieving it are outdated. More than ineffectual, I'd say that they are even hurtful to a developing country in the modern world. There are many smaller issues that I'm sure those of you with experience in this field are expecting me to mention, but I don't think lack of equal sharing of projects, cultural understanding, reality of needs assessments versus wants of project sponsors is the fundamental issue here. The fundamental problem that I see doesn't require a new program overhaul, it demands a change of vision in the development sector the world over. All international cooperative efforts are based on the idea that developing countries need our help, and the only way for them to eliminate poverty and famine is for us to give them what they need.
At first glance, this sounds like a great recipe for worldwide prosperity and happiness, and probably was indeed the only way for the process to start. But now that they have the minimal infrastructure, the communication systems, and the modicum of trained professionals, do our free hand-outs really cause more help or harm? When a child is first learning to ride a bike, they need the emotional support, encouragement, and strong guiding hand of their parents to get them going. The child gets a taste of the freedom their new talents and equipment brings, and is hungry for more. But will the child ever be able to tear up the BMX bike path with training wheels intact and mom still clutching onto the back seat trying to push? More importantly, will they ever have the self-efficacy to trust that they can indeed do it just fine, perhaps even better one day without help?
This is a paradox that i see in action every day here in Tanzania. We want to help. We think we can do so by building, say, a bridge. The locals praise us as saviors, and we feel justified. Years pass. The bridge falls into the river one day due to lack of maintenance and carries a herd of screaming people with it. The locals again wait around for some other developed nation to come and build them a new bridge. Most Tanzanians that I talk to believe that they don't have the ability to raise themselves up or do any development work for themselves. And why should they? Every time they need something, they have learned that the best way to get it is to ask America or Europe for it. And we never let them down. They also don't believe me when I tell them that america was once a poor country, and that we made ourselves into a great nation. They believe that the world is the way it is by simple, inalterable divine mandate. God giveth to the white man, who giveth to the african, forever and ever, til death are they consigned. This learned helplessness makes every project that involves any concrete physical 'thing' unsustainable and irreplicable in practice. And, unfortunately, our foreign aid policy is still based around throwing money at problems and building things as edificial reminders of how much they still need us.
This dissertation wasn't brought on by an analysis of worldwide aid policy, but rather observations on the ground in the small but front-line development work that I do in my own life. I've been trying to figure out why everyone asks me for something... or rather, why everyone expects me to give them something and is down-right offended when I don't pull a 'just add water' health clinic or secondary school or library out of my pocket. The teachers at my school don't understand why i can't procure credit cards and cameras for all of them. Randomn people in the village seem perplexed when i refuse to pay the exhorbitant a-level school fees for private schooling of their kids who couldn't get into government schools because they failed the national exams. The headmaster was furious with me when i explained how much of an inconvenience and financial burden it would be for me to obtain a solar panel, a box of rechargeable batteries, and a compatible battery charger. Perhaps the most disdainful and pathetic example of the extent of the learned self-helplessness that pervades the mindset of certainly every Tanzanian and perhaps most of the developing world occurred when i was helping to set up for a community festival. The village executive officer, the most powerful political figure in Makoga, was watching me tape up decorations on our make shift pavilion when he asked me for some tape. I promptly measured out a strip of duct tape and handed it to him. He replied that he very much admired my tape, and would like to get a few rolls of it for himself. When i told him that it was about 3000 shillings at any stationary store in town for a pretty decent TZ imitation, he slyly smiled and said "I was hoping you could help me out with that." When the elected leader of my community feels incapable of purchasing his own office supplies and, moreover, that I'm obligated to provide them for him simply because I do development work, I take that as a serious sign that something is fundamentally flawed with the entire international aid system.
So what am I saying? We should just tell the developing world "tough luck" and proceed to ignore them in midst of a global food crisis? Am I pronouncing the last two years of blood, sweat, and tears that I've invested in an ideal a complete waste of my life energies? No, I'm not proposing that we rescind all aid and abolish all aid organizations. I'm instead calling for a refocusing of aid efforts away from 'stuff' and towards a guiding role that will enable people to do for themselves what the western world currently does for them. Of all the things that I've contributed in my service, I believe the most valuable and preservable of them weren't really 'things' at all. I now see the education, encouragement, cultural exchanges, and other ineffables I've contributed as the only real lasting legacy I will leave behind. What Tanzania really needs is more Tanzanians with a desire to better their situation, a belief that they really can enact a change on behalf of themselves, and programs that will help provide the education necessary for these wakusizi (motivated people) to make their dreams into realities.
I'd like to end with just such a story... the story of the friend who convinced me that maybe it wasn't all hopeless and I shouldn't declare all for naught quite yet. My friend Renady came from a large family, where he was the third son and fifth child out of seven. His parents didn't have enough money to send him to secondary school, and he joined the family business of farming straight out of primary school. Although he didn't have the book smarts, he had something that almost all of my students lack: the drive to succeed and the belief that he could make a new life for himself. He saved money from his potato and corn harvests for about ten years, when he finally found the break he'd been waiting for. He used his savings to attend a two-year silviculture (tree farming) course at a vo-tech school in Iringa town, and immediately put the concepts learned into practice. Upon returning, he started a seedling nursery growing pine and cyprus seedlings to feed the lucrative lumber industry of the region. He also built dams and a corresponding system of irrigation canals to quench the thirst of the 30,000-50,000 seedlings he sells every year, along with a series of vegetable gardens in which he grows whatever greens are currently in high demand and low supply. He and his family hand-harvest seeds from cones in the wild, make their own compost, and hand pack all young scions into their plastic housings. He still farms potatoes, corn, and wheat like his parents before him, the harvests of which provide him with food and money for basic necessities. But in consequence of his tree seedlings and greens, he also takes in an extra 5 million shillings of pure profit every year. This isn't much when converted into dollars, but for a villager with no living expenses who didn't own shoes until he was 20 it's an absolutely lucrative business... and one that he has no one to thank for but himself. He wants to buy a car next year, making him the only one in the village to have one, and promises that he'll come to visit me in america some day. I don't doubt that he'll do all these things and more.
Comments and suggestions welcome. I hope you're all doing well, and I promise a little bit more about what I've been up to and a little bit less about what I've been thinking about next time.
Love
Ben
"It is rarely seen, even more rarely heard, and even if perceived most rarely known."-the bhagavad gita
"Those who talk don't know
those who know don't talk"-Chinese Proverb
E-mail from Ben Little (original member of the Missoula Footbag Alliance), who is just finishing up a few years in Tanzania for the Peace Corps:
I've been thinking a lot lately. Perhaps its the Poe, vielleicht the german philosophy, the seeming imminence of concluding the greatest adventure of my life, or the abundance of absolutely nothin to do at night in the village, but I've found myself ruminating on much more than the standard ugali and beans lately. Most of these thoughts are raw and powerful, lacking refinement and direction. The situation isn't helped by the constant influx of new catharses, which prevent me from completing any single contemplation before the onset of the next... which is why i've decided to divulge them before they've completely matured. I usually don't like to expound upon any concept which i haven't scrutinized to the point of knowing exactly where I stand in regards to it, but I feel that if I don't start throwing them out there then they'll get lost in the deluge of detritus that seems to be overflowing my mental sub-strata. Plus, maybe some of you can add some objective perspective that will help me rake some meaning from the muck.
But enough chengachenga(zig-zaggin round the topic). I'll just blurt it out, and then do some stream of thought from there. I've decided that the entire mode of application of Peace Corps, and indeed nearly every major international development organization in the world, is plagued with a fundamental fallacy. In common parlance of our times, I've realized almost everything I and all the other do-gooders out there is contributing towards a better tomorrow doesn't amount to jack shit. I'm not saying that the idea of good-will to men and peace on earth is unfounded or unattainable, but rather our methods for achieving it are outdated. More than ineffectual, I'd say that they are even hurtful to a developing country in the modern world. There are many smaller issues that I'm sure those of you with experience in this field are expecting me to mention, but I don't think lack of equal sharing of projects, cultural understanding, reality of needs assessments versus wants of project sponsors is the fundamental issue here. The fundamental problem that I see doesn't require a new program overhaul, it demands a change of vision in the development sector the world over. All international cooperative efforts are based on the idea that developing countries need our help, and the only way for them to eliminate poverty and famine is for us to give them what they need.
At first glance, this sounds like a great recipe for worldwide prosperity and happiness, and probably was indeed the only way for the process to start. But now that they have the minimal infrastructure, the communication systems, and the modicum of trained professionals, do our free hand-outs really cause more help or harm? When a child is first learning to ride a bike, they need the emotional support, encouragement, and strong guiding hand of their parents to get them going. The child gets a taste of the freedom their new talents and equipment brings, and is hungry for more. But will the child ever be able to tear up the BMX bike path with training wheels intact and mom still clutching onto the back seat trying to push? More importantly, will they ever have the self-efficacy to trust that they can indeed do it just fine, perhaps even better one day without help?
This is a paradox that i see in action every day here in Tanzania. We want to help. We think we can do so by building, say, a bridge. The locals praise us as saviors, and we feel justified. Years pass. The bridge falls into the river one day due to lack of maintenance and carries a herd of screaming people with it. The locals again wait around for some other developed nation to come and build them a new bridge. Most Tanzanians that I talk to believe that they don't have the ability to raise themselves up or do any development work for themselves. And why should they? Every time they need something, they have learned that the best way to get it is to ask America or Europe for it. And we never let them down. They also don't believe me when I tell them that america was once a poor country, and that we made ourselves into a great nation. They believe that the world is the way it is by simple, inalterable divine mandate. God giveth to the white man, who giveth to the african, forever and ever, til death are they consigned. This learned helplessness makes every project that involves any concrete physical 'thing' unsustainable and irreplicable in practice. And, unfortunately, our foreign aid policy is still based around throwing money at problems and building things as edificial reminders of how much they still need us.
This dissertation wasn't brought on by an analysis of worldwide aid policy, but rather observations on the ground in the small but front-line development work that I do in my own life. I've been trying to figure out why everyone asks me for something... or rather, why everyone expects me to give them something and is down-right offended when I don't pull a 'just add water' health clinic or secondary school or library out of my pocket. The teachers at my school don't understand why i can't procure credit cards and cameras for all of them. Randomn people in the village seem perplexed when i refuse to pay the exhorbitant a-level school fees for private schooling of their kids who couldn't get into government schools because they failed the national exams. The headmaster was furious with me when i explained how much of an inconvenience and financial burden it would be for me to obtain a solar panel, a box of rechargeable batteries, and a compatible battery charger. Perhaps the most disdainful and pathetic example of the extent of the learned self-helplessness that pervades the mindset of certainly every Tanzanian and perhaps most of the developing world occurred when i was helping to set up for a community festival. The village executive officer, the most powerful political figure in Makoga, was watching me tape up decorations on our make shift pavilion when he asked me for some tape. I promptly measured out a strip of duct tape and handed it to him. He replied that he very much admired my tape, and would like to get a few rolls of it for himself. When i told him that it was about 3000 shillings at any stationary store in town for a pretty decent TZ imitation, he slyly smiled and said "I was hoping you could help me out with that." When the elected leader of my community feels incapable of purchasing his own office supplies and, moreover, that I'm obligated to provide them for him simply because I do development work, I take that as a serious sign that something is fundamentally flawed with the entire international aid system.
So what am I saying? We should just tell the developing world "tough luck" and proceed to ignore them in midst of a global food crisis? Am I pronouncing the last two years of blood, sweat, and tears that I've invested in an ideal a complete waste of my life energies? No, I'm not proposing that we rescind all aid and abolish all aid organizations. I'm instead calling for a refocusing of aid efforts away from 'stuff' and towards a guiding role that will enable people to do for themselves what the western world currently does for them. Of all the things that I've contributed in my service, I believe the most valuable and preservable of them weren't really 'things' at all. I now see the education, encouragement, cultural exchanges, and other ineffables I've contributed as the only real lasting legacy I will leave behind. What Tanzania really needs is more Tanzanians with a desire to better their situation, a belief that they really can enact a change on behalf of themselves, and programs that will help provide the education necessary for these wakusizi (motivated people) to make their dreams into realities.
I'd like to end with just such a story... the story of the friend who convinced me that maybe it wasn't all hopeless and I shouldn't declare all for naught quite yet. My friend Renady came from a large family, where he was the third son and fifth child out of seven. His parents didn't have enough money to send him to secondary school, and he joined the family business of farming straight out of primary school. Although he didn't have the book smarts, he had something that almost all of my students lack: the drive to succeed and the belief that he could make a new life for himself. He saved money from his potato and corn harvests for about ten years, when he finally found the break he'd been waiting for. He used his savings to attend a two-year silviculture (tree farming) course at a vo-tech school in Iringa town, and immediately put the concepts learned into practice. Upon returning, he started a seedling nursery growing pine and cyprus seedlings to feed the lucrative lumber industry of the region. He also built dams and a corresponding system of irrigation canals to quench the thirst of the 30,000-50,000 seedlings he sells every year, along with a series of vegetable gardens in which he grows whatever greens are currently in high demand and low supply. He and his family hand-harvest seeds from cones in the wild, make their own compost, and hand pack all young scions into their plastic housings. He still farms potatoes, corn, and wheat like his parents before him, the harvests of which provide him with food and money for basic necessities. But in consequence of his tree seedlings and greens, he also takes in an extra 5 million shillings of pure profit every year. This isn't much when converted into dollars, but for a villager with no living expenses who didn't own shoes until he was 20 it's an absolutely lucrative business... and one that he has no one to thank for but himself. He wants to buy a car next year, making him the only one in the village to have one, and promises that he'll come to visit me in america some day. I don't doubt that he'll do all these things and more.
Comments and suggestions welcome. I hope you're all doing well, and I promise a little bit more about what I've been up to and a little bit less about what I've been thinking about next time.
Love
Ben
"It is rarely seen, even more rarely heard, and even if perceived most rarely known."-the bhagavad gita
"Those who talk don't know
those who know don't talk"-Chinese Proverb
Welcome to Flavortown
Kevin Crowley
Kevin Crowley
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Blue_turnip
- Egyptian Footgod
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Funny edit.
Possibly the biggest footbag promotion ever might be about to go down in Malaysia, so being a good footbagger in that area of the world could be fun. Too bad it's already largely locked in, but there could be some kind of competition at the end of year, but also hopefully a really big scene.
Even without the footbag I think it sounds like a crazy awesome adventure, and you should definitely do it.
Possibly the biggest footbag promotion ever might be about to go down in Malaysia, so being a good footbagger in that area of the world could be fun. Too bad it's already largely locked in, but there could be some kind of competition at the end of year, but also hopefully a really big scene.
Even without the footbag I think it sounds like a crazy awesome adventure, and you should definitely do it.
South of thailand is super expensive and touristy (for vacationers, rather than travellers), but I suppose if you want to relax on the beach, spend money, and party, you could have a good time there.
I found the north of Thailand infinately better. If you can get away from the Thai people who think of honkeys as customers (or walking ATMs), and find Thai people that are actually interested in meeting you (rather than ravaging your wallet), you can find some amazing, genuinely nice people -- some of the most hospitable in the whole world (in my experience). I think if you were going to school there, you would be likely to find a lot of great, pure-Thai (rather than bastardized Western-Thai) encounters. They have a really great culture when you find them actually living it, rather than just catering to you. Also, Thai girls melt for white boys... I hope nobody takes offence to that, but it is an objective truth. You'll have a wicked time.
Be sure to check out the monkey temple in Lop Buri. Best monkey temple I've been to. But, leave your valuables someplace safe; not in your pocket. There's over 2000 of those cunning little thieves in there...
Feel free to drop me a line if you have any questions about prices or transport or anything. My best advice is to never deal with any of the travel agencies in Thailand... they will tell you nothing but blatent lies for as long as it takes to get as much of your money as they can. They have no good deals to offer.
Good luck!
-Ben
I found the north of Thailand infinately better. If you can get away from the Thai people who think of honkeys as customers (or walking ATMs), and find Thai people that are actually interested in meeting you (rather than ravaging your wallet), you can find some amazing, genuinely nice people -- some of the most hospitable in the whole world (in my experience). I think if you were going to school there, you would be likely to find a lot of great, pure-Thai (rather than bastardized Western-Thai) encounters. They have a really great culture when you find them actually living it, rather than just catering to you. Also, Thai girls melt for white boys... I hope nobody takes offence to that, but it is an objective truth. You'll have a wicked time.
Be sure to check out the monkey temple in Lop Buri. Best monkey temple I've been to. But, leave your valuables someplace safe; not in your pocket. There's over 2000 of those cunning little thieves in there...
Feel free to drop me a line if you have any questions about prices or transport or anything. My best advice is to never deal with any of the travel agencies in Thailand... they will tell you nothing but blatent lies for as long as it takes to get as much of your money as they can. They have no good deals to offer.
Good luck!
-Ben
Ben Roscoe
I've been to South Thailand twice and my experience was thatRawSko wrote:If you can get away from the Thai people who think of honkeys as customers (or walking ATMs), and find Thai people that are actually interested in meeting you (rather than ravaging your wallet), you can find some amazing, genuinely nice people -- some of the most hospitable in the whole world (in my experience).
when I showed interest in the local people and their habits and they saw
that I tried to learn the language, the people totally opened
up and were soo nice. I agree with Thais being the most
hospitable people I've met so far. It's just that they treat
people the way they are being treated (well, most of the time).
The sad thing is that so many tourists behave like a**holes.
I've seen it so many times. No wonder the local people get
sceptical.
If you show interest in their life, their culture and their habits,
you will have a wonderful time - I miss Thailand so much.
The climate, the food, the people, nature - it's where I really
want to live.
bjoern
Munich Footbag
Munich Footbag
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PoisonTaffy
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Dc said he plans to study there. I don't think that "natural" is a preferable quality for that purpose.
I think the fact that Thailand lies very close to countries like Vietnam and Laos is a plus. You can travel there on your breaks, and have a relatively modernized place to go back to.
I've spend 2 weeks in Thailand and they were amazing (Chiang mai, Bangkok and Koh Samui). The people were very friendly.
I think the fact that Thailand lies very close to countries like Vietnam and Laos is a plus. You can travel there on your breaks, and have a relatively modernized place to go back to.
I've spend 2 weeks in Thailand and they were amazing (Chiang mai, Bangkok and Koh Samui). The people were very friendly.
"Childhood is short, immaturity is forever"
Roy Klein
Roy Klein