With the kind invitation from Fulbright Thailand, I went to Nakornpanom the past weekend along with Thai grantees of all the programs who will be going to the US this year under the project called, "Knowing Our Own Roots" รู้รักรากเรา. This is for all to get ready to be 'cultural ambassadors' in the US. They will learn and appreciate more about our own country and own selves while mingling with grantees from other Fulbright programs to network, share diverse ideas, and bond ka.
This year, the theme was 'Following Your Belief'!
We went to learn from Blue Gold Coffee owner, Khun Kiatisak Kawongsa, a private high school/vocational school บ้านสวนพัฒนา invested by Ajarn Tong-In and Ajarn Achara Wongsothorn, and a herbal doctor owned by Ajarn Tassanee Ratanarama.
The three were unique in their own ways and the paths of their beliefs are:
1. No time to be sad as life must go on to tackle the challenges through persistence and grow further.....Khun Kiatisak (25 years old) who was only at matayom 1 when his father was shot dead, leaving the family with over 50 million baht debt learned from his mother's inner strengths with persistence and helped her in every way. His love of learning must have been from her DNA as he tried to answer what could be unique and productive. He started learning about civet coffee from scratch. Bangkok university is to be admired for its entrepreneurship program, which was one crucial success factor of his business.
Till today, he said he wanted to make sure that the business stays stable and competitive and his happiness is when he goes back to his home environment in Nakornpanom as life can be much less hectic and when he can enjoy playing with different types of animals in the zoo.
2. We all are indebted to each other and life is to give back with appreciation and gratitude..... back to the time when Ajarn Tong-In was a poor little boy in Nakornpanom whose wishes to learn shot so highly that he could walk for 2 days for over 70 kilometers to his school in Sakonnakorn with food given to him along the way. His tough steps finally led him to be a Fulbright grantee to meet and marry Ajarn Achara. Both had different life paths and the thinking was so interesting. While Ajarn Tong-In's tough younger days made it easier for him to face challenges with intention to develop more through education, Ajarn Achara, a city girl, had to create her own motivation to face 'obstacles' to finish her studies. One little story that I really like was when she had to walk through piles of snow in Minnesota to go to study. She said she saw the footprints of her Thai friend and those in fact, motivated her to fight the cold to her classes.
Both went back to Ajarn Tong-In's hometown to build a school and because of their giving hearts, the high school/vocational school has generated knowledge and job opportunities to the disadvantaged. The best is to give them hope to follow their own passions through hands-on studies!
3. Local wisdom creates self sufficiency network and pride..... Ajarn Tassanee Ratanarama uses her science background to learn to be a local doctor using herbs to heal people while helping others to be recognized so they too can practice the treatment.
It's so clear that being much less sabai with some opportunities can be so powerful to nurture kids to grow healthily and those who are more sabai must be geared to be more self-motivated!
Let me stop here and hope to write more about this trip soon ka.
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