questasia

A roof on the house

Yesterday I was back in Hui Kau Laam to meet Cati and Mida to talk about the construction project, to bring money for building material and to visit Enoch. Enoch had had exams in Chiang Mai the last week and then went to Hot to do outreach in several villages. after that he got seriously sick with food poisoning so he had to stay put in hot. Meanwhile he is back in Baan Pong to regain his strength. Enoch is still very weak from the ordeal.

The construction of our new center is going very well. Yesterday I delivered the windows and doors for the upper floor. The roof is finished and this week the workers will do the floor and the steps.

 

Hui Ba Rai Water-project

Hui Ba Rai has been without a sufficient water supply for a while. The water that reached to the village was of low quality and not fit for drinking.
We were able to solve this problem through a new water system. After we found a new source of water in the mountain we measured and planed a new project. The result is a two kilometer long PE-pipe winding through the mountains, bigger water storage tanks and a new water distribution system in the village.

 

Here are some pictures:

Surveying in Bamboo valley

The bamboo valley is the valley behind Hui Kau Laam. The road ends behind Baan Pong and changes into a adventurous off-road track through the jungle. Last year we installed the 8km. (5.5 miles) water pipe. Our biggest project so far. Even though water is flowing into six tanks in Hui Kau Laam providing water for more then 200 people, is the project not finished yet. The difficult terrain and problems with the pipe it is necessary to invest some more work into this water system. In February fires destroyed pipes and in rainy season we have land slides and great amounts of sand clocking the pipe.

The last view weeks we drove into the valley to survey elevations and asses the problems.

Here some photos.

   

       

Water tanks for Hui kau Laam

In the last months we were very busy with outreaches, teams and projects. It was sometimes hard to keep up with everything. Here once again an update for the questasia site. This morning I created a photo album from our last big project. One year ago we built a 8 kilometer water pipe from the mountains to Hui Kau Laam village. With the help from a swiss team we build the needed water tanks.

Klick on photo!

Water flows to Hui Kau Laam

A week ago I was able to check on the water pipe to Hui Kau Laam. A family from Switzerland was with me on the trip and helped me to install cement rings to protect the valves. One of the greatest problems we face is to explain the villager, that they need to switch off the water and dry the pipe before they glue the PVC. With the distance off 8 kilometers (5 miles) through difficult terrain problems with leaks and broken pipes become a frequent thing. There is a need to redo some smaler parts of the pipeline. We also need to put some steal pipes in places where the water crosses the road or where it is not underground. This is mostly only a fiew meters. PVC becomes brittle under the sun and is often threatened by forest fires. We have started with protecting the valves  in the jungle with cement rings.

Australia Vineyard Outreach

Like last year we had a small team from Australia in Hui Kau Laam. For four days the team would expirience Lahu culture and learn about the life in a mountain village. In the short time we were able to build two toilets with the villagers. We also got bamboo from the jungle to repair our meeting house. We spent a lot of time with the children in Hui Kau Laam doing arts and craft, singing and doing dances; teaching new guitar chords and just spending time with the villagers. I was again touched by the positive changes the children expirienced in the last years.

Toilets for Hui Kau Laam

Last November we had a inroads2asia team in Hui Kau Laum building a toilet for the center. The material for two more toilets is on the way to the village. Another inroads2asia team is going to take care of the project. These projects are done with the arrangement of the village and help the general improvement hygiene. We are also in the planing stages for a water system from the mountains into the village. There is accute lack of clean drinking water. TThe new water project would take care of this. More about that later.

Rain Water collection

The boarding school in Prao has 58 children between 3 and 16 years old. The children come from nine different villages in the surounding mountains. The way to the school would be to long for children, so many stayed away from school. KKampan and his wife Naba started a the boarding school for the children of those villages. In tthe last three years we supported the home with building material to extend the growing home. This summer we installed the rain water collection.

 

Cows

Since quite a while we are thinkin about a way to generate income for our co-workers. The ideal is to have the local workers independent from foreign funds. This is easier said then done. Farming or a business just takes alot of time away from the work they are doing in the villages. Enoch and Midaa are travelling to other villages or teaching in Hui Kau laam.
We found that raising cows would be a good way to generate income on a long term basis. They are easy to keep and can be given to a shepperd to be cared for. This will give our staff the freedom to do their own ministry.
We are planing on starting a little herd of six cows each. About every one and a half years there will be a calf that will be raised. The herd will therefore grow. Later we can sell cows and so generate some income. So far we bought two cows and this week we add also a bull. The plan is to invest into additional four to six cows till the end of next year or till we can get the funds together.

The cows we are buying are already grown mature and can have young ones. They cost about 260 Euro or 320 US Dollars a piece.

      

Here our first two cows

Hui Ma Jom water project

We had only four days to plan and do the work. The Project was already on my growing list of projects for a long time. Three years ago we surveyed the village and planed different possibilities to help to toggle the water shortage in Hui Ma jom. We waited for one year for the main pipe to be build from the the mountains, which was a project the local government took on after the village sent in a project proposal. The villagers wanted to have the water connected to their existing water system. There was also a need to add new pipes to the existing system.
The village has about 350 people and stretches over more then half a kilometer. In four days we installed nearly four kilometers of PVC pipes and over 60 valves. With the team effort of the villagers and the goteam from England it was possible to finish the work in such a short time. Total costs for the project were about 32'000 baht. In the next hot season we will  see if there is also a further need to increase the water storage capacity by building more tanks on strategic places in the villages.