Back to the Grind!

Kao Pansa is over and its back to the grind.  Finding a work ethic in a new country when you don't know whats expected or exactly what you should be doing is never easy.  But it is a new challanege.  For those who knew my in college it comes as no surprise that Im ready to dive in head first and take on the world.  But the boring, if not completely necessary stuff, has to be done first.  There's the research... first to find out exactly what the problems are with the youth in this area.  Are they doing drugs? Drinking? Are they drop outs or still in high school? Are the bored? Or are they too busy working on the family farm to be bored?  What are the needs?

It seems odd, because in America I could go into a community and find the asnwers to those questions relatively quickly.  This is the not the case here.  Thai's and the culture are one of closed mouths.  They rarely speak of their problems or their issues.  They rarely talk about whats going in their lives on any emotional level and with the stigma around drug/alcohol abuse and mental health its difficult to gauge the problems that might be plaguing the local villages.  But with persistence and different avenues there is an opportunity to get a fuller perspective.  We'll do an anonymous survey for students who are still in school, talk to local police in this district and go into the villages where the drop outs hang out and ask them questions.  With these different routes (and maybe a few more) we'll understand what the teenagers around here need.  If we know what they need then we have an opportunity to provide the programs that will best help: do they need 12-step programs? sports programs? english lessons? Do they need therapy? Practical education (ie farming and weaving skills)? These are all questions that can be answered with a bit of help and a lot of patience.

This week I'll be focusing on some basic media outlets to help out while I'm (ever so patiently) waiting on the next move for the program.  Help me out by following us in our different avenues:

*On facebook: follow us by searching for Warm Heart World Wide or
https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Warm-Heart-Worldwide/136461009711879
*On twitter: warmheartorg
*On Tumblr: http://warmheartworldwide.tumblr.com/

I'll be posting on several of these (if not all) in the next few weeks so be on the look out!