From Baan Saam Kha to Chiang Mai
Posted by Stuart at 08:57 PM on January 20, 2006This morning we were able to spend some time with Srimuan, the head of the elementary school in Baan Saam Kha. She told us more about how the students use technology and more about how the villagers are working hard to improve their lives.
There are two examples that stuck out in my mind. The first is how the students use the computers to practice the Lanna language. Lanna has it's own script, which to my un-educated eyes looks like a mixture of Thai and Burmese. Someone had created a Lanna font to use in Microsoft Word, and two elementary students showed me their proficiency in typing the script.
The second problem that the villagers are working on is to convince people not to burn the forests on the hills surrounding the village. There are many reasons to intentionally burn the forest, such as making hunting easier. But the villagers realized that with no cover on the mountains, the water washes off the slopes and that in turn makes the summers even drier than would be naturally. So the villagers of Baan Saam Kha are working hard to convince other villages to not burn the forest, so that everyone will have more water during the dry season.
Eventually, we had to leave Baan Saam Kha, and we headed north towards Chiang Mai. We made one stop in Lamphun province, to visit the 1000 year old Wat Phra That Haripunjaya. It was a beautiful day, so hopefully some of the pictures of the huge golden chedi will come out well.
