By far, the biggest blessing of being out here at the Jungle school is getting to interact with and meet some of the sweet people who are here. We thought it might be fun to record some of our observations and interactions with them here on the blog both for your knowledge and our memory!
The director here at JSMK is Toh. He's probably in his early to mid thirties, although it's always hard to judge age - SE Asian people seem to be perpetually ageless and young looking to us, but out here they also live a pretty hard, subsistence-based life, which can give them a "weathered" look. However, they're extremely fit, so that aspect tends to communicate "youth" to our American stereotyped brains. Anyhow, he's a soft spoken, serious, thoughtful, humble, and kind man, but he's also got a quick sense of humor and a willingness to laugh at simple things. He's a medic and also one of the people who seems to teach the most. He's married and he and his wife have 3 kids - his eldest son is in our preschool, and he's a crack up! The other two (another boy and then the baby girl) are a little too young to come to school. Toh speaks English very well, and he often times stops by in the evening to check in and sit with us for a spell - checking email or informing us of something that's happened during the day. He's obviously a man that carries a lot of responsibility on his shoulders, and we will continue to be praying for him as we leave here that God would sustain him and encourage him in his role.
Toh seems to have two main sidekicks - Silverhorn is the one we interact with the most, probably. He's also quite proficient in English. He has two adorable preschool girls who come to class - only one of them actually does anything, the other one just enjoys sitting in the crowd... Perhaps a bit young yet! Silverhorn is quick to laugh and tease, and always has a big smile on his face. His sweet wife has also earned our appreciation as she gave us bananas the other day - when raw foods are as slim-pickings as they've been for us this trip, a bunch of bananas is like a New Year's party for our taste buds!
Eh Taw Boe is another fixture during this time - he's one of our students, and he's probably one of the most advanced in English. He comes to our house several nights a week to ask us questions about English and practice what he's learned. He's sweet and quiet and thoughtful - when we were playing w game in class a few weeks ago, he refused to wipe out the team that was his main competition when he got the chance. We appreciate his company when we hike to the village each Saturday, as his questions help make the heat and strain of lugging 13kg of rice back to camp over the big hill pass quickly.
Abbi and his wife are our up-the-hill neighbors. They have a small store in their house and Gabe usually goes to purchase a can of coconut water and a soda each day (the coconut water for me - amazingly refreshing even at 104 degrees room temperature - and soda for himself). Abby's wife was one of the ladies that helped me figure out the bathing protocol down at the river. Her English allows us to have simple conversations.
Sar Hey Blut and Tee Moo Paw and Mu Thal are three of our female students that have done simple things with us - either help me during the fishing expedition navigate a couple of the scary river crossings, or come sit with me on the front bench after sunset and make an effort at conversation.
Likewise, we've spent some time with Patalo (the Karen version of a Greek god/underwear model), Khyer Hel (always decked out in traditional Karen face paint), Soe Wil (with the most glorious mane of man-bun hair I've ever seen), and Daw Eh Doe (the mischievous-but-earnest little brother figure of the camp. All of these guys are in our classes, and we've had a few opportunities to hang out with them or need their help with various things.
Lastly, there's the random collection of people that we don't know names of, but they float around the camp - the sweet old guy that brings us bags of Birdy 3-in-1 coffee and beams at us every time he sees us, the spunky older fellow that we saw shimmy straight up a tree the other day and hack off the top 20 feet of the plant with his machete, and the little boy that sometimes squats down to see under the wall of our house to see what we're doing.
We are daily astounded at how brave, fit, strong, compassionate, kind, and generous these people are. Many of our interactions seem to entail hearing "Ta Blut" from these characters, which means, "Thank you," but in reality, we feel like we are the ones that are being gifted something extraordinary. These savvy jungle dwellers took in two foreigners with all the jungle sense of an infant and have helped them adapt and live here for the duration of our stay. And what a memorable stay it has been!
- Dani
The director here at JSMK is Toh. He's probably in his early to mid thirties, although it's always hard to judge age - SE Asian people seem to be perpetually ageless and young looking to us, but out here they also live a pretty hard, subsistence-based life, which can give them a "weathered" look. However, they're extremely fit, so that aspect tends to communicate "youth" to our American stereotyped brains. Anyhow, he's a soft spoken, serious, thoughtful, humble, and kind man, but he's also got a quick sense of humor and a willingness to laugh at simple things. He's a medic and also one of the people who seems to teach the most. He's married and he and his wife have 3 kids - his eldest son is in our preschool, and he's a crack up! The other two (another boy and then the baby girl) are a little too young to come to school. Toh speaks English very well, and he often times stops by in the evening to check in and sit with us for a spell - checking email or informing us of something that's happened during the day. He's obviously a man that carries a lot of responsibility on his shoulders, and we will continue to be praying for him as we leave here that God would sustain him and encourage him in his role.
Toh seems to have two main sidekicks - Silverhorn is the one we interact with the most, probably. He's also quite proficient in English. He has two adorable preschool girls who come to class - only one of them actually does anything, the other one just enjoys sitting in the crowd... Perhaps a bit young yet! Silverhorn is quick to laugh and tease, and always has a big smile on his face. His sweet wife has also earned our appreciation as she gave us bananas the other day - when raw foods are as slim-pickings as they've been for us this trip, a bunch of bananas is like a New Year's party for our taste buds!
Eh Taw Boe is another fixture during this time - he's one of our students, and he's probably one of the most advanced in English. He comes to our house several nights a week to ask us questions about English and practice what he's learned. He's sweet and quiet and thoughtful - when we were playing w game in class a few weeks ago, he refused to wipe out the team that was his main competition when he got the chance. We appreciate his company when we hike to the village each Saturday, as his questions help make the heat and strain of lugging 13kg of rice back to camp over the big hill pass quickly.
Abbi and his wife are our up-the-hill neighbors. They have a small store in their house and Gabe usually goes to purchase a can of coconut water and a soda each day (the coconut water for me - amazingly refreshing even at 104 degrees room temperature - and soda for himself). Abby's wife was one of the ladies that helped me figure out the bathing protocol down at the river. Her English allows us to have simple conversations.
Sar Hey Blut and Tee Moo Paw and Mu Thal are three of our female students that have done simple things with us - either help me during the fishing expedition navigate a couple of the scary river crossings, or come sit with me on the front bench after sunset and make an effort at conversation.
Likewise, we've spent some time with Patalo (the Karen version of a Greek god/underwear model), Khyer Hel (always decked out in traditional Karen face paint), Soe Wil (with the most glorious mane of man-bun hair I've ever seen), and Daw Eh Doe (the mischievous-but-earnest little brother figure of the camp. All of these guys are in our classes, and we've had a few opportunities to hang out with them or need their help with various things.
Lastly, there's the random collection of people that we don't know names of, but they float around the camp - the sweet old guy that brings us bags of Birdy 3-in-1 coffee and beams at us every time he sees us, the spunky older fellow that we saw shimmy straight up a tree the other day and hack off the top 20 feet of the plant with his machete, and the little boy that sometimes squats down to see under the wall of our house to see what we're doing.
We are daily astounded at how brave, fit, strong, compassionate, kind, and generous these people are. Many of our interactions seem to entail hearing "Ta Blut" from these characters, which means, "Thank you," but in reality, we feel like we are the ones that are being gifted something extraordinary. These savvy jungle dwellers took in two foreigners with all the jungle sense of an infant and have helped them adapt and live here for the duration of our stay. And what a memorable stay it has been!
- Dani
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