Tag: Thailand

Four years ago, on December 26, 2004, one of the deadliest natural disasters in history hit Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand. More than 225,000 people were killed in 11 countries.

Banda Aceh was one of those communities devastated by the tsunami. We had no active program in Banda Aceh before the tsunami, and in fact, none of the areas where we worked in Indonesia before the tsunami were affected.

But when the tsunami hit, we initiated temporary relief work under the name ‘ARIEF’ or Aceh Relief for the tsunami victims. This local name was chosen in order to allow a local ministry to take over the relief and do follow-up work for the beneficiaries of the programs after our initial relief work ended. Our relief work was initially planned for one year. (more…)

In the high mountains of Northern Thailand lives an extraordinary tribe who have no written history and whose way of life is disappearing with the forests.

They knew only how to survive in the deep jungle, building homes from fresh banana leaves. They would sleep on the leaves and use them as a roof to protect from the rain and dew at night.

If they could not find food in the area nearby, they would move on deeper into the forest. They would wander in the forest, staying together in small groups. Education, a house, and clothing were of no value to them, as they had no use for these things living in the forest.

The isolated tribe was also afraid of strangers. If they met any outsiders, they moved away immediately, like spirits. They lived like this for centuries, the last nomadic tribe to survive in the northern forests of Thailand and Laos. (more…)