New Students Join Sangsan’s University Program

May 16^th to 18^th, 2014

Often the biggest change in our student’s lives is the transition from high school to tertiary education, at universities and vocational schools.  The experience not only involves the new challenge of higher education but cultural and practical ones as well.  Leaving a familiar environment, away from support networks and often to a big city can be daunting especially when considering the cultural change.  Often our students find themselves going from a Mae Hong Son high school attended by many Karen and Shan students to a new environment surrounded by an overwhelming Thai majority.

From the 16^th to the 18^th of May Sangsan held an orientation camp to welcome our new students and to help them with this transition.  Budget management and empowerment training took place, alongside explanations of program policy and processes.

12 students joined us in the training with some coming from our high school program, already familiar with the Sangsan approach, and some joining us for the first time.  The camp is therefore an important step in their Sangsan journey and provides an opportunity to orientate students to the university program while also discussing their hopes and concerns for the future. 

In a safe environment all students are given the opportunity to talk about their experiences and their expectations.  Our Junior Staff, Poosaw and Songkran, play a key role in this discussion as both are current students at universities in Chiang Mai and have gone through the transition themselves.  They offered important advice to the new students but could also help put the experience in perspective by discussing their own similar journeys.  The discussion encouraged confidence building and introduced different approaches to help students adjust to their new lives.

Alongside this discussion budget management training took place, introducing strategies to help balance new financial demands and circumstances. We believe this is not only significant for practical reasons but for personal health as well.  When budgets become stretched often stress increases and diet suffers affecting the mental health of our students greatly.   A balanced budget often leads to a balanced diet as more money can be allocated to healthier foods.

Students were also provided with opportunities to participate in exercise activities such as yoga.  Feedback from previous camps indicates that yoga specifically is something adopted by many of our students in their day-to-day lives.  At our recent agricultural training one student commented on its importance, saying it helped her keep a daily routine and gave her more energy to study and work. The message of health management is particularly important for new students who are experienced heightened stress due to the transition they are undertaking.

Sangsan is very pleased to welcome the 12 new students joining our program and we look forward to their contributions in the future.  Their participation and contributions to their orientation camp was outstanding and a very positive sign of things to come.

Rethinking Agricultural Livelihoods

A sustainable living workshop encourages new approaches to farming, housing, water filtration and economic development.

At our recent evaluation camp many students talked of the threats to traditional agricultural practises and the subsequent impact on the livelihoods of their families.  The negative effects of pesticides on health and livestock, the limitations placed on rotational farming practises and environmental events all greatly affecting the local agricultural economy.  Earlier this month Sangsan provided a sustainable living training session to 15 university students who had defined sustainable agricultural practises as a central focus for their empowerment.  Staff Jeab, Jum, Poosaw and Songkran were also in attendance along with our volunteers Drum and Rob.  Seed saving, crop diversification, organic farming techniques, succession planting, water filtration, earthen house construction, health and natural medicines were all covered in the workshop.  It is hoped that the knowledge gained by the students can be taken back to their communities to help bring food security, clean water, affordable housing and greater economic benefits to their families.

Jon Jandai (Joe)

The workshop took place at the Pun Pun Sustainable Living and Learning Centre and was lead by Jon Jandai.  Jandai is an influential sustainable agriculture specialist who has led many sustainable living initiatives here in Thailand and is the founder of Pun Pun.

The importance of organic farming methods was evident from our community survey results.  Many students found that the use of pesticides had caused great harm to their communities; reportedly leading to increases in health problems, the death of livestock and an impact on soil health in general.  Joe’s teachings focused on pesticide free agriculture that was able to produce a marketable and healthy product.

Improvement to livelihoods was also a key focus of the workshop.  Many of the communities our students come from use traditional methods and limited crop selection.  This has lead to most households growing bulk amounts of the same crops, rice and chilly predominantly, which is all harvested at the same time.  When unexpected natural events interrupt this process entire yields and large percentages of a family’s income can be lost.  The income a farmer can collect in the market is also limited. The workshop discussed diversification of crops that could be harvested at different times and for higher prices.  Succession planting was also a topic of discussion.  The outcome of succession planting is for bulk crops to be planted and harvested in staggered time frames alleviating some of the risk of environmental events.

Another predominant topic of the workshop was seed saving.  Seed saving refers to the practise of farmers harvesting the seeds naturally produced by their own crops to be used in following harvests.  With large commercial seed suppliers controlling seed development and prices, seed saving allows local farmers to control all stages of production; reducing their overall costs, increasing self-reliance and leading to more sustainable farming and living. A strong seed saving practise also provides farmers greater control over the quality of their product allowing them to avoid GMO contamination.  “No seed is no food and no food is no life” said Joe, who hopes that seed saving, which was once an fundamental part of traditional farming, can again be adopted by agricultural communities.   The seed saving workshop was followed in the evening by a screening of the documentary “Food Inc”, a film that focuses on the impact of corporate agriculture on food quality and farming livelihoods.

An earthen house workshop also took place to encourage sustainable and affordable construction practises in the communities.   The houses can be built quickly and cheaply and as they provide natural insulation heating and cooling costs can also be reduced.   In addition to earthen house techniques we also examined straw bail housing as another affordable option.  Safe and affordable water filtration methods were also covered along with a conversation on health and natural medicines.  With many of our communities lacking access to affordable and effective health care water security and natural medicines can be an effective tool to improve the quality of life for many of our students and their families.

At the camps conclusion many of the students expressed a desire to discuss the ideas covered in the workshop within their communities in the hope that new approaches to a sustainable agricultural livelihood could be adopted.  Sangsan would like to thank the Pun Pun Sustainable Living and Learning Centre for the workshop and Joe for his passionate leadership.  

For more information on Pun Pun or Joe please watch some of the videos below or head to their website on the link below.
http://www.punpunthailand.org/

Introducing Pun Pun

Jon Jandai Discusses earthen house construction.