My community
From P’ Ae – Aphatsorn Somboonwattanakun
After a long trip of ASEAN Youth Forum and ASEAN People’s Forum, I got a vocation about 10 days in my home town, Korat, Northest of Thailand. It had been almost a year since last time I went back during New Year. Too many reasons for me about not going home, no time, no money, too busy, too many people during holidays etc. I found that I lost the sence of my own community almost 10 years since I left for studying in Bangkok.
I spent most of my life traveling and learning from peoples in different places both in Thailand and other countries.I started my work as a volunteer with Karen community in Chiang Mai, commited with social and environmental issues there for few years. Then I went to many countries for my work with a regional program in Bangkok. Unfortunately only a few steps along the border in Burma. The more I travel, the more I feel that I am so small and there are a lot more to learn.
Many things hit me when I met with different groups of peoples. The power of volunteerism of youth in Suratthani inspired me a lot to work for our own community as well as importance of local wisdom for sustainable developement. The questions from young farmers in Europe asked me whether I am a farmer. I was shameful to tell them that I am an activist living by saraly month by month. Don’t know how to grow rice or do farming even though my parents are farmers fed us with their two hands. I kept asking myself about what I am doing and where I am going. At least I can say that I will devote my life for making a change in society. But one thing is also what I can do for my own community where I was born?
I started to think about this again during my trip back home. Our community located in between rural and city with a rapid changes of urbanization and industrialization. Almost every household is agricultural based but more and more have left their farms for other jobs or their land has been sold out. In the last ten years there are many young people are able to have high education such as master or PhD. All of this high educated young people left community for their work in other provinces included my family. The people in this generation had to struggle for their studies due to thier economic limitation.
Later on the economic situation in our community has been getting better as well as Thai society as a whole. The young people do not have many difficulties to study compare to my generation. Mortorbikes and cellphones are common used among them. Accidents also happen very often includes the lost of my own cousin a long the hig way during last year of his university. I learned more from one of my cousins since she graduated from faculty of law for more than a year but still no clear direction to go for her life. She also cannot do farming and she wants to live in community but she has no idea what to do there. She and her friends spend much time for chatting and drinking around the village since she was student and went back home from her stduy time to time. Her friends are not different, some of them have university degree with no garantee for their qulity of life. Many of them end up in the factories around town while many also got married even since high school. Abortion and domestic violence also happen among these young couples. Drugs are spreading around since many years ago.
I knew about this since few years ago and tried to do something with these young people. But my commitment was not strong enough to devote my time to make a change since I had to travel around. I was disappointed with myself that I kept on telling other people to work with communities, but for me myself I haven’t done anything yet for my own community.
However, I and my cousin have a plan to organize a youth camp together soon. There are two young educated brothers are starting an organic farming project in our community. So I can continue working with them since I am not able to go back home very often. Hope that I can make another change there.
Please cheer me up!
Peace,
Ae
