Shelter for the shattered

A foundation in Chiang Mai is rebuilding the lives of traumatised single mothers

When asked who the father of her baby is, Dao (not her real name), who is eight weeks pregnant, sadly named four men.

Photos by Yingyong Un-Anongrak

"It was a group," recalled Dao of those who gang-raped her while she was on her way to her boyfriend's place one night. "They were 16, 18, 19 and 20 years old. One of them was my boyfriend."

Dao later realised she was pregnant. As compensation, each of the rapists paid 5,000 baht to her family and then vanished. The only thing they left for the 14-year-old girl herself was a permanent scar in her heart as well as an unwanted baby in her belly.

Her family reacted severely to the news. "My dad and my sister poisoned me so that I miscarried. My brother was so angry that he wanted to kill me. I cried a lot after I knew I had become pregnant because I didn't want to have a baby."

The six-grader was forced to quit school and was sent to the Wildflower Home Foundation, a shelter for pregnant girls who have no idea how to handle their unplanned pregnancies and single mothers and females who are victims of domestic violence, sexual abuse or severe poverty.

According to Elizabeth Lachoswky Thaibinh, director of the foundation, Wildflower Home was first founded in September 2005 under the sponsorship of Dr Richard Haugland who aimed to set up a school for disadvantaged indigenous children. The original aim, Thaibinh recounted, was to provide a place for women to stay and to work for the school. Nonetheless, it later turned out that the needs of the female employees were greater than previously thought.

"The women needed education for their own welfare, and during this period of critical need, it was more important for the women to be attending to their own children than to the students of the school. And because the majority of women came from rural, farming areas, many of them were uncomfortable in the city," Thaibinh explained.

Wildflower Home later purchased a new plot of land in Chiang Mai's Doi Saket district and decided to run itself separately from the school. The foundation was, therefore, officially established in June 2008.

Ruengrong Pongpraipoom, assistant director of Wildflower Home: ‘Women are not weak. Whether to have a better life or not, the choice is in their hands.’

Wildflower Home, the director went on, aims to provide not just a refuge for unwed mothers and abused women but also enable them to rebuild their lives on the back of their trauma.

"Our primary goal is to help single mothers through their crises by providing encouragement and training to help improve their chance of self-sustainability," the director remarked.

Ruengrong Pongpraipoom, assistant director of Wildflower Home, said that a key aim of the foundation is to instil in its women strength, confidence and independence. A mother of two, Ruengrong came to the foundation almost three years ago as a victim of domestic abuse. Once she was beaten by her husband so cruelly she had to be hospitalised.

"The worst thing was that my husband used violence against me in the presence of my children I was worried it would permanently bruise their hearts," she said.

Thus, to Ruengrong, strength, courage and self-reliance are weapons that could help her as well as other women fight for a better life, not just for themselves but also for their kids. And when women learn to become unafraid, they will have more confidence to look for job opportunities despite their traumatic experiences.

"The important thing is that we women must remain strong no matter what we have been through. We cannot lose hope. We have to heal the wounds in our hearts as fast as we can. We must keep in mind that we have to be tough and fight for a better future," said Ruengrong.

Farming is one of the activities conducted at Wildflower Home.

Apart from providing a sanctuary for unwed mothers and their children, according to the assistant director, Wildflower Home also offers educational and emotional support. Mothers who stay here also receive vocational training to ready them for steady employment when they leave.

"Besides counselling and personal empowerment, the foundation also offers Thai and English lessons and computer classes provided by Thai and foreign volunteers. Our volunteers also conduct different activities to ensure that the mothers and children feel they are at home. There is also a nursery with volunteers to take care of children whose mothers have to work or attend to matters elsewhere," noted Ruengrong.

To promote health awareness, nurses and health care volunteers are on had at the foundation to provide the women with knowledge on a wide variety of topics such as birth control, sexually transmitted diseases, maintaining physical and mental well-being and so forth. These topics are taught on a regular basis.

Mai (not her real name) met her Swedish boyfriend during Songkran last year. They spent a night together before her teenage lover took off. They communicated with each other via letters. After Mai got pregnant, she received an unfortunate letter from the man she loved suggesting that she get an abortion.

A volunteer takes care of children at the foundation’s nursery.

"I made a big mistake," said Mai, who is eighth-months pregnant. "I should not have let the relationship go that far. Now he has disappeared and I have started to feel hopeless [about the relationship]."

Mai actually has two little daughters, from different fathers but quite similar situations. In the past, the 26-year-old has perhaps fallen in love too easily and her one-night relationships and unprotected sex eventually led to something beyond her imagination.

"Now I'm happy again at Wildflower Home. After I give birth, I will find a job. I plan to have a better life with my children. I'll also open a bank account for them," said Mai in her enthusiastic voice while touching her big belly as if she was speaking to her baby.

The shelter is home to around 10 women and 13 kids. Under the foundation's roof, they all are offered a better quality of life - everyone has three meals a day and one bedroom is shared by two persons. But once they decide to leave the foundation and live on their own, their lives will never be easy. This is because the majority of attending mothers are stateless, which is a significant obstacle in getting a job, living in society and gaining access to health care services.

"The issue of statelessness is hugely difficult and complex," Thaibinh commented. "If a woman has a chance of getting Thai documents, we make every effort to help her do so. This opens to her so many opportunities that are otherwise closed. We have also had some stateless women interviewed by lawyers to be able to present their case to the UNHCR [United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees] to see if they can obtain refugee status. We are also fortunate to be able to tap into resources offered by Thai government hospitals to get medical care for some of our stateless women as well as education for their children."

In terms of legal support, the foundation is starting a partnership with a local group of law students who also have access to the law clinic at Chiang Mai University. "We hope this may open legal doors for our women. The opportunity to have Chiang Mai University's law students at Wildflower Home gives the women some basic knowledge about their rights and other legal assistance," added the director.

As victims of sexual abuse, out-of-wedlock pregnancy and domestic violence, Dao, Mai and Ruengrong have already learned their lessons. Dao hopes she could go back to live with her family and continue her education while Mai will find a job and set up a family with her kids. Ruengrong, on the other hand, plans to live at the foundation to continue taking care of other troubled women. When it comes to sexual and domestic violence, she only wishes that women will become more courageous and that society will become more accepting of victimised women.

"I used to feel scared that I was not going to be able to survive if I ran away from my abusive husband. That was why I stayed with him for seven years despite being beaten up. So in a time of crisis, I think women should remain strong and independent because, after all, nobody is going to help us if we do not help ourselves. Women are not weak. Whether to have a better life or not, the choice is in their hands."

About the author

Writer: Arusa Pisuthipan

Position: Outlook Reporter

Tuning up the world of silence

Hearing-impaired children take on the impossible task of learning how to play music with perseverance, a little ingenuity and guidance from caring teachers

For children with a hearing impairment, the concept of "music" does not exist.

After weeks of practice, the hearing-impaired students could eventually play in unison.

"Children with a hearing disability and music lessons are worlds apart. These children have no idea what music is as they have never heard a thing since they were born," commented Nu Vudthivichai, a renowned pianist, deputy dean of student affairs and head of the Department of Jazz Studies at Silpakorn University's Faculty of Music.

"But now things are turning out differently. Music is indeed a universal language. It has the power to connect people regardless of their physical condition," said the pianist after dedicating his time and energy to each students with hearing loss at Setsatian School for the Deaf how to play music.

For two weeks, the school's recreational room was filled with the high-pitched sounds of glockenspiels. During the first few days of the students' practice sessions, the songs they played were more like random hits on an instrument. They could not keep up with the rhythm and had absolutely no idea when and how long they were to pause between notes. Studying music, to these students, was an uphill task only because they could not hear the sounds they were creating.

Renowned pianist Nu Vudthivichai acts as a conductor during a music training session with assistance from Jinda Unsorn, a teacher at Setsatian School, who translates through sign language.

Teaching these hearing-impaired children to play music was no piece of cake, Nu recalled. But after long, hard practice, finally the students and their glockenspiels became one, and they could play in harmony. They also performed the Royal Anthem onstage at the recent Thailand Jazz Competition, and received big, sincere applause from the audience as recognition of their self-determination.

The Thailand Jazz Competition has been held for five years now. The objectives of this musical contest are to honour His Majesty the King's musical prowess as well as to support the development of jazz music and improve the standard of musicians throughout Thailand.

Organised by the Faculty of Music, Silpakorn University, in collaboration with Prudential Life Assurance (Thailand), this year the competition was more special as it featured a musical performance by the students with hearing disabilities, together with the famous Mansri Jazz Band.

And the goal was to show that people with a disability are indeed capable of doing the same things able-bodied folk can.

In order to make it easier for students with a hearing impairment to learn music, all the notes are transcribed into numbers that are written on the keys of the glockenspiel.

"In learning music, the sense of hearing is vital. So for people with a hearing impairment, it is impossible for them to know the melody, beat, pace and so on. But the students were very determined to learn music. And their perseverance made impossible things possible," said Nu, who is also a member of the Mansri Jazz Band.

The technique Nu used during the training was to transcribe all of the notes into numbers and then attach those numbers on to the glockenspiels' keys. Students then looked at the note sheet and then hit their instruments accordingly.

During the lessons, Nu acted as a conductor. He signalled to the students while they were playing to help guide them when to pause between notes, and when to resume playing.

In all training sessions, Jinda Unsorn, a teacher at Setsatian School, also helped facilitate communication between Nu and the students by functioning as a sign language translator. Jinda, at first, considered learning how to play musical instruments as an impossible mission for students with a hearing disability.

Nu Vudthivichai closely supervises a student to help her keep up with the rhythm.

"The truth is, there are two types of hearing loss: completeand partial. Students with complete hearing impairment could, of course, hear nothing at all while partial deafness would allow them to detect some frequencies of sounds. But in any case, their ears would never be able to perceive high-pitched sounds such as those of a glockenspiel," Jinda explained on why she first believed that learning music was an unrealistic attempt for the students.

Later on, however, the teacher's perspective quickly changed. She was impressed to see that the students were so keen on achieving what they wanted to do.

"Living in a world of silence, these students never know what musical aesthetics truly are. Neither do they know the beauty of the language in lyrics. Even when they sing, they sing in sign language. But I think learning music considerably benefits people, even though the learners cannot hear it. Music acts on our mind. It creates inner peace and also improves one's concentration," the teacher remarked.

"Music can heal anything. It uplifts the soul," she added.

Despite such difficulty in teaching hearing-impaired students how to play music, Nu does not want the project to end here. In terms of the future plan, he said he would like to teach visually impaired students as well as the hearing-impaired to play music so that perhaps one day they could perform together and declare to the world that the disabled are of greater value than most people realise.

"In learning music, besides good musical instruments, what's really important is the heart, the soul and the imagination - and physical disability is certainly not a barricade against learning music. With determination, people with a disability can achieve whatever they want to," Nu concluded.

About the author

Writer: Story by Arusa Pisuthipan and Photos by Pornprom Sarttarbhaya

Isan Puppet Art

More than two decades ago, a new kind of performing art form in the Northeast called 'hoon krabok Isan' was born by one local artist

Hundreds of people are enjoying the fun and fast-paced Isan music - morlam and luk thung - and laughing out loud at Isan-style jokes. On the stage are finely dressed puppets. A hermit comes out first and introduces his student, Prince Trailoka, and his consort, Kanchana. The couple are about to leave for the prince's homeland, Varanasi. Accompanied by their funny friends Nak and Noi, the couple will soon embark on an adventure and encounter giants and zombies.

Sangwal Phongphaew’s Phet Nong Rua puppet troupe performs a folk tale entitled ‘Trailoka’ or ‘Winyan Rak Nang Phidib’, at the Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre.

"My Isan puppet troupe is one of a kind in the Northeast. There has never been anything like it before," said Sangwal Phongphaew, head of the Phet Nong Rua puppet troupe in Khon Kaen.

Created by Sangwal in 1984, hoon krabok Isan, or northeastern puppet show, is a combination of the Northeast's morlam and nang pramothai (northeastern shadow play). It was adapted from morlam moo (group morlam) in its singing, performing and speaking qualities. The only difference is that the players are puppets instead of humans.

The puppets vary from heroes, heroines, parents, the elderly and ghosts to giants, hermits and comedians. They are painted and fitted with beautiful costumes and accessories. Their jackfruit wooden heads and all other parts such as their legs are moveable.

These puppets are mastered the same way as Isan shadow play characters are. The sets are splashed with bright colours and look similar to those of likay, another traditional Thai style of dance, and morlam.

According to Sangwal, hoon krabok Isan is multi-dimensional and compatible with various forms of storytelling. Each story is told in an Isan dialect. Heroes and heroines speak the Central Region's dialect while the other characters speak local dialects.

Sangwal performs ‘hoon krabok Isan’, or a northeastern puppet show; a performance of ‘Trailoka’, or ‘Winyan Rak Nang Phidib’; music is fast, fresh and fun, mainly played with ‘khaen’ (pan pipes), fiddles, harps, drums and some other percussion instruments; singing and dubbing.

All performers in this troupe can play music and sing morlam and luk thung songs. As there are no scripts, they must improvise dialogue and songs. Jokes are an integral part of the performance except for the royal characters, according to Isan tradition.

Hoon krabok Isan is impressive in its lively music, jokes and thought-provoking words. Mainly played with khaen (pan pipes), fiddles, harps, drums and some other percussion instruments, the music is fast, fresh and fun.

"We use luk thung songs, not ancient or traditional Thai music, because youngsters have no ears for such music. Northeastern people love having fun, so we include morlam such as lam ploen, lam klon and lam sing as well as luk thung music in our shows," Sangwal said. The use of traditional Isan music is also an attempt to preserve local folk art forms.

The Phet Nong Rua puppet troupe consists of 19 performers and seven musicians who mainly play fiddles and khaen and sometimes guitar and keyboard if requested.

The stories, poems and songs they perform are all composed by Sangwal and his younger brother Khamtan.

"The ideas and lyrics are based on local folk tales, such as trailoka, jampa see ton and see kumarn. However, we cannot perform Ramakien as we have no puppets for it," he added.

The most popular folk tale for performing hoon krabok Isan is "Trailoka", or Winyarn Rak Nang Phidib, because its plot is simple yet fun and involves a lot of jokes and morlam. The best known comic characters are Nak and Noi, the aides of Prince Trailoka.

Preceded by a ceremony for paying respect to teachers, each show usually starts early in the evening. The first few hours feature traditional music played with khaen and fiddles as well as morlam and luk thung songs played with guitars, keyboards and drums upon request. At about 10 or 11pm, a comedian puppet will appear on the stage to brief the audience about the story to be played. Then the show will start, perhaps lasting for a whole night.

Before the creation of hoon krabok Isan, Sangwal's family performed nang pramothai, or northeastern shadow plays, for over half a century.

"I have been performing nang pramothai since my childhood. My late big brother, Suan, was the owner of a shadow play troupe," Sangwal recalled.

According to him, nang pramothai dates to centuries ago and his family's troupe with whom he grew up is more than 50 years old. In the past, the music was played with khaen and a Korat-style xylophone.

Isan shadow play characters are made of cattle leather. In the past, there was no tanned leather, so artists had to prepare the leather themselves by adding salt to animal skin, leaving it for several days, removing the hair, and then applying rubber from a tree to make it thin. Thereafter, the prepared leather would be carved into the forms of characters whose hands would be fixed with bamboo wood. It would be painted with naturally occurring substances, now replaced by plastic paints.

"This set of my nang pramothai characters is almost 200 years old. When the characters are speaking, their lips are moved to match the dubbing. Only their arms, not legs, are moveable. The use of shadows is the key. Music is mainly played with fiddles and khaen," Sangwal said.

Sangwal with his Isan puppets.

The most popular literature reference in performances of Isan shadow plays is Ramakien, or Ramayana. However, the royal language and the Central Region's dialect are used to depict and dub the main characters such as Rama, Lakshman, Sita and Ravana, while soldiers, servants and comedians will speak simple words. Between dialogues, traditional Isan music such as lam toei and lam sing is featured. Luk thung songs are sung in some scenes.

However, nang pramothai has become less popular since the 1980s - currently there are only five troupes left from the hundreds that once existed in the past, largely because nothing new was offered to please the audience.

"It was always the same, so the viewers would go home at 10 or 11pm," Sangwal noted.

While attempting to conserve nang pramothai, Sangwal came up with a new idea after joining his brother's troupe to perform nang pramothai at Amporn Garden in 1984.

"I had the opportunity to watch a Central Region-style puppet show by Rawd Siri Nil Silp troupe. Their puppets were colourful while our nang pramothai characters could just show their shadows," he said.

Inspired by that puppet troupe's highly skilled and fun performance, Sangwal decided to create Isan-style puppets with the help of his nephew, Lamduan. His puppets have cotton bodies and

limbs. Their hand-carved jackfruit wooden heads are moveable due to a wooden core inside.

"Our Isan puppets have legs just like Joe Louis's puppets, while the others have only a torso," he added.

Inspired by the Central Region-style puppets, Sangwal invented hoon krabok Isan performances based on nang pramothai's singing, performing and speaking styles.

"We can perform hoon krabok Isan at any time, day or night. Based on folklores, puppet shows last for several hours and are full of energetic musical rhythms," he added.

In the first few years, Sangwal introduced hoon krabok Isan to his community and nearby areas. The sets were simple with the use of only a big cloth.

Though the viewers enjoyed the shows, this new kind of performing art was far from famous. Sangwal, accompanied by his wife and two little sons, travelled on a modified motorcycle to perform at temple fairs and other events in Khon Kaen and neighbouring provinces.

With only six puppets, he did everything from mastering and dubbing the puppets to narrating stories and singing. His wife played khaen and a local drum, while his sons played cymbals. They were paid small sums of money or with cooked meals, and spent nights at temples or on their motorcycle.

After two years, he made hoon krabok Isan known among some people, but had to stop performing for a few years due to money problems.

However, a lottery prize of 60,000 baht which he won in 1988 brought hoon krabok Isan back to life. Sangwal founded his own puppet troupe, beautified his puppets and sets, created more puppets and bought new equipment. He gathered his 28 relatives who had performed nang pramothai to work with him.

Since then, his puppet troupe has been performing in the Northeast and other parts of Thailand and has gained increasing popularity. In 1992, it was invited to perform at the Thailand Cultural Centre in Bangkok during a festival to mark HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn's 36th birthday. Since then, the troupe has become famous.

Born in 1949 in Nong Rua district, Khon Kaen, Sangwal excels at performing Isan shadow plays, dubbing, singing and playing fiddle, khaen and other musical instruments even though he only finished Prathom 4. He is able to master and dub two puppets while singing simultaneously. He was named one of the Northeast's best performing artists.

Socially, his puppet troupe, Phet Nong Rua, has not only benefited local art and culture but has also supported society ethically.

"While performing each show, we also teach morality. These days, children do not care much about elders, morals or sins. So, we add words of wisdom to the dialogue," Sangwal said.

His puppet shows are very popular and have joined events at many schools and government offices. To educate the general public, Sangwal regularly teaches local children at Khamkaen Nakhon School and Nong Rua Community to perform hoon krabok Isan.

At the same time, Sangwal has been using his efforts to transfer the ancient art of nang pramothai to the new generation by teaching his interested grandchildren to perform it step by step.

"We should preserve all kinds of performing art passed on from our ancestors, whatever they are - morlam, shadow plays or puppet shows. I do it all with love," Sangwal said in a firm voice.

About the author

Writer: Pichaya Svasti

Position: Writer