Teaching P' Katoon

Obviouly the Mirror Foundation is a small NGO but they offer employement opportunties to local staff. From cooks to translators these are great jobs to have since many of their basic needs are taken care of.

I grew to love one translator in particularly. Her name is P' Katoon. (In Thai you had a the prefix "P" in order to show a sign of respect, like Ms. or Mr.) She is from the Akha hill tribe about two hours from the foundation. She is cute, small, and so funny.

One of the volunteers that had been at mirror invited me to teach Katoon at night with her. That's when I really started to get to know her. It is common for Thai people to be shy and generally unapproachable but once I broke the shell with Katoon she was a blast.

One of the funniest moment I had with her was completely random. We had just finished volunteering at the hospital and we were waiting to jump in the back of our truck. Since we were in town we asked Katoon if we could stop at a 7-11 for treats before we went back into the jungle. She said ok. then she got a smile on her face and said "ask me again." (know that the Thai accent is strong here and can not be accurately displayed via the world wide web.) A little bit confused we asked her again. She started to giggle and said "sure why not?" (I'm such a great English teacher I focus on slang. :) )

Katoon has such a drive to learn. She takes each opportunity she has to grow and make a better situation for herselvf. One night when we were working on conversation I asked her what her ambition was in life. Her response was simple, "to know good people." She wants good people to be around her. This simple ambition meant the world to me. She didn't want money or to visit the states or own her own home but just to know and experience good people.

I'm going to miss Katoon but she has forever impacted how I view and view those around me. I've been a little stressed with the fact that I only have one semester of college left but have now been thinking of how that's only the beginning of my learning process. I have a long way to go because like Katoon, I have much to learn.