Home Sweet Baan Unrak: Sangkla, Thailand

It’s been two weeks and already it feels like I’ve been back here forever. I’m back at the Baan Unrak Burmese orphanage in the Thai border town of Sangklaburi. You’ve seen the videos and the photos from this region, so you already know the scenery is breathtaking…and soon I'll post videos showing the very best of laughing children, inspiring women and dedicated volunteers who run this home.

I’ve had 10 volunteers under my care these past couple weeks and today is our last day together. Tomorrow morning we have a killer 5 am wake up call and a 7 hour drive through winding mountains to the Bangkok airport where we will say our final goodbyes, and where I pick up my next group. Looking back at our accomplishments we have done some amazing work together! We planted nearly 1000 tomato plants and ladyfinger herbs, we created a paddock for planting 25x35 meters, we spent days repairing the fence work around the home (after we found a hole kids were sneaking out of at night!) and we've cleaned and painted the front of the entire orphanage home, making the face of Baan Unrak brighter and more uplifting for everyone living here.

This place...words are hard to find to describe what this place does to me. Don't get me wrong, it's not all that easy being here. The work is hard: physical hard labor in a burning sun all day; pink eye, stomach bugs and chest infections tend to spread like wildfire; waking up to scorpions in your pillow and poisonous man eating-centipedes on your doorstep is not uncommon; and living for months on end with no meat, no electricity, no hot water, and absolutely no privacy does strange things to your body and soul.

And yet...I swear I have never been happier in my life than the times I have spent here. Maybe the only experience that comes close is when my big brother's first baby born came into this world. So tiny and frail, Cooper looked up at me with eyes full of trust and need...and that is something I continue to see every day from the children here.

When traveling, we realize that it takes time to fall in love. Visiting somewhere once, twice, even three times is not enough to really take it in through the skin. Making connections, understanding your surroundings, and reveling in the rhythm of a place can take years. I've been working with this orphanage for over a year now, but it feels like only recently have I been 'seeing' with a new set of eyes. The day I came back for the first time in many months since being away, I felt my heart swell. My chest physically expanded and I found myself releasing a long slow breath I didn't know I was holding.

Didi, the spiritual leader who runs this home, said the children were waiting for me. As soon as I stepped out of the taxi, I had Zola and Taji in my arms again. The last time I saw Taji was in January, and he was swimming after me as my boat was driving away. He was shouting my name, and trying to keep a strong smile on his face. The day he was finally back in my arms, Taji looked up at me with the biggest grin I've ever seen from him, and said he always knew I would come back. Yeah, I knew it too.

Every morning we start with meditation on the hill at 5 am. We watch the sunrise and chant a mantra the children study every day: Baba Nam Kevalam, which roughly translates to 'love is all around us.' After working hard in the field all day, we break at 3:30pm waiting for the children to come back from school and proceed to play for hours: tug of war, skipping ropes, soccer, and dancing classes (even the big boys want me to teach them ballet!) Evenings we share meals and stories together, and put the little ones to bed before doing a nighttime yoga session. Wake up tomorrow, and do it all again. Weekends are spent doing relief work and bringing medical supplies to the nearby refugee villages, and taking group trips to the local river spot to teach the kids how to swim. No alcohol, no smoking, no meat, no romantic relationships. It's the ultimate detox for life: cleaning your body, cleaning your soul, and filling your day to day life with laughter, happiness and most importantly hope for the future.

Now I'm back, and I'm staying put for at least another 3 months...After that, I don't know. Somehow I'll have to tear myself away. But until then bring on the love, the games, the physical labor and relief work for Burmese women and children who struggle every day in the jungles between Thailand and Burma.