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tsunami clown army needs you
hello all,
below is my last report from Thailand 3 weeks into my month long fact finding mission here, its been really full on good here to be helping on so many levels, most of all bringing a smile back to these poor kids faces, for 20 years thailand made people from all over the world welcome, makle many friends, now in her time of trouble they dont come to see how she is doing, thats not right.
enjoy the report and think about what you could do wether its benfit gigs to raise funds or coming out to these places to raise smiles. more will follow. X D
been in Krabi town for last few days working on a kids day care centre being built by a young english girl called Alana who lost her sister and niece on dec 26th, they are building it near the Mosque in Krabi which has housed about 150 famillies in the surrounding community. I am designing the murals for the outside of the building which has been really nice today especially as a lot of the kids from the island came to help me rub out the pencil lines, its my usual wacky style and although not a direct picture of Phiphi island it does have elements of the place about it and was designed as a tribute, one of the old ladies sat down and was talking about the island to the kids in between keeping them working on the rubbing out!
That was as I was finishing, at lunch time I went and did a clown show at two of the local schools which was really wikid, hundreds of screaming thai kids, was good to put a smile back on there faces, same down at the daycare centre as its all the refugee kids its really cool to make em laugh at me ! which isnt very hard either it seems, which i guess is cool hu hu hu,
the island clean up is still going well and will continue to gather momentum Im sure, what the place really needs is more visitors, tourism is down 90% in the south.
The Thai govt hasnt been so helpful with Phi pjhi either, as its not on the mainland it has been leaft until a couple of weeks ago, I think it was mainly the foriegn population that got the whole clean up going, the place is really ready for people again, there is no major medical warnings or requirements and the beaches are clean and unpopulated. The communities of places like Phi phi were built on tourism and have built up as tourism built up so now they really are struggling, there is aid from the government but not very much and not very often, a lot of grassroots hands on organisations are working really hard to keep things moving, peoiple housed and fed, basically I havnt seen any sign of red cross. oxfam, unicef etc, it takes a lot to keep this situation stable and help people rebuild there lives.
It is especially critical for Phi phi at the moment as the Thai govt are trying to buy the land, this may have been a factor in it being leaft so long before clean up began, in flight magazines have been saying it is out of bounds and a disaster zone when it really only needed a couple of weeks effort and a bit of man power. If the community can re-establish itself there then they have a chance of saving there land, while the landowners arent sure if the tenants are going to make enough money to pay the rent then they will be tempted to sell and if they sell then the local people have less chance of effecting the future of the island.
I have seen the govt proposal for development and it really is ugly, cutting down forest and building up the mountain sides with luxury bungalows and swimming pools, the proposal from the local community stops development at its current point except for re-housing locals and turns areas into parks, gardens and a memorial to the 2000 souls lost, an all together more tasteful and respectful plan.
they have about 6-8 weeks of high season leaft before the rains come, this is a crucial time for these people and if the world doesnt come back to visit then their position is uncertain. I was on Phi phi last year for the first time, since 20 years Im sure it has changed a lot, i didnt like a lot about the resort itself, it seemed to have built up too much too soon in a way, a lot of glass in the sand and fag butts in the ocean sort of thing the people and the natural beauty made it a special place and it really still is an amazingly special place, only it demands a lot more respect now and I think that could be one of the positive aspects to come out of this whole catastrophe.
if you know anyone thinking about a holiday its got to be the best direct aid offer in the world, all you have to do is come and lay on the beach and have massages, sip coctails, go for a swim, eat like a lord etc ! of course if your up for volunteering it really is good crack and much appreciated but not a requirement.Then you would also get to find out just how amazing these people are for your self.
One of the main internatiuonal groups that came in early and got things happening for the refugee famillies here was help international, there website is www.hiphiphi.com and they list a lot of other local grass roots style organisations you can donate to directly who are helping with different aspects of the relief and clean up effort here on the ground. I will also be forwarding account details for specific collections being made trough local Thai organisations which as with this if you could forward to your friends , get printed in local press or posted on net sites please do so and lets try and keep the island where it is, rising out of the waves !
best wishes to you all and write soon XX Doug Francisco www.invisiblecircus.co.uk
below is my last report from Thailand 3 weeks into my month long fact finding mission here, its been really full on good here to be helping on so many levels, most of all bringing a smile back to these poor kids faces, for 20 years thailand made people from all over the world welcome, makle many friends, now in her time of trouble they dont come to see how she is doing, thats not right.
enjoy the report and think about what you could do wether its benfit gigs to raise funds or coming out to these places to raise smiles. more will follow. X D
been in Krabi town for last few days working on a kids day care centre being built by a young english girl called Alana who lost her sister and niece on dec 26th, they are building it near the Mosque in Krabi which has housed about 150 famillies in the surrounding community. I am designing the murals for the outside of the building which has been really nice today especially as a lot of the kids from the island came to help me rub out the pencil lines, its my usual wacky style and although not a direct picture of Phiphi island it does have elements of the place about it and was designed as a tribute, one of the old ladies sat down and was talking about the island to the kids in between keeping them working on the rubbing out!
That was as I was finishing, at lunch time I went and did a clown show at two of the local schools which was really wikid, hundreds of screaming thai kids, was good to put a smile back on there faces, same down at the daycare centre as its all the refugee kids its really cool to make em laugh at me ! which isnt very hard either it seems, which i guess is cool hu hu hu,
the island clean up is still going well and will continue to gather momentum Im sure, what the place really needs is more visitors, tourism is down 90% in the south.
The Thai govt hasnt been so helpful with Phi pjhi either, as its not on the mainland it has been leaft until a couple of weeks ago, I think it was mainly the foriegn population that got the whole clean up going, the place is really ready for people again, there is no major medical warnings or requirements and the beaches are clean and unpopulated. The communities of places like Phi phi were built on tourism and have built up as tourism built up so now they really are struggling, there is aid from the government but not very much and not very often, a lot of grassroots hands on organisations are working really hard to keep things moving, peoiple housed and fed, basically I havnt seen any sign of red cross. oxfam, unicef etc, it takes a lot to keep this situation stable and help people rebuild there lives.
It is especially critical for Phi phi at the moment as the Thai govt are trying to buy the land, this may have been a factor in it being leaft so long before clean up began, in flight magazines have been saying it is out of bounds and a disaster zone when it really only needed a couple of weeks effort and a bit of man power. If the community can re-establish itself there then they have a chance of saving there land, while the landowners arent sure if the tenants are going to make enough money to pay the rent then they will be tempted to sell and if they sell then the local people have less chance of effecting the future of the island.
I have seen the govt proposal for development and it really is ugly, cutting down forest and building up the mountain sides with luxury bungalows and swimming pools, the proposal from the local community stops development at its current point except for re-housing locals and turns areas into parks, gardens and a memorial to the 2000 souls lost, an all together more tasteful and respectful plan.
they have about 6-8 weeks of high season leaft before the rains come, this is a crucial time for these people and if the world doesnt come back to visit then their position is uncertain. I was on Phi phi last year for the first time, since 20 years Im sure it has changed a lot, i didnt like a lot about the resort itself, it seemed to have built up too much too soon in a way, a lot of glass in the sand and fag butts in the ocean sort of thing the people and the natural beauty made it a special place and it really still is an amazingly special place, only it demands a lot more respect now and I think that could be one of the positive aspects to come out of this whole catastrophe.
if you know anyone thinking about a holiday its got to be the best direct aid offer in the world, all you have to do is come and lay on the beach and have massages, sip coctails, go for a swim, eat like a lord etc ! of course if your up for volunteering it really is good crack and much appreciated but not a requirement.Then you would also get to find out just how amazing these people are for your self.
One of the main internatiuonal groups that came in early and got things happening for the refugee famillies here was help international, there website is www.hiphiphi.com and they list a lot of other local grass roots style organisations you can donate to directly who are helping with different aspects of the relief and clean up effort here on the ground. I will also be forwarding account details for specific collections being made trough local Thai organisations which as with this if you could forward to your friends , get printed in local press or posted on net sites please do so and lets try and keep the island where it is, rising out of the waves !
best wishes to you all and write soon XX Doug Francisco www.invisiblecircus.co.uk