Slowly but surely....

I am finding my feet in this little mountain town... slowly but surely...

Freshly made soy milk from the little cart between Shop A and Shop B, near the noodle shop - Check...
Best stall for dragon fruit - red ones - Check...
Best stall for mangoes and longan's - Check...
Best Iced Soy Coffee - Check
Best/Cutest coffee shop - Check (see photos)
Amazing Tuesday market - with EVERYTHING from the surrounding hills including avocados - Check...

And, what I am going to be working on over the coming weeks - Check!

From Thursday to Monday, I sat in on the mid-year strategic planning and visioning workshops... mostly in Thai but, i was able to get a lot of it, when i was informed of the contexts... They were really big days and every now and again, I was asked to present my thoughts and recommendations on different aspects of the upcoming program... It was a very interesting process and I am glad I came up a little earlier than expected to be here for it. It also gave me a great change to meet some of the Bangkok folks... and to observe the group dynamic and thai ways of working...

So, from that, I will be working on...

1. Train the Trainer program - tightening up the framework and providing recommendations about where the program could head over the next five years...

2. 2011 Reunion Festival - contacting all previous participants of study tour, reviewing and consolidating the program, developing framework for next asialink resident to engage...

3. Makhampom Enterprise Development Strategy - lots of ideas coming from the organisation and I am going to research some options and present back some recommendations and maybe, just maybe i will get started on a draft strategy for the next five years (perhaps a little adventurous!)

4. Schools Hosting program - reviewing framework and meeting with international schools to scope new partnership potential

5. Participating in general MKP (short for Makhampom!) business ... Chiang Dao Community program with Pang Daeng Village, Book Bike, Schools program and BKK (Bangkok) programs .. Theatre for transformation workshops and performances

I am heading to Bangkok on 10 August for:

- 7 days of intensive thai language classes (hmmmmm.... brain twist)
- Share for Peace Festival - MKP is performing
- International Schools meetings
- Hanging out with the MKP BKK mob

I am moving into my new little house tomorrow and Saturday. Have been shopping today for all of the bits I need to make it a home...

- Cooker, pots, pans and other random kitchen type things... An outdoor kitchen (my dream kitchen - love it!)
- Sheets, Blankets, Pillows and other bedroom related type things...
- Food - gee it is big setting up a whole new kitchen again...
- Plants! I will try my hand at keeping some alive... surely in this tropical environment they will be fine?!
- Incense, Candles and the most important house thing... TEA ... 5 kinds and, more to come...

So, please come over for a cup of tea sometime soon?

Rainy chiang dao, the butterflies and dragonflies and little snake, that keeps hanging around, and the little cute rat, that keeps eating my stuff, all say HELLO to you!

Hoping the world is treating you all beautifully...

Jade x

Photos are (back to front it seems... still getting used to this blog thang...):

- Haniba Coffee ... Super cute cafe in Chiang Dao
- Welcome to Haniba
- MKP kids waiting for icecream!
- Haniba lights
- Haniba Art

Enjoy... x

and, as promised, some photos...

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photos from top left...

- makhampom chiang dao farm guesthouse
- my 'ride' in the 'garage'
- me feelin pretty cool in my new helmet! yeah!
- suway mahk - dokmai (very beautiful flower)
- my current view of the mountains

will put more pics on facebook... xx

chiang dao ... misty mountains, the tropics, dengue den and ... makhampom!

Chiang Dao...

Misty mountains, dragon fruit, magnificent foresty peaks, dirt roads, motorbike ridin, listening, learning, meetings, meetings, more meetings (no contribution from me though, which is a nice change!), cicada dreaming, mosquito dreaming, dengue fevers, community health workers, white rice, rice and more rice, fish sauce with fresh chillies, mmmmmm coffee, temples, many broken pay phones (in fact, could not find one that would work), morning markets - boiled eggs (in case there was no vegetarian food at the farm today), bananas, mangosteen, dragon fruit and lots of strange looks in my direction...

Makhampom Theatre Group...

Vibrant, passionate, performers, singers, songwriters, happy people, activists, family, thai style organisers, relaxed, no pressure, artists, long term stayers - lots of folks have been here 15 years or more ... there are now 4 generations of makhampom folks... working with schools (21 of them in fact), performing all across asia, book bikes - little trailers of books that are attached to motorbikes and taken throughout the region, train the trainer programs, international exchange programs and an array of other things i do not yet have my head around...

what i know so far is that makhampom is managed within three streams:

- education program (all over thailand - theatre for transformation work)
- performance (mainstream performance outcomes and audience development)
- community (chiang dao villages and community cultural development work nation wide)
- international (study tours, exchanges and theatre programs)

what will i be working on?

well, it is all still in development but, for now...

- reviewing and consolidating the reunion festival program for next year
- developing some communications strategies for different programs
- developing and promoting the train the trainer framework
- looking into the web-based marketing and communications opportunities (hmmmm.....)
- looking into potential international collaborations and partnership opportunities (look out folks, i might be knocking on your door!)
- some training/facilitation
- still in negotiations!!

the team is currently in their mid-year reflection, planning and development phase so, i am sitting in meetings with some translation trying to understand what is happening... interestingly though, if you know the subject, people are people and i am often able to pick up on the general vibe of something however, i am of course missing the detail (which, you know i love!)

within the next couple of weeks, i will be enrolling in an intensive language course and getting my thai a little more up to speed and, i am spending some time in bangkok at a festival that makhampom is performing at, in a couple of weeks...

sounds terrible eh?

well, i don't want to bore you all with too much detail so, will sign off for now... let me know if you have any feedback that would make this blog a bit more reader friendly!

love and light to you all xxx

Chiang Mai and, blog-literate...

Flying into Chiang Mai today was a reminder that this part of the world really is in the midst of some beautiful forests and amazing mountain country. I feel as though these two days are enough time for me to land (and actually acknowledge that I have left home for a wee while) and feel into this new adventure. Asialink! I am being funded by the Australia-Thailand Institute and Arts Queensland (thank you very much) to be here for three months as an Arts Management resident Well, what to expect - I am not really sure yet but what I do know is that I am meeting Richard from Makhmapom Theatre Group http://www.makhampom.net/makhampom/makham2008/index_en.php (the organisation I am being funded to work with) on Thursday and then heading to my new temporary home of Chiang Dao. Apparently, I have a house there that I will be renting! Will keep you all updated...

Today however, was all about... arriving, airports, lovely Chiang Mai Thai House (thank you j star for the great tip), napping, orange and pineapple fruit shakes, lotus root tea, massage, walking, dinner at lemongrass with my friend jamie who is here studying massage and of course, getting myself a rockin blog (thanks sumit for the hot tips!)

Please do not feel obliged to follow however, I hope to be able to write you some interesting stories on this here little piece of the world wide web...

So, love and light and sweet dreams to you x

Jade