Ultimate. It's everywhere.

Spent the last two weekends at two different Karenni refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border coaching ultimate frisbee and had an absolute blast and I've got the pictures to prove it.. It was organized through DARE (Drug and Alcohol Recovery and Education), which is the organization my friend Janeen is working with (although I don't think it had much to do with their organizational mandate, it had nothing to do with drugs or alcohol).

The road on the way to Nupo Camp was TERRIBLE

We stayed overnight at Nupo Camp the first weekend, which was my first sleeping on the floor experience. It was pretty chilly because we were high up in the mountains and being a fool I'd forgotten my sweater. Fortunately a sleeping bag was available, so I survived the night.

Ice-breaker games the first day. We played 'Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes' in as many languages as we could. I surprised myself by remember the words in french. Thanks Madame Sisti.

The boys and the girls sat on opposite sides of the building for some reason. In the front there, you can see our translator, Million Gold, who did a fantastic job all weekend

Going over the rules the first day

The field was gorgeous

Janeen and her kids



Some kids were just watching

Others were just fighting

Teaching how to mark

The girls did a FANTASTIC job, and kept up with the boys beautifully. Nobody minded when it began to pour and the field turned to a muddy disaster

Lunchtime!

To wrap things up, we had a tournament at the end of the weekend. The kids played amazingly, I couldn't get over how quickly they picked it up. I took this video the second day. Bear in mind that they had learned how to play less than 24 hours previously.

Exploring the camp in the evening

I couldn't believe how muddy it was.

Janeen has the feet of a poet. A dirty dirty poet. This was just after our walk.


I was told it works


I'm telling you, stunning vista-wise, Thailand definitely knows what it's doing. This was the scene that greeted me when I woke up Sunday morning to go home. It did nothing to ease the 12 hour trip home though. (3 hours from Umpang to Mae Sariang, 4 hours from Mae Sariang to Mae Sot, 5 Hours from Mae Sot to Chiang Mai)

This picture is from the second camp (the weekend just finished). It was also really beautiful (although I don't know if I'd find it so beautiful if I were told I wasn't allowed to leave).

A classroom in the school. You'll notice everything in the camps is built out of bamboo, wood, leaves or other temporary materials. This is because the camps are supposed to be 'temporary living arrangements' so they aren't allowed to built 'permanent' buildings anywhere on the camp grounds. Meanwhile people have been living in them for 20 or 30 years.

All in all, a fantastic experience, I'm looking forward to one more weekend of coaching in November.