A few weeks ago I wrote about sweet Musana moving away to Bangkok unexpectedly. Since we had our anniversary trip to Bangkok already scheduled, we started thinking about the idea of finding her.
We’ve tried this before with another young girl in the community, and it didn’t work. Because of this, I tried very hard to hold it at arms length–leaving a day for it in our schedule, thinking of gifts to bring her, hoping to see her; but allowing for a day spent going nowhere, making sure the gifts could go to others, and know that it might be a disappointing day. And also knowing that even if we found her, it might be hard–for her, for us.
But we knew we had to try.
We have a phone for her and chat with her sometimes, so we called before we left and had our friend Nu translate for us. We learned they lived outside of Bangkok, either in Ratchaburi or Lopburi, which in Burmese sound the same and are three hours in opposite directions outside of Bangkok. We knew a few key words, but we were unsure where to go first and how best to get there.
Once in Bangkok, I went to the front desk at our hotel and asked for help. I explained that we were looking for our Burmese friend, who lived in one of these two places. The women said she’d be happy to help–she was from one of those areas and her boyfriend was from the other, so she knew them well. I called Musana and asked in Burmese if her mom could speak to the front desk and explain in Thai where they live and how to get there. The sweet lady talked a few minutes and then spent over an hour with me, mapping it out and explaining each step. She wrote out the directions in English and Thai, and was such a huge help.
We left the hotel at 7am. We grabbed some gifts at a Tesco down the street, and then got on the elevated train at 7:35am.
7:35am – 8:30am on elevated train
8:30am – taxi to bus terminal
9:00am – 10:15am in van to a nearby province
10:15am – walked to a nearby pharmacy, because I had yet another eye infection; had lunch, since we weren’t sure what was coming
11:30am – motorcycle taxi to another bus terminal
*Here we were told the next bus leaves at 12:45pm, which seems a long time to wait for what we have ahead of us (getting there and getting back!). We ask if there are other options and they say no, so we sit down and pull out our books. In less than five minutes, they come over, rushing us onto the bus–Come on! Going!–and we get on without paying, and we’ve left within a few minutes. Not sure if they told us wrong, or if they changed the bus schedule for us?!
We arrive into the town at 12:45pm, and bus drops us off at the hospital, where we are supposed to meet Musana’s mom. Instead of meeting us, she gives instructions to a motorcycle taxi driver, who refuses to let us take two taxis, putting all three of us on the same little motorbike. We looked absolutely ridiculous.
He drives us down the road a bit and into a nearby community–a wealthy community. There are nice new Mercedes and huge new houses; we’re not sure where we’re headed. We turn around the corner and see them waiting–Musana and her mom; and Musana starts jumping up and down.
So much fun.
It worked! And I’m not sure any of us could believe it. We were hours from anything any of us know, in a little shanty town community in the middle of this newly constructed neighborhood, and here was Musana with her mom, step-dad, and step-sister.
I’m confident her mom was very confused as to why two white adults spent five hours finding her daughter, and why we brought coloring books and puzzles with us. But we chatted about the neighborhood and what they did for a living; how long we had lived in Mae Sot and how everyone was doing. Musana told her mom I was 28 and I’d be having a baby by the time I was 30; she hadn’t forgotten yet!
We made a puzzle doll house together, and played the rock game that Musana loves.
I’m not sure I can explain how good it was and how much of a gift it was to all of us. We had such fun seeing her and laughing with her; seeing her smile. It was so good to see her in what is really a more stable situation, with some meat on her bones and a fridge full of fruits & veggies (and a fridge itself!).
We also loved just letting her know we loved her enough to find her; that she isn’t forgotten or lost. That she can call and we can visit; and that it’s all going to be okay. We showed her pictures of her cousin and family in Mae Sot, and then took pictures of her back to Mae Sot, which the whole community loved.
The past few weeks have been hard. There is so much instability anyway, and when things shift like this, you can see everyone questioning it. We see her cousin, who won’t let his grandmother out of sight, but then panics when we are. We see him cry when we say we are going to Bangkok, which to him is just a black hole that eats people he loves.
We see the other kids wonder if she’ll be coming back, or who will be leaving next, or even if they’ll have to leave what they know. We see the parents and grandparents wonder when their worlds will shift and if they can do anything about it.
And then we got to let everyone see that it’s okay. While Musana is somewhere else, she can still call and we can visit. She is still okay and with family.
Sometimes I am amazed how much of our life is long, extensive, weird efforts to say: You are seen. You are valuable. To us, yes, but ultimately to Christ. So many miracles had to have happened for us to get to Musana, and yet they did. They all fell into place, because He wanted all of us to know that she is seen & valuable. He hasn’t forgotten any of us in this blender of brokenness.
Thankfully, the ride home was shorter. The first time, we were basically sent to the state capital and then on to the town, which was considerably out of the way. On the way back we went directly from the town she lives in to Bangkok, which made it a little over two hours, and hopefully much more possible again!
So, $33.47 in gifts and $27.18 on five forms of transport and one long day in “Bangkok”–priceless hours with a friend.
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