the community carries on.

Upon returning to Mae Sot, we jumped head-first into renovations on our new addition: we are now renting the two houses of our duplex, and we’re working to make them one cohesive space for our family & the community. We’re also racing to have this all finished before we go to Bangkok for our adoption class, so that our case worker can see photos of our new space.

But while we tear down & build & paint, the community carries on. Life doesn’t stop!

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Our friend, Mwei Mwei, is back from Bangkok! Her whole family is here and so dear to us, and we have been so sad to have her be in Bangkok over the past year. She returned just a week after us, as her mom said it was just too hard on her and them. It has been a sticky situation all along: they are like family to us. Mwei Mwei is like a little sister, and her mom, Thida, is one of my closest friends. We had so many conversations about our concerns with her being there: the risk of her job, if it was above board, the dangers in Bangkok for 14-year-old girls without papers or family!  We told her many times we’d find her a job here if that’s what it took.

So we are! We are working on a sewing project for her to start in our home alongside San Aye, and possibly some childcare options in the community. While we aren’t a big fan of hiring a 14-year-old, we recognize the alternatives and want to make sure those don’t happen. We are also trying to determine how to help her continue some education even if she isn’t enrolled in school. Pray for wisdom as we maneuver this in the coming weeks.

And upon her return, we really wanted her to feel celebrated! We made a cake for the family and snapped a photo when most of them were at our house for Playhouse. (We are still working on smiling during photos!) Mwei Mwei is in red on the right.

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Flour & Flowers continues each week, even in the construction zone! We are baking bread and still keep growing! Daw Ma Oo is still in Yangon, receiving chemotherapy & radiation for her cancer, and possibly a surgery this week, as well. In the mean time, her family is working together to continue the flower sales in a few local markets and with our deliveries.

We know they are having a hard time making ends meet: for all of them to eat, to pay for her treatment, and to get her youngest two sons registered for school. We decided we wanted to find a way to have our Flour & Flower customers get involved. The first week of May, we did a Flowers Fundraiser for her family: we bought all the flowers that week, so that any bouquets purchased gave 100% of sales to her family.  We told everyone in town and had a great response! We were able to give over 3,000 baht (around $100) to her family to help with medical expenses and immediate needs as they function without their main breadwinner.  Even amidst the sadness of her cancer diagnosis, it has been encouraging to see the Burmese community and expat community support her in anyway they can, whether it be financial gifts, buying flowers, making meals, and everything in between.

 And this little friend, whose mom is one of the bread bakers, is always keeping us on our toes! He’s cuter than ever, starting to talk, and loves small spaces, some of which he gets stuck in.

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Last Monday around 8:30pm, San Aye came to our door asking if we could take her to the market. I was a little confused–as most of Mae Sot is closed by that time–as to where and why we’d be going. She said there was a “big, cheap market” in town that had school uniforms for just $1 per shirt, which is less than half of what you’d usually pay. She wanted to get uniforms for her son and her nephews, Daw Ma Oo’s sons. Since we are always looking to support the kids staying in school and are looking for ways to help Daw Ma Oo’s family, this seemed a great opportunity.

Three of us climbed on the motorbike and headed out. I tried to clarify that it was definitely open at such a late hour and where this market might be. Was it in town for a holiday?

Turns out it’s Tesco. The big, cheap market.

San Aye had never been, so it was so interesting to see her response. There is an escalator going up, and she paused, scared to get on. She grabbed my arm for dear life as I tried to tell her when to step and where. It was very Elf-like in the end!  As we left, her sister-in-law and I were in front, headed down the escalator again. Forgetting her fear earlier, we climbed on, only to leave her screaming at the top! I had to turn around and race back up the escalator to help her get on!

The uniforms were some pretty incredible prices: $1 shirts, $1.50 for skirts and shorts, and $3 for the younger kids shoes. We decided it might help others in the community, so I went to some houses and asked if they’d like me to get any for them and they could pay us back.

A week later, I’ve been seven times to Tesco and bought hundreds of dollars worth of uniforms in small $2-$10 loans!

At one point, San Aye realized the shoes she got for her son didn’t actually match each other–they were the same size but different styles. I tried to exchange them for her, but they were sold out in that size. I returned home later and found that I had actually bought the other set in that size that was mismatched, so we could swap them out! I guess that’s what happens when you’re buying most of the inventory! 😂

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Oh, and They They built Paris for us. 😁