Olympus OM-2N | Fuji Superia 1600
Watching the pantomime troupe Babymime perform.

Posted on September 14, 2010 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Olympus OM-2N | Fuji Superia 1600
The Thai pantomime troupe Babymime gave their time at Borderline's 6th anniversary party. Money donated from attendees went to area migrant schools.

Posted on September 14, 2010 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Olympus OM-2N | Fuji Superia 1600
Borderline Shop celebrated its 6th anniversary this year. Borderline provides a supportive market space for 10 migrant Burmese women's groups based around Mae Sot, the refugee camps along the border, and near Chiang Mai. In addition, Borderline has a beautiful tea garden with great food, and an art gallery with regular new shows by Burmese artists.

Posted on September 14, 2010 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Olympus OM-2N | Fuji 800Z
Borderline's samosas are pricey compared to the non-Western places, but...really, really good.

Posted on September 14, 2010 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Olympus OM-2N | Fuji 800Z
Very basic kitchen, but she turned out a meal of three dishes (while only being able to cook one at a time) that far surpassed anything I do in my modern kitchen.

Of course, I live in Brooklyn so "modern" means my kitchen is significantly older than I am. Either way, I have never tried making pumpkin curry.

Posted on September 13, 2010 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Olympus OM-2N | Fuji 400H
Yanmi is the talented girl who made some of my bag designs while I was in Mae Sot, in hopes of garnering more interest in her work from Western NGO staff and volunteers.

At twenty-five years old, this young Lahu shoulders a great deal of responsibility. Escaped with from Myanmar three years ago with her then-11-year-old brother on request from her parents to find better lives for them both. Started the United Lahu Youth Organization's first income-generation project, by organizing together all group members who knew how to weave and sew, and representing them to retail outlets. Welcomes other lonely migrant friends into her bare small apartment--bare except for bags and bags of sewing paraphenalia, that is--for food, prayer, and conversation.

This was the day we'd first met, when she was halfway done with the first two bags and had a few questions. She treated me to lunch at Borderline Shop's tea garden--samosas, milk tea, and delicious tomato and onion salad--which bothered me until I was able to treat her back a few days later.

Posted on September 13, 2010 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Olympus OM-2N | Agfa APX 100
Another traditional village...they're everywhere in Toraja!

Posted on September 12, 2010 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Olympus OM-2N | Agfa APX 100

Posted on September 12, 2010 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Olympus OM-2N | Fuji Reala
Met the lovely school principal Mama Irvan while trudging tiredly through Ponding, on my way to Paku through the Mamasa Valley. She and her husband behind her convinced me to rest at their house, and wait for a truck to take me all the way to Bittuang instead.

Posted on September 12, 2010 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Olympus OM-2N | Fuji Reala

Posted on September 11, 2010 | Permalink | Comments (0)