May 4, 1999
We care Late bloomers THE ELDERLY: Like many village temples, Wat Tung Khaotok is keen to serve its community but is hampered bya lack of resources and marketing know-how Text And Pictures By Somkid Chaijitvanit A group of grannies sit chatting in a temple hall while their hands busily work on their new hobby. All round them are roses, hibiscuses, lilies and daisies in full bloom but strangely, the flowers give off no sweet fragrance. It is only when one realises that the flowers are made of paper that the reason becomes clear. Laughter fills the hall now and then when the pensioners share a joke. In their hands are paper stems and petals that slowly transform into realistic looking flowers. Buakaew Gongboon, 67, is one of the 12 members of Wat Tung Khaotok's Senior Citizens Group. Arriving at the temple in Chiang Mai's San Sai district at 8 a.m., Mrs Buakaew joins the other members in the hall to make paper flowers until noon. One of the items they make is dok mai chan, a simple white paper flower used at cremation rites. Although some people think making funeral flowers is a bad omen, Mrs Buakaew is philosophical. "Birth and death is a fact of life. None of us can avoid it. Why do we have to fear it? Besides, we make the flowers at the temple not at our home," she said as she was busy making a hibiscus. Before joining the temple group, Mrs Buakaew used to tend vegetable plots to earn some extra cash. But she said being part of a group is much more enjoyable as it gives her a chance to socialise with her peers. The elderly women are obviously proud of being able to make beautiful things with their hands. But the large unsold stock of their paper flowers worries the temple abbot Phra Khru Sompong Panyavaro. "We still can't find enough customers to buy these flowers," he said. The temple's troubled paper-making project epitomises the plight of many rural temples in Thailand. While there's no shortage of good intentions, there is a need for outside assistance to provide know-how in skills improvement, management and marketing. The abbot's paper flower-making project started in 1996 as part of his attempts to help the elderly women in his village cope with loneliness. And to boost their self-esteem: according to the 45-year-old head monk, the income from the handicraft project would make the women feel less dependent on their children. The idea for the project dates back four years when Phra Khru Sompong was studying at the Maha Mongkut Rajawittayalai, Lanna Campus, a university for Buddhist monks He used his home village of Tung Khaotok as the site for his rural development research on the temple's potential roles in solving community problems. After visiting over 100 households in the village, the monk found that old villagers lived a lonely life as they are mostly left out of community activities. "Young members of most households have left home to work in big cities. The old people are left to live on their own. They feel lonely and many are sick due to lack of exercise," the monk said, recalling his research findings. When back at the temple as abbot, Phra Khru Sompong set up a senior citizens' group in 1996 to involve them in regular exercise to maintain good health. The Tung Khaotok elderly people were enthusiastic and more than 100 senior citizens, both male and female, joined the exercise sessions which were held every Sunday morning. "The exercise is good for the old people's health and they find new friends to chat with. I also added a dhamma lesson after the session was over. "What I wanted to do was revive the temple's role as the centre of education, recreation and exercise for the community," said Phra Khru Sompong. A few months after this initial success, the monk added paper flower making for old women to the temple's calendar. He first contacted the Non-Formal Education branch of San Sai district which provided experts to teach the pensioners at the temple. But it did not work out well. The teachers didn't have the time needed to teach the old farmers the necessary skills. Consequently, their flowers were not good enough for sale and the abbot had to scrap the project. A stroke of luck came five months later when a newly-arrived monk turned out to be good at making paper flowers and he took it upon himself to train the women. The project resumed with initial funding from the temple. Sichan Khunno, 50, said she has been making artificial flowers for four months. Beginners, she said, usually start with funeral flowers as the process is quite simple. Then they learn to make roses, lilies and other more complicated blooms. Though the grannies are paid only 10 baht per day for joining the handicraft group, they have not received payment for three months. "We can't sell our flowers," said Mrs Sichan. The group had more than 20 women when it started. But now there are only 12 members left. "Some got bored and left. Some didn't like the slow payment," said Mrs Sichan. "But I was bored staying home alone. I like to talk with my friends here while we make flowers."If sales do not resume soon, Phra Khru Sompong is afraid the project might come to a stop. "The prices of our flowers are actually much cheaper than other makers. Take dok mai chan, for example. We sell them at 60 baht per 100 flowers. A rose costs only three baht. But some customers still wanted us to go even lower. We can't do it because the we won't be able to cover the costs," he explained. "We need someone to help us with the marketing. As a monk, I'm not good with it," admitted the abbot. "I don't hope to make profit from the project, I just want to keep it going. To give the old village women a chance to socialise and keep active," he said, adding the group also needs outside help to improve the grannies' skills. "If we have to abandon the flower making programme, we will still need other activities to help the elderly get organised. We need to find them an activity which is not too difficult. Something that they are already good at. "I don't know yet what it will be. There might be many people out there who are more experienced than I am in this matter. Maybe they can help us. We're looking for both ideas and assistance." Info for donations: Name of Organisation: The Senior Group, Wat Tung Khaotok Contact person: Phra Khru Sompong PanyavaroAddress: Wat Tung Khaotok, Moo 4, Tambon Nongyaeng, San Sai district, Chiang Mai Tel: 01-4728874If you cannot contact the group, send your cheque payable to Post Publishing Public Company Limited (For Wat Tung Khaotok). Send it to Mrs Kusuma Mintakhin, Editorial Manager, 136 Na Ranong Road, off Sunthorn Kosa, Klong Toey, Bangkok 10110. Her telephone number is 240-3700 ext 3224-5. Please also include your name and address with your cheque so we can send you a receipt. *"We Care" is a weekly series honouring people who believe in giving. You can show you care by supporting the projects featured here each week. You can also let us know about people who selflessly help others so we can honour them in these pages. Fax "We Care" on 240-3666, or call 240-3700 ext 3208 or 3212. Alternatively email sanitsuda@bangkokpost.net		Current Issues in Thailand Bangkok Post Year-end Economic Review AutoWeb Classifieds Jobs Property Entertainment Investment Education Travel Sales Learn English Weekly Database Horizons Motoring NiteOwl Real Time Student Weekly Special We Care Street Art Back Issues Company Services Subscriptions Advertising Annual Report
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