Trip to America 2012

Culture of Child Raising

Having our first child is an adventure in itself, but add bringing up that child in a rural Lao community as the only foreigners living there and it becomes the wildest venture we have been on yet! Some days can be overwhelming, but raising Moriah has taught us to relax, laugh more and sift through the mound of comments to find good advice to help raise her in our new Lao home.

A simple five minute walk can now turn into a half hour visit as each passerby stops to see Moriah, exclaim how big she is getting and share other advice or comments.

Did you get a C-section? 

Are you using milk formula? 

Do you have stretch marks? 

Will you get house-help?

What foods can’t you eat now that you are breastfeeding? 

Are you taking medicine so that you won’t get pregnant again?

Did you ‘sit on fire’ and drink hot water after giving birth?

Lao tradition advises a new mother to sleep and sit near fire. In some homes hot coals are placed directly under the chair or bed. A new mother should also only drink hot water and a special steamed sticky rice to promote milk production.

  
You should buy bottled water to wash your baby, then she will not have pimples. 

You are feeding the baby too long on one side…you should change more often otherwise you’ll be imbalanced. 

You should put a shirt on your baby or You should put a hat on your baby. 

Lao people are always wondering how us foreigners can be so warm. Our favorite story depicting this difference was one morning while my mother, Dori, was out walking with Moriah. Mom couldn’t understand what the Lao women were trying to communicate, but they were motioning to cover Moriah’s head and beckoning her into their bamboo home. Once inside the older Lao women took Moriah while the younger one brought out clothes. They dressed Moriah in a long-sleeved sweater and socks, returned her to Grama and sent them on their way... in the hot 90 degree sun!

And finally the most counter cultural comment I will receive on numerous occasions, that still catches me by surprise...

Oh my your baby is so white! And you are fat and so beautiful! 

Rice Planting

Sloshing, bear-foot through ankle deep mud, bundle of rice seedlings in one hand, planting seedlings with my other, I try to keep pace with the much more seasoned Lao rice planters. "No, this is my first time planting rice," I say to the surprised villager who asks. I thought the slowness of my planting technique gave me away...but perhaps others are being polite.

Line of Planters

The line of 40 people move quickly through the paddy field planting rice seedlings left and right. This year the agriculture team decided to begin the planting season's activities by inviting advisers and partners from the district as well as the entire MCC Tha Thom office to plant rice together in Phonchaleurn Village.

Collecting the Rice Seedlings

Planting the 20-day old seedlings isn't difficult, but is hard on the back as a person must bend over constantly while planting. There are many techniques in growing rice, but the way MCC teaches is using a single seedling (or 1-3 seedling) method. Planting fewer seedlings together and using a more stringent control of water levels can result in a better yield.

More Planting

As we finish planting and head back to the village meeting house for lunch, I comment to a district colleague, "In my village there are no paddy fields. Most people don't eat rice." I then say with a smile, "they plant potatoes, corn and bread!"

Cover Cropping

When the rains start…they sure are here to stay! The machine, that is the South East Asia monsoon, has begun to dump its wet payload for the 2012 season. This moisture transforms the landscape into a burst of verdant, dripping green. Even though it isn’t technically a rainforest, days of non-stop showers certainly make it feel like we live in one!

Tilling the Fields

Farmers take advantage of this time of year by planting rice in their sopping rice paddies. Other crops are hard to grow because they are not adapted to this much water!

As one might expect gardening becomes challenging as water logged soil is inevitable. Despite our raised beds, plants that don’t like having ‘wet feet’ soon drown, leaving the monsoon-resilient plants to flourish in the humid environment. Eggplant, ginger, basil, hot pepper, moringa, and lemon grass have all taken off, while tomatoes, green onions and dill have all retreated to the dryer safety of pots on our porch.

Planting Amongst the Stubble

We were blessed by Mom and Dad Visness who brought with them good ol’ American sweet corn. We praise the Lord that the corn flourished so well that in only 65 days we feasted off corn-on-the-cob for two weeks, before the rains really geared up. Now that the corn is stubble the soil needs some replenishing. Since corn is a heavy feeder and the rainy season quickly leaches nitrogen from the soil it is a necessity to plant some sort of cover crop that will improve the soil and protect it from the pounding downpours.

Baby Jack Beans

We were introduced to jack bean a climbing, nitrogen-fixing legume that seems to grow prolifically in any location. It doesn’t seem to mind the wetness either! It will produce foot long bean pods that are edible (but we have yet to indulge). Lima bean sized seeds are also produced, but we have read that they require some work before they are made tasty.

This coming year MCC may even encourage farmers to grow nitrogen fixing cover crops in their fallow rice paddies during the dry season. We are excited to see how well the jack bean continues to do in our garden and maybe see if it can be used to improve the soil in the fields of some local farmers working with MCC. Will jack beans prove to be magic?

Flukes

When I bought the breaker I immediately noticed the word "Fluke" written in red and black bold letters on it's side. I turned to Dad saying, "How can we trust a breaker with a name like that?"

A Fluke?

Laughing to ourselves we bought the breaker from the local Chinese hardware store in downtown Tha Thom. Dad and I were in the process of wiring our bathroom to accommodate our secondhand washer and spinner and preparing for a small on-demand water heater. During Mom and Dad Visness' recent visit Dad tackled many projects around our home and garden. We were all excited for the new convenience of a semi automatic washer to help curb the endless production of dirty diapers. The water heater would also be a welcomed step-up from the frigid mountain river water piped around the village in the newly finished gravity fed water system.

We quickly set up the washer and were cleaning diapers like a well greased machine. The hot water would have to wait until we found a good quality heater in Vientiane. When we travel into Vientiane to bid farewell to Mom and Dad, a water heater was purchased. I set it up and had visions of nice steamy showers..but no sooner did I turn on the unit than the 30amp breaker tripped! The heater could not run at more than half power without tripping the breaker. I did the math and even sent it to Dad to have him check. There was no way our water heater could be drawing more than 20amps.

Dad recommended pulling the breaker and trying a different one. I grabbed another breaker from the guest room and connected it to the circuit. Low and behold the breaker held even at full power. The strange thing that I still can't wrap my mind around is that the new breaker should trip at 15amps! I laughed again when I saw the name on the old breaker...breakers in Tha Thom truly are flukes!

Favorite Sights

As Moriah begins to take in the world around her there are several sights that never cease to hold her attention...at least for a while.

The first sight that interested Moriah was the vertical slats in our kitchen.

Spellbinding Slats

The second sight that vies for attention for various lengths of time and draws out smiles is this face.

Fascinating Face

The third attraction is a toy that Mom and Dad Visness brought along.

Tranquilizing Toy

The fourth sight catches Moriah's eyes on rainy and sunny days alike. While walking along the drip line of our out-door kitchen, the raged roof's edge is striking!

Enthralling Edge

Bewitched Baby

Many Arrivals

The arrival of our little daughter also brought the arrival of two other special visitors! Kaarina’s parents met us in Bangkok several weeks after Moriah was born. They arrived full of joy, greetings and hugs from friends and family, gifts from the far away land of America, energy and experience! Just what two tired new parents were in need of!

Grandma Meeting Moriah

Grampi Meeting Moriah

Night Train (Don't worry that seat turns into two bunk beds!)

After a long, but slick night train ride, we arrived back to the lovely country of Laos. During our short stay in the Capital, Stan and Dorinda were able to experience many things… eating Lao fusion food at Mak Ped Restaurant, shopping at Lao markets, and contributing to a special dedication ceremony we had for Moriah.

Lao Market Shoppers

Lao Fusion Food with Friends

Dressed for Dedication

We returned to our home in Tha Thom and were able to give mom and dad a true taste of living in the village. Life was busy as all four pairs of hands were needed in running the house, washing diapers, making food and caring for and holding the little one.

Just a Hanging Out

Visiting an MCC Irrigation Project

Visits From Neighbors

Taking a Bunny for a Stroll

Little Bunnies Draw Attention!

Bath Time!

Going to Town on the Laundry

Lao Meal in our Home

Despite the business we did have time to travel to Phonsavanh for a short vacation. We visited the beautiful Plain of Jars and another expatriate family. Our time there also fell over the beginning of Lao New Year. Following Lao tradition, we joined in some water throwing!

Visiting the Plain of Jars

Lao New Year Water Fight

The visit was over too soon, but we were so thankful for their help and advice during the tough first weeks of life with a baby.

Thank You Mom and Dad!