A Day at the Zoo

I learned a wonderful Thai expression today, jit jai dee. This lesson came in the middle of an acupuncture treatment with Dr. Sweetheart. That is obviously not a Thai name, and not her name at all in fact, but that’s what we call her. Besides her amazing ability as a healer, she has one of the sweetest and dearest hearts of anyone we have ever met. Entering her clinic is to enter a domain of harmony, love and wisdom, and I have no doubt that as each needle is inserted, our bodies receive blessings in ways that are beyond the rational mind’s ability to explain.

Dee is the easiest word to explain. It simply means good. Jai is the emotional heart, so that jai dee refers to a person with a good heart. Jit refers to the wisdom of the mind in a Buddhist frame of reference, so that jit dee refers to a person with wisdom. Combine the three words jit jai dee, if I understood Dr. Sweetheart correctly, and they describe a person who not only connects the emotions of compassion with wisdom, but commits their lives to fulfilling wise acts of compassion towards others.

As Lucy and I lay on two treatment cots side by each, Dr. Sweetheart gave us a lesson in the beauty of Thai culture that slipped into our hearts and minds as effortlessly as the needles she was using entered our bodies. This is not the first time that she has combined astute lessons with her treatments. We have known Dr. Sweetheart for five years now, but today was the first day that we had the words to describe her. She is truly a person of jit jai dee.

As she gently closed the door allowing us to quietly lay and pay attention to the rising and falling breath in our bellies, I thought of two other people we had spent time with this morning who also exude jit jai dee.


Roger was a teacher at the same school that we taught at in Chaingmai three years ago. A gentle man with a beautiful laugh, we took an instant liking to him. Luckily for us, the feeling was mutual. Roger, who is from the Philippines, had been in Thailand about three years at that time, with his wife, Eva, and their youngest son, King. Their two older sons were living with an aunt back in the Philippines completing high school. Roger and Eva had come to Thailand for two reasons; to earn a better living as teachers than they could back home, so that they could afford to offer their sons a proper education, and as Christians, to do missionary work here.

I have to admit that I have often had difficulty with the concept of missionary work. I don’t have to go any further than think of the horrific abuse and destruction that was imposed on the Aboriginal peoples of the Americas, including Lucy’s family, in the name of religion to harbour these thoughts. And yet I have been honoured to know and respect some very loving people who consider themselves to be missionaries.

In trying to come to terms with this, I have seen that there is a vast gulf in the missionary field. Some, it seems, are focused on converting others away from their own traditions onto what the missionaries believe is the only righteous beliefs. In my mind, this is dishonouring and disrespectful at best, and has laid the groundwork for inhumane treatment all too often crossing the line into genocide. Others simply offer a lifetime of service based on devotion, love and an understanding and respect of the complex issues of other people’s cultures and situations. At their best, they carry jit jai dee into their daily lives.

Roger and Eva are two such people. Three years ago they invited us for dinner in their studio apartment in Chaingmai, which they shared with King. In Asian fashion, we sat on the floor, and they took out their two special plates for us. Their apartment was very sparsely furnished. What we consider to be necessities are luxuries here for many people. After dinner, they took us next door to a home for people who were suffering from devastating physical injuries or lifelong handicaps. There is little or no medical insurance or government social service support for the less fortunate in this country, and those that can’t be helped by their families are left on their own. For Roger and Eva this certainly was no obstacle, as they have no barriers in their hearts for caring about others. With very little money, of which they do not have, they simply set their intentions to make a better life for these people, and then followed their hearts in that direction. Entering this home was to enter a domain filled with love. People, whose bodies were often misshapen and simply did not work, glowed from their hearts as soon as Roger and Eva entered. Having spent a career in social services, I am always interested in how programs are run. In this situation, however, nothing needed to be explained. I was witnessing the power of heartfelt commitment.

During our absence from Thailand, Roger and Eva moved to a small town north of Chiangmai, called Chiang Dao, and opened an orphanage for hill-tribe children. The mountains and jungles of northern Southeast Asia, from southern China to Burma through northern Thailand and Laos, all the way to Vietnam, is the home of various ethnic hill-tribe peoples. In culture, spirituality and lifestyles, they are similar to the Aboriginal peoples of the Americas, with the exception that they are not the first peoples of this region. Over several centuries they migrated from the north from China and even as far away as Tibet. Also unlike the Aboriginal peoples, they do not have specific territories or historical nations, but live in separate remote villages intermingled with other villages of different origins. Similar to the Americas, they often live very separate lives, and are too often persecuted and oppressed by the dominant culture and political forces. Some are successful farmers, but many live in abject poverty. I have seen some of the dismal huts that they live in, and I gather that I have seen some of the more affluent ones, at that. In some villages I gather that the culture is still very strong, but in other areas, the depth of poverty and isolation has taken its destructive toll. They are known for their colourful clothing, and can be told apart by outsiders by specific patterns that they employ. Hill-tribe women are often seen selling their products at markets in Chaingmai and Bangkok for very low prices. There are many hiking tours that go to these villages. While some villagers undoubtedly profit from the tourist trade, most are kept in an impoverished dependent role because of it. In the Karen tribe, for example, the women used to wear silver neckbands, which elongate their necks and cause severe injuries to their spines. This custom was starting to die out until they came into contact with modern tourism. Now this horrible practice has been revised to attract tourists into their villages.

Roger and Eva set up an orphanage for 12 hill-tribe children, primarily girls. These children came from some of the poorest villages (if they already have opportunities, Roger and Eva will not take them) with a very bleak outlook for the future. As they have very attractive features, many of these girls would eventually have been sold into prostitution. Roger and Eva provide them with three healthy meals a day, a roof over their heads, healthcare and the ability to go to school. Things that we, and even the Thai people take for granted are an unheard of luxury for these children. And as with everything else that Roger and Eva do, the children are given an over-abundance of guidance and love. Many of these children had been severely shut down upon arrival in their home, but you would never know it by seeing them a year later.

In the West, we assume that we need adequate financial resources to provide decent services. While our friends do not turn down any donations, they believe that the primary ingredient to their work is their faith. Everything else flows from there. I suspect that they are right. We were so touched by their emails while we were still back in Canada, and their description of how they could use a computer, that we brought our old laptop for them. It appears that we are not the only ones who have been touched by Roger and Eva and have contributed in many different ways. One person brought a boom box, another a TV, a third person donated money for household effects, and so it goes. In their simple and gentle way, Roger and Eva’s generosity is contagious. I suspect that this is the true gift of Christianity.

Upon arrival to their home in Chiang Dao a month ago, we were struck by two things. The first was how stark the house was furnished. Other than a few plastic chairs for the adults, and two small tables for the TV and boom box, the living room is not furnished. At night the children roll out their straw mats to sleep. As some of them were used to sleeping on a dirt floor, with snakes and rats crawling over them at night, this is a definite improvement. The kitchen is also very very simple. Few in the West would be able to contemplate how to prepare a meal with this equipment. And yet, the space is overflowing with wonderful feelings that are palpable as soon as one enters their home. In this way, the children have become wealthy, and now have the possibility of a bright future on their horizon.

It is hard to describe these children. As they know at best only several words in English, and I know only a few more in Thai, we cannot communicate by language. But smiling is the international symbol, and it certainly goes a long way. There is a gentleness, respectfulness and sweetness about these children that is beautiful to behold. After dinner some of the older girls, on their own initiative prepared fried bananas and shyly presented them to us. Oh, were they delicious. The youngest boy, who came from a background of incest, beamed at us every chance he could get, but collapsed into shyness if I said one or two words to him.

While we were talking with Eva, we asked if the children had ever been to a zoo. Chaingmai has an amazing zoo that covers many acres of land, where most animals are given somewhat adequate space to live in. It is on a hillside next to the university (there must be some significance to this) on the outskirts of town at the bottom of the mountain. The space is so large and hilly, that they have provided trams one can get on and off of to see the various animals. We discovered that none of children had ever been to a zoo. As this would have been too expensive for Roger and Eva to be able to provide, we offered to treat them to a trip to the zoo when they came into Chaingmai for their annual visit.

That happened this morning. Nine of the kids, including King, as well as Roger and Eva piled into the back of a song taw (a Japanese pick-up truck with two long seats in the back, used for transportation.) Some of the kids couldn’t come because they had never been on the road for one and a half hours and were afraid of getting sick. Some of those who came had never been to Chaingmai (or any city) before. They had been so excited about this trip, that they had awoken at 4 am, peering into Roger and Eva’s bedroom to make sure that they would be awakening soon, and then proceeded to shower, prim themselves, iron their hair and do whatever else teenage girls do around this globe for a special event. I is not necessary to go into any details about the several hours we spent together at the zoo. You can get the picture. In their quiet shy way, it was clear how thrilled they were, and it was so much fun for us to be part of this event. Later, we sat in a park and had a picnic together that Eva had prepared. In fits of shy giggles, with prompting from Eva, they each tried to say in English: Thank you Uncle Ralph and Auntie Lucy. Let my tell you, my heart was bursting.

Then off into the song taw they all climbed to their trip to the mall, where they each would get to spend 50 baht (the equivalent of $1.50Can). Most of them probably never had spent that much money before in a single day. Waving away, they drove off into the sunset.

We had been touched by Roger and Eva’s jit jai dee, and as a result all of our lives had become enriched. I believe that is how compassion works.