Last December, I was fortunate enough to be part of Spinning Top’s Little Lotus project. A crew of us artists, photographers and videographers from around the world headed to the border of Thailand and Burma, where we’ve gotten to know some beautiful Burmese refugee children. We were stationed at two schools, SAW and Sky Blue, and there we taught art classes, painted murals, among other fun things. My part of the trip was made possible through the generosity of several people and We’ar. We’ar’s support was incredible and I was happy to rock some of their amazing gear on the road.
What I loved about traveling in We’ar clothes is how free I felt in them. The cuts are generous that it allowed so much movement, and the hoodies on dresses really came in handy for situations like curling up on long bus rides or guarding against 80 kph winds riding the back of a pick up. It was wash and wear sans the frump. The fabric felt delicious, and it was also airy enough for the tropics. The designs truly reflect how much traveling in this part of the world is a part of the founder’s life, which it is.
Yoga is a huge part of my routine back home, and it was awesome to have kept the practice in between project breaks. It provided some much-needed grounding amidst the din of everything that went on.
There was a lot that went down in Mae Sot and every day of the project was golden. I have a lot of favourite moments there and here are a few highlights:
Our first evening bike ride around town, after we arrived from our 10-hour bus ride from Bangkok. (Video by the Army of Snipers crew.)
Before we officially started work on the schools, we visited an orphanage where some of the SAW school kids live. Some of us who were inked got swarmed by a lot of them, checking if they can erase our tattoos. We taught them variations of high-fives (fist bumps!) and gave them mandarins. Being surrounded by all of them looking so elated was incredible. We later learned that they were either orphaned from losing their parents to HIV/AIDS, or they’ve been rescued from human trafficking. Truly humbling, as all throughout the project these kids who have so little would give us so much. They would help us paint, give us candy or drawings, and they always look so happy, nary a scowl in our midst. My favourite thing is being called “Teacher” by them.
Painting the ABC murals at SAW school was a collaborative task with the kids. Me, Sheryo, The Yok and Ritzy Periwinkle painted the alphabet around the school, then each kid painted inside the letters. A couple of days before we prepped them by getting them to draw on paper. It was awesome to see them slowly let loose and get bolder with their creations as the classes went on.
We painted these murals for Sky Blue school, while a few of our other teammates built a rockin’ sculpture shelter in front of the school. Sky Blue is close to the rubbish site where most of the kids work during the day. A whole community live on the dump site itself and we were able to visit them there. These families chose to live there and most of them earn 100 baht ($4 NZD) a day from collecting scraps to be sold to recycle centers. Hard to believe that this is actually a far better option for them than what they left behind in Burma.
The educational/interactive mural at the back of Sky Blue school. Best part was when the kids started reading the words and playing with the illustrations!
There’s still heaps more that went on in the project, so for more stories check out the official Little Lotus blog and it’s Facebook page. The trip itself has already finished but the post-trip work begins over the course of several months, as we release web videos and photos leading up to the fundraising exhibits happening in New Zealand and the US. A documentary of the project will also be released middle of this year, so keep your feelers up for that. All these to raise even more awareness about the situation in Mae Sot, as well as raise more funds for the kids. Access to education and art supplies is a luxury for these children and all funds raised from Little Lotus will go towards their ongoing welfare and education.
Massive thanks and big love to Jyoti and Anya for their immense support on this project. We’ar rocks my world!
(All photos, except the last one, are taken by Patrick Shepherd.)
Stunning. Long exposure shots of fireflies in Japan. Childhood memories waddup.
Jacked this off of Woes’ instagram. Some from the Little Lotus crew, Mae Sot Thailand.
Midway through the Little Lotus project, at SAW school, highlights. Video by the AOS crew
Video on our first day in Mae Sot, Thailand. AOS crew + Little Lotus crew.
Day 5: The kids at SAW school, have had a hard life. They’ve either been orphaned, have parents who have HIV or AIDS, or have been rescued from human trafficking. Hard to believe as when we’re with them they’re just really generous to us, helping us paint, giving us candy, just laughing and playing all the time. One of the most humbling things to realise for someone like me coming here and meeting them.
Today we painted with the kids at SAW school and made good ground on the alphabet murals. The kids were going hard out and getting more confident painting big and being more imaginative on their drawings (Ice Cream Man!) Starting to get used to the pace here, early morning paint sesh, bike riding to lunch, back again to painting, slotting in an intense yoga class at a monastery-like building in the evening, then bike riding to dinner.
Every moment is fucking gold and the company is awesome. Wish you were here friends back home.
More updates on the Little Lotus Project here.
(Photo by Patrick Shepherd, meeting the kids from SAW orphanage on Day 2)
Video of our first day here in Mae Sot by Aaron Martin (Angry Woebots). Hello from Mae Sot!
I will be part of this year’s Little Lotus project, and this time Spinning Top charity are taking 12 artists from NZ, the US and South East Asia to Mae Sot, Thailand. We’ll be painting murals and teaching art classes for children in Sky Blue and SAW schools, and when we come back we’re holding art exhibits in NZ & the US to raise more funds for them. It still bugs me out to think about how this thing that I love doing - painting, can actually help people who are in truly difficult situations. At the same time, Spinning Top are not just giving money away, but are truly building sustainable communities for these refugee children, with their school programs, building a vegetable garden and a playground for them, among many other things. I’m hoping that by teaching art, painting and creating fun memories with these children, I’d be able to, at the very least, encourage a few of them to dream and pursue their happiness as they grow up.
I’ll be going on this trip with a lot of my other artist friends from around the world and I’m really looking forward to sharing this experience with them, and having my first Thai Christmas!
The past couple of months I’ve been holding mini fundraising events, as well as doing online fundraising, which would help me on my trip there as well as raising more awareness on the project. I had $3,000 as my goal and I’m stoked to have raised $2,980 as of today. Giapo had supported me by donating gelato vouchers which I gave away on my online fundraising. We’ar, an awesome eco yoga clothing brand from here in NZ has donated massively to my pool, and I’m really excited to be collaborating with them soon on Little Lotus.
I’m still fundraising and I’ve almost reached my goal. I’m giving a limited edition print of one of my paintings from my solo exhibit as a gift to anyone who donates to my GiveaLittle page. My highest donors will receive an original painting by me. Giving many thanks to all my friends who have extended themselves to help me with this, amazing how people pull through in things we all believe in.
2 weeks to go till I leave.
Artists:
Peap Tarr
DRYPNZ
Ritzy Periwinkle
Angry Woebots
Meghan Geliza
Sheryo
J*RYU
Cleo Barnett
Leon Dalton
Pat Shepherd
Gareth Moon
Daniel Zana
