What is this day worth?
While travelling with the GFP program through Miami University students have the opportunity to witness people making exceptional differences within their communities and the world. From the instructors taking the time to assist in comprehension and experience to the in country partners who are using their lives to invest in their communities, it’s people and land. This program has opened me to the idea that I too can have an impact. I do not have to study in a lab day and night searching for answers, but simply learning and taking action can lead to a domino effect of progression in the world. On my Thailand EE I was able to participate in forest rehabilitation with the abbot monk of the Wat Pa Sukhato. After reading his book and having the opportunity to listen to his thoughts, I was in complete awe of his sacrifices for his beliefs. Putting my hands in the dirt for one day to care for the forest he cares for everyday was not only an honor, but also inspirational. In Thailand the people do not drink their tap water, they instead purchase bottled water. This was true of everywhere we visited with the exception of the Wat Pa Sukhato. This Wat had their own filtration system that purified the water to be up to our (U.S.) drinking standards. Many visitors of the Wat drank the water from the purification system instead of bottle water. What was noticeable to everyone in our class was the Monks always drank bottled water. For the GFP students this was a contrast to the forest conservation the monks were teaching. Upon further discussion on the topic I learned the reason they use bottles is simply because it is not taboo in Thailand to use and dispose (or recycle) of your water bottle. When I learned this was the only reason, I immediately thought in several years this will be different. And then I thought could this be different today? Thus begins my journey to see if I, a woman with two kids and a modest income can actually have a positive impact on a place that changed my life forever.