PDA

PDA is short for the Population and Community Development Association (PDA), not Public Display of Affection (at least not in this case). The Population and Community Development was started in 1974 and is now considered as Thailand's most diverse Non-Government Organizations (NGO). The programs under the PDA are based on the belief that local people are best suited to shape and sustain their own development. When PDA first started they specifically focused on family planning in urban and rural areas of Thailand, due to the lack of knowledge and access to these types of services. Statistics have shown that between 1974 and 2006, PDA helped to lower the average number of children per household from 7 to 1.2, as well as, the national population growth rate from 3.3% to 0.5%.

Today, PDA focuses on much more than family planning. They have started various initiatives related health care, HIV/AIDS education and prevention, water resource development and sanitation, income-generation, environmental conservation, promotion of small-scale rural enterprise programs, gender equality, youth development, and democracy promotion. Most recently, PDA has aggressively approached the problem of rural poverty by empowering the poor through the Village Development Partnership, which establishes a community-owned Village Development Bank for the purpose of microcredit.

I have been researching a lot about the PDA, because Kelly and I will be visiting some of their projects in September. Most of their projects are located in the Northeast of Thailand, which is considered the poorest area. I could go on and on about their organization, however I'll stop here. Here is the link if you would like to read more about the fascinating projects PDA has started in Thailand. http://pda.or.th/

Along with reading up on the various initiatives of PDA, I have been researching "kimono sleeve robes." When I am at the orphanage, I will be helping to construct these types of robes. I've been looking for a pattern of some sort, but I haven't found one. I've looked online for hours and traveled to Joanne's where I ended up empty handed. Does anyone have any ideas on what to do?

Reset Floor

Here are some pictures of our latest floor set!

ServLife Products

Today, we received some new products from ServLife such as, necklaces, earrings, scrapbooks, soaps, gift boxes and scarves. All of the products were handmade in Nepal, India. My camera battery was very low, so I was only able to snap a couple pictures!

Shots, shots, shots

The title of my blog reminds me of Laura Jay….hahaha. Laura, do you know why????

I had my appointment with Dr. Jeffrey Jones today. Kelly referred me to Dr. Jones for my any vaccines I would need for Thailand. I ended up having to get three shots. I had a Hepatitis A, Typhoid and Tetanus shot. Both the Hepatitis A and Typhoid shots were recommended for my trip. I was just due for a tetanus shot so I figured what the heck, I might as well get all three.

The only problem with this is that I LOATHE shots. I'll admit I am such a baby when it comes to these kind of things. I mean, I can't really help the fact that I have a weak stomach and I tend to get nauseous easily. Just the thought of any sharp object inserted into my body causing pain tends to make squeal.

Obviously, I went through with the shots anyway, but now I am feeling the slight side effects. I haven't felt sick at all. The only discomfort is the pain and soreness in my arms. It seriously feels like someone struck each of my upper arms with a wooden bat. It's hard to even lift them to a 45 degree angle. Sadly, the nurse said they will be sore for a couple of days:/

I just took some Excedrin PM. Hopefully, the pain will go away and I'll get a much needed nights rest. I can't wait to sleep….

Night friends.

Shop for a Cause

The flyer for our upcoming event on September 2nd!

Baan Tharn Namchai

I found this video on YouTube of the orphanage that I will be staying at for 2 weeks!

Discovery

Since I have previously posted about "importing", you already have a pretty good idea of how I feel about the topic. For the most part, it's way tooooooo complicated and always makes my head hurt! But, today I made a refreshing discovery about the AGOA.

As I was researching importing wool scarves and headbands, I came across a provision under the AGOA. The AGOA is the African Growth and Opportunity Act. The provision, labeled as Category 9, refers to handloomed/handmade/folklore articles/ethnic printed fabrics. The agoa.gov website states, "AGOA provides duty- and quota-free benefits for handloomed, handmade, folklore articles, or ethnic printed fabrics, made in beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries. This provision is known as "Category 9". In Executive Order 13191, the President authorized CITA, after consultation with the Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, to consult with beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries and to determine which, if any, particular textile and apparel goods shall be treated as being handloomed, handmade, folklore articles or ethnic printed fabrics.

As of August 2009, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania and Zambia have been approved under the hand-loomed and the handmade provisions of Category 9."

If this is true, then the scarves and headbands we plan on ordering for the fall will be duty-free. Ahhhh….I like the sounds of that!

Enough of work----I'm SO excited for tonight because Mohey, owner of The Egyptian Cafe and Hooka Bar (one of my absolute favorite restaurants in Broad Ripple), is cooking dinner for some of us. Kelly says he is a phenomenal cook and I have no reservations whatsoever since he cooks all the food at the cafe. Nonetheless, it should be a fabulous friday night….cheers!