February 27, 2012 - Wind and Rain Storm in Nong Bua Lamphu

After days of extreme heat for this time of the year in late afternoon on the 27th of February a strong wind with normal rains graced our dry land after months of very dry weather. Then in the early night all of a sudden a strong wind with torrential rains started and lasted less than an hour, but soon we were to see the results of this un-expected storm. The ceiling and renovation work to the Sala which is used for parish functions, activities for large groups of Mother of Perpetual Help Center and for play by the children at Mother Teresa's home was brought craching down to the floor.

We have had storms in the past, but I don't remember having such a strong wind with such heavy rain. There had to be some kind of twister which caused such damage to the Sala. Normally this type of heat is felt in the months of April and May - this year it came early. We would have been delighted to have the rain without the wind; however, it was fortunate that no one was in the Sala at the time of the storm.

Silk Worms

On a recent visit to a village near Sibunruang, one of the 6 Districts of Nong Bua Lamphu Province, we came across a grandmother of one of the children receiving help from Mother of Perpetual Help Center - it was interesting to find out what was taking place! After questioning the grandmother we discovered that she was raising silk worms and during this exercise she was processing the worms through boiling water which extracts the silk to be used to weave cloth.

I knew there was such a process, but had never come across such an exercise to see how it is actually done - most interesting. In the photo you can see a very thin streak of yellow - this is the silk in the right lower basket, in the basket on the lower right hand of the photo is the remnants of the silk worms. Many women in surrounding villages have their own little way of earning a simple means of livelihood.