A Hero

I was reading a psychology essay several months ago that discussed how children begin to assume a great deal about who they are supposed to be by seeing who their parents admire.  This piece asserted that if athletes are the only men dad admires then his son may begin to understand that he needs to be athletic in order to really matter.  Of course, I am paraphrasing the ideas expressed but the concept did give me pause.  For the first time I found myself asking:  As a parent who are my heroes?  Perhaps even more importantly, as the mother of an international adoptee who are my heroes?  If all my heroes are white what does that tell my children?  These thoughts brought me to consider Asian people who I admired deeply.  I am blessed to have quite a list of, not only historical figures, but dear friends who have touched my life considerably.  

On this trip to Thailand I was given the opportunity to study the life of one of my personal heroes. A woman whose powerful legacy continues to grow even in her death.  When my grandparents first brought me to Thailand, Chiang Rai was still mourning the loss of Her Royal Highness the Princess Mother, Princess Srinakarindra, who passed away in 1995.  Despite coming from rural poverty and being orphaned at age 9 the Princess Mother, King Bhumibol's mother, worked hard to get an education and become a nurse. Her life story is like the plot of a movie. Orphaned girl, goes to a nursing school for the poor and wins a scholarship to study in America. While there she meets the young prince of Thailand at a reception for Thai students in America. He falls in love instantly and they end up marrying. Fortunately, Thailand doesn't have any rules against royalty marrying commoners! She eventually survived the loss of her husband and her eldest son both at very young ages. She raised wonderful children and was an advocate for healthcare, literacy, education and hard work. In an era of increasing plasticity, she was dedicated to simple beauty and loved flowers, nature, sewing and reading. You can find

 a full english language biography of her here.

How I came to be aware of The Princess Mother's work was through The Doi Tung Royal Villa where she 

built her dream home. It's about an hour's drive north of Chiang Rai and has the most beautiful gardens I've ever toured. The Royal Villa was built at Doi Tung for the Princess Mother to live in while she carried out her environmental and development work. On deciding to live there, Her Royal Highness told her private secretary, "If there is no Doi Tung Development Project, I will not have a house here." She was 100% dedicated to bettering the lives of her subjects, especially rural and tribal people. Her work on behalf of the tribal people of Thailand, who have gone either forgotten or abused by the general public, almost brings tears to my eyes. On this trip one of my kids at our home (all of our girls are AKHA) told me proudly that her mother now had a job for the first time ever. She had gotten work through Doi Tung Coffee which sells delicious locally grown, locally worked Thai coffee out of the northern province. Almost all of those employees are tribal people who have never had the ability to support themselves before. In different places around Thailand, I saw four Doi Tung Project shops selling the most beautiful Tribal made handicrafts. Yes, for anyone wondering, I shop a lot in Thailand. ;-) The Doi Tung Project workshop provides on the job training and steady work for many of these people who have never been given a chance.

All of these social justice programs came from the heart and mind of the Princess Mother of Thailand. She fought for a people group that I love dearly.  She believed that the world could be made better; so she made it better. Even now, almost 14 years after her death, every time I return to Thailand I see more Doi Tung shops, more people going to the gardens and tribal learning and awareness center, more coffee being sold, I hear of more AKHA with jobs. I cannot think of anyone whose life I would more want my children to know that I admired than H.R.H. The Princess Mother of Thailand, Princess Srinakarindra.

- Rosemary