Knowledge as Power

We all know the phrase, “knowledge is power,” and for most of my life I have accepted the truth of this statement unequivocally. I always believed that the way to gain knowledge is through formal education; the reason I have been working to attain a degree is, essentially, to be more powerful. As we head in to the last month of our time here in Thailand, I cannot help but reflect on how my time here has altered my understanding of, and ideas about, both education and knowledge.

Our group spent a week living with families in Na Nang Bong village, which is in the North of Thailand. Villagers have been living and working there for many generations. Two open-pit gold mines have been operating for the last three years in the area surrounding the village, and in these three years the villagers have experienced dramatic changes in their health and the health of the surrounding environment. Fifty-four of 259 villagers tested positive for cyanide poisoning. Many of the fields in the area no longer produce rice, and of those that do, the rice commands a lower price at the market. The villagers were told that their water is contaminated with heavy metals and they should not drink or bathe in it. The villagers have formed a group called “People Who Conserve Their Hometown” (PWCTH) to attempt to combat the effects they have experienced and to prevent more mines from opening in the area. Through speaking with the villagers and living in their homes for the week, we learned a great deal about their lives.

We also met with representatives from the Provincial Health Office and the Ministry of Industry to discuss their role in the situation. For me, these exchanges were the most interesting ones we have had this semester. It was not what was said that was interesting, however, but rather it was the display of the power structure stacked up against the villagers and the implied judgments of what knowledge is and should be. They presented power points with slide after slide of numbers, graphs, and maps. They attempted to take us through the process of gold extraction, from prospecting to refining. The officials at each exchange reiterated numerous times that because there is no scientific proof that the mines are responsible for the effects the villagers are experiencing, the mine cannot be blamed for what the villagers are experiencing and observing. The provincial health officer stated that because the villagers only have a “fourth-grade education,” they should trust the word of the government officials who are educated and therefore much more knowledgeable.

I agree that knowledge is power, but my experience in Na Nang Bong has shown me that it is only a certain kind of knowledge that is power. Scientific knowledge is power. A B.A, DR., or PH.D after a name is power. Conversely, knowledge that cannot be translated onto a power point presentation is not power. What does it mean for a community, a country, a world where we no longer believe in the value of knowledge passed from generation to generation, knowledge that is not written in books, knowledge that cannot be plugged in to a graph or chart? What are the implications of the fact that the knowledge of the villagers, both the base on which the community has been built and the threads that hold it together, is worthless to those who possess knowledge that they paid for?

Perhaps in our relentless pursuit for knowledge, which in reality is just a pursuit for truth, we are in many ways moving away from truth. I am not saying that I want to throw two years of my college education out the window and become a farmer. On the contrary, I have only come to value my own educational opportunities more. I guess what I am saying is that I now recognize that the knowledge I am acquiring at school is merely one kind of knowledge, and I want to seek out knowledge in all its forms. Perhaps it is this other knowledge that will give me the power I am seeking: the power of appreciation, of sympathy, of connectedness, of understanding.

Haley Campbell
Bates College

Food to Gold: Resource Consumption

Throughout the semester we have been exploring issues of resources. We’ve been confronted with our attitudes and perspectives about where our resources come from, where they go, and who is affected on either end of the process. In the first unit we examined food. We saw the impacts of the green revolution and what that means for small scale farmers. We learned that most of our food comes from large mono crops that use large amounts of pesticides and herbicides, and require lots of water and energy to maintain. The land that it uses is eventually rendered useless from all the chemicals poured into it and the food they produce are pleasing to the eye but the genetic modifications and chemical treatments actually make them worse for your body. We came to understand the importance that organic farming has in the world and how a direct relationship between producers and consumers can help to achieve sustainability, better health, and our environment.

In the second unit we visited the landfill in Khon Kaen and saw where our trash goes. Most people in America have some sort of relationship with their waste, most people are, at the very least, aware of the notion of recycling. But for the most part our garbage disappears much the way our food appears in our supermarkets. The garbage leaves but very few of us actually know where it goes and whose lives it impacts. Few of us realize that many people’s livelihoods are dependent on what they scavenge from our waste.

The first two units discussed issues that we probably have some concept of, more and more people are coming to be educated on the importance of eating locally and also there is more awareness about refuse disposal thanks to recycling endeavors. But in the last two units we studied the effects of hydroelectric dams and mining for precious metals, semi-precious metals, and minerals. When you consider dams and mines and how they impact other people it is very easy to take yourself out of the equation. The dams and mines we visited have displaced countless people, have upset their livelihoods and changed their culture. The dams are built because there is a demand for energy, the modern daily life is dependent on the use of electricity. And where there is electricity or any form or electrical appliance there is copper, or gold, or silicon. Copper is in all forms of wires from big power lines to the lines running through the walls in your house to the extension cord connected to your computer to the circuitry inside the computer which is also riddled with gold. These minerals need to be mined and the process of mining is a very destructive and hazardous one that affect the lives of many.

We don’t typically realize our dependence and thus our support too readily, at least I know I didn’t. When I eat a sandwich I don’t think about where the ingredients come from, and when I throw out the wrapper I don’t think about where it goes, when I sit down and flip the switch on my computer or TV I don’t realize that the energy that is powering them is being generated somewhere, and I don’t even think about the copper and gold inside of my TV that is crucial for its function. But being confronted with all these truths is truly an enlightening event, when we bear witness to how connected all of our everyday actions and seemingly benign chores are to the lives of so many people we could not help but to wonder how this is possible. How can we allow ourselves to not recognize our impact. It is true that we have a bit of a consumer fetish and that ignorance is bliss. Now that our eyes have been opened to these issues it will be difficult to close them. We have a responsibility to open the eyes of others, attempt to remove ignorance, and raise awareness; which is really what this semester has been about.

Tommy Russo
Fairfield University

The Real Farang Power

All twenty-seven of us Nak Suk Saa’s (students) have since returned from a pristine mountain-side community called Na Nong Bong, up north adjacent to the border between Thailand and Laos, where mountains are plenty, the environment impeccable. Except - of course - if one were to look closely; for wedged in between two glorious mountains, one lies cut at its edge, scraped clean of its natural beauty. And the villagers we stayed with were all directly affected by it and will talk of it disparagingly and rightfully so. This gold mine, built by the Thai government (indirectly through an industrial company bent on the surplus gain of natural resources), has [allegedly ed.] leaked its harmful effects into the surrounding rivers which, for local communities such as Na Nong Bong, are and have always been the singular source of fresh water.

Before this construction life for the villagers was simple, and a trip to the river meant not only fresh water, but food and gatherings for a potential profit at the local market. But now things have changed, and with toxic chemicals such as cyanide permeating through the soil and into the water, their way of life and their ability to access the fundamentals of it are gone, ignored. Their water is contaminated, and thus their food goes rejected at the market. Without anyone to fight for their cause and lacking the proper means to fight for it themselves they continue - through their daily routine - to bathe in and even drink these toxins and their limbs do not hide the effects. Dark rashes cover some portions of their skin and cyanide levels in their blood are far above normality. But the Health Inspection claims there is no proof of its source, and who knows with what connection these facts are made, yet still the lack of information alone is unacceptable (at least that to which the villagers are granted a proper review). They are kept from the results of these tests, kept from both the construction and regulation processes, kept on the sidelines to watch their livelihood slip between their fingers without consent. And who is it that can bridge the gap between them and the other side? Who can fight for their cause at levels they would never have reached otherwise? The farang (foreigner). Or so I and they as well I’m sure, assumed.

As we sat in an exchange with the Ministry of Industry, it became clear how we were received; with warm impatience and the preconceived notion that we were all NGOs in the making and should be treated as such. And so we got our information, fine-tuned exactly to how they wanted it told, careful not to overstep bounds or provide any false inclinations. At one point during the conversation they had asked our opinion on the villager’s perspective, to which we made the convenient note of their presence behind us, asking for them to be addressed directly. But to this they declined; refusing to speak with anyone but the mid-adolescent farang with whom they had scheduled their meeting; of whom knew far less, whose motivations were less inherent.

Yes we had gotten that meeting, but it was more an opportunity for us to continue learning than for us to start helping (and possibly this was the intention all along, but at the time we felt powerful, wanting and expecting so much more). And so I left the exchange and the village too soon then after, feeling sorry and with a heavier burden than that which I had arrived with. And I had my shower in Khon Kaen waiting me in the hours approaching, as too the cleanest tap water in the world will welcome me back to New York City in a month’s time upon my return home. And Na Nong Bong and its villagers do not have this luxury, this escape, and I was biased in my time there to remember that I did have that advantage. This is a power that we all had; the knowledge of a better life, and the reminder that going without fresh water would only be, for us at least, a five day chore. It is a simple power and it goes unforced but it still remains at the back of the mind all the while. Yet it is only through uncomfortable situations where we can realize the responsibility we all have in providing this comfortability to those lacking such simple fortune. And we’re trying. Now if only the Thai government and the Ministry of Industry too could perform a home stay at Na Nong Bong.

Ian Samplin
New York University

The Golden Cycle

Leaving for my second trip to Na Nong Bong, I was excited to return to a village that has struck me in a certain way that none of the others have. On a near by mountain, a company known as Tung Khum Limited has been operating a mine for a number of years now. The mining process has [allegedly ed.] affected the environment and water sources of the surrounding areas. This includes the ground water that the people of the surrounding villages use to drink, wash dishes, and bath in. Na Nong Bong being the closet to the [claim that the ed.] mining site, [has caused ed.] severe health affects and reduces crop yields in their fields. This has lead them to take measure against the mine in hopes that their way of life may be restored to the extent where they do not have to worry unnecessarily about the basic human rights of water, health , and a proper environment.

The first time that I went to Na Nong Bong, the village was in the midst of excitement. They were about to protest a vote that would extend the current mine that is severely affecting their livelihoods to another part of the mountain, furthering the risk that was involved with the mining process. We were witness to the preparation, act and then success afterward. The more I learned about the situation, the more I was impressed by their passion to push for their livelihoods.

Coming back to Na Nong Bong, there were no protests, but the sense of the community and passion to maintain their livelihoods was still very apparent. I was incredibly struck by the villager’s ability to keep up the fight. Personally, I had my doubts about what the people of the village could actually accomplish. The mining company has made a large effort to slip through cracks in the political bureaucracies and make a solid effort to disprove the rather obvious effects of the mine, that it seemed like the viscous cycle that normally occurs in the realm of development was continuing. The demands of the many are out weighing the needs of the view.

The cycle seemed as if it was going to occur in this community as well. One thing that I thought to myself was if I am getting discouraged over the issue, then how could the villagers, the people that live with it on a day to day basis really work past it. It seems as if everything was working against them. The first issue that I made note of is the health aspect. Proper health is obviously an essential part of having a proper life. Without proper health, one cannot work, and if one cannot work, one cannot properly provide for their families. In the case of Na Nong Bong, chemical poisoning, and irritation has caused problems for the people in the village. However, the government and the mining company some how find a way around each and every medical problem that happens. They have even gotten a hold of the ministry of provincial health, an entity that should in all honesty know better and understand the problems that are being caused. Yet again the few are suffering for the demands of the many. To what extent can this really be acceptable.

When will our own lust for more demand be outweighed by the lives of the few? It seems like a fairly blatant resolve, however in reality it’s not so black and white. At some point the people’s lives have to outweigh the benefits…. right?

Sagar Pathak
Northeastern University

What is an Education?

Harvesting soybeans with farmers in Na Nong Bong, Thailand

As our fourth and final unit came to an end, I reflected on the reoccurring themes that stuck out to me over the course of the semester. Education; Self-determination; Sustainability; Globalization as a form of imperialism; and how we as students fit into the bigger picture. After thinking about each of these themes, and discussing them with other students, I found that education was not only an individual, reoccurring theme throughout the units, but related to each of the other themes I identified in one way or another.

For example, I realized that my understanding of sustainable development and globalization, prior to coming to Thailand, was shaped by my western-style education which was based on textbooks, facts and scientific proof. While I recognize that scientific-based knowledge has its strengths, I am disappointed in the public K-12 education system in the U.S., which I feel fails to develop students into adults that are capable of thinking critically. I will always remember the “AH HA” moment I had my freshman year of college when I finally realized that the teachings in textbooks are not indisputable facts, but information gathered by human beings that inevitably reflects current and historical opinions and perspectives. The thoughts and perspectives that students develop are therefore largely reflective of the thoughts and perspectives of their culture, and the values and norms that their education system promulgates.

Prior, to coming to Thailand I struggled with my opinion of globalization. Is it a good thing, is it a bad thing, or are there both positive and negative aspects to globalization? As a student studying business and economics I was mainly exposed to the benefits of globalization, as seen from a Western perspective, and taught through lectures, case studies, readings and projects in the United States. My education in Thailand, which has been based on experiential learning and observations, therefore, provides me with a great opportunity to compare what I have learned about globalization from books and college courses, to what I have learned through observations and experiences living and working with rural communities in Thailand.

Reflecting on the two different types of learning, I feel that my Western education provided me with a background on some of the arguments for and against globalization; however, only through experiential learning was I able to form my own opinion on globalization as I experienced firsthand the affects it can have on people, culture, and the environment. It is amazing to me how my ideas have progressed and developed so rapidly over the past three months, while engaging in experiential learning. I have never felt so mentally stimulated, inspired or connected to the issues that I am studying, and the potential I see in experiential education is exciting.

One of the concerns, however, recently expressed by our Thailand student group is how we share what we learned here in Thailand with our friends, family, teachers and peers back home, so that they are not only more socially aware, but are passionate about supporting social justice causes in some way. I am the first to admit that this is something I have struggled with every time I have returned home from a study abroad experience in a developing country, and I found it very hard to live around people, who I felt, were completely unaware of how unjust the world is. I now realize that without personal experiences to connect to difficult issues, such as poverty, human rights violations and environmental degradation, it is hard to know what to make of, or how to relate to, issues discussed in books, newspapers, classrooms and newscasts.

What then, would it mean for our education system to focus more on experiential learning? What if more high school students had the opportunity to live, work and learn in a poor region of the United States or a lesser developed country? Would we be a more socially aware society? Would it be harder to go back to the out-of-sight, out-of-mind mentality that I know I fall into when living in the United States? Would our eyes be more open to the social injustices in our own backyards?

Jordan Templeton
Ohio University