doi chang

A 600-home Akha village, famous for coffee.

doi chang church

The community center/disaster shelter we were commissioned to construct. Our students laid the cement floor--local contractors will do the rest.

cultural exchange

An Akha elder in traditional dress meets one of our students!

arabica

Coffee is the mainstay of this village. A selling cooperative has been formed which helps the farmers sell their crops at a good price.

sorting coffee

Much of everyday life consists of hard work. Here, workers are grading coffee beans by hand.

traditional akha home

Life is simple in the village, but Doi Chang is more developed than most. There are safe sources of water and all homes have access to electric power.

breakfast

This breakfast of rice and vegetables cooked over a fire on the cooking pit outside was awfully good!

akha youth 1

Many of the village youth go to school hours away in Chiang Rai. They came back to the village for break, and agreed to provide homestays for our students. Here they present a beautiful Akha dance to share their traditional culture with us.

coffee bag

Many farmers are exploited by middlemen--fortunately, that's not so common in this village. But the same coffee many farmers sell for 80 baht a kilo ends up being roasted, packaged and sold for 1600 baht in the bigger cities just hours away.

dedication 4

The day of the building dedication.