My Trip to Kaili Village!!! – Written by Tyler Colquhoun (12yrs)

What was the village like?
The village was nothing I had ever seen before.  There were chickens, pigs, and lots of dogs and cats.  I didn’t touch them though. The village people lived in really dirty houses.  It was a very rainy day when I went to the village.  And the people, that lived there were very nice.  What interested me about the village was that they planted rice in water patties.  A few years ago in art class, I did a bird’s eye portrait looking down on terraces.  I’m glad that I actually got to see it in person!

How did the families live?
The families lived in a completely different way for what I was familiar with!  As I said before they lived in very crummy houses, the parents went to work in the city, while the children and grandparents did cooking, feeding the pigs, cutting up lettuce, or walking cattle!  One thing that was very interesting that I saw at one of the houses I visited was that they had a fire in the house!  No fire place, just in the middle of the kitchen.  And there were huge branches of chili peppers hanging from the ceiling.  The fire made the chili dry, so it wouldn’t spoil.  And so, that family could sell it at the marketplace!

What was a special story that helped you to understand about the poor children’s life?
One of the most interesting things about the trip was that I got to hear about the child’s daily life.  And it made me even more grateful about the things I have!  Okay, so what happens is that even morning the children have to wake up and do chores.  Then an hour later, they have to go to school.  It takes them an HOUR to get to school.  And in the middle of the day, they have to come BACK for lunch!  Then after two hours they have to go back to school!  Then later, they come back home! Altogether, they walk 4 hours a day! Wow!

Those were my highlights of the trip. Thanks so much for reading about my experience to the Kaili Village!