Letters from Ban Nam Khem
Americans on the Receiving End in a Tsunami-Wracked Thai Village
By David Johnson

We went to bed stunned by the avalanche of experiences of the day. How can we ever absorb it? If we left every night to sleep in a hotel or “safe” house, rather than living right with the people in the middle of one of many large refugee camps, we would never have these encounters.

I have often lived in a small world of self-concern, wrapped up in my work or personal problems, missing opportunities to show love. At home in the United States, everything was so convenient we didn’t need others or need to interact much if we didn’t choose to. I do not think it is so much about what you have or don’t have, but how you choose to show love to others—especially strangers, but whomever one meets. These people surely know how to celebrate and enjoy life and they do it together with family and friends. More…