Bring Sexy & Forest home to the US
Donation protected
In January of 2016, my friend Steph packed her bags to take on a 2 year commitment of serving the Peace Corps in Thailand. She went through 3 months of intensive Thai language, culture and technical training in a city a few hours north of Bangkok, and then was shipped off to the small Lahu hill tribe in the mountains of Chiang Mai. There, she entered the tribe area as a Teacher Collaborator Community Service volunteer with ambitions to learn about this tribe's culture while introducing them to topics and ideas that she finds particularly imperitive to living a happy and healthy life, topics that are very new to this hill tribe community (health and wellness, art, environmental awareness, women's empowerment, to name a few). Upon her arrival to the tribe, she quickly realized that these next two years would come with some unforseen challenges (those three months of language training? Not going to need it here! This tribe has their own language, and does not speak traditional Thai). I won't go too far into detail on Steph's time in the village, but feel free to check out her blog on her experiences here.
From the start, one thing was for certain: Steph was an outcast in this village. Many of these nomadic people have never stepped foot outside of the mountainous village and with no real access to the outside world, had certainly never seen someone that looked like Steph before. With that, there was a special someone who made her feel wanted and welcome; enter Sexy . Sexy is a dog whose (dog) family had been killed off for attacking the village chickens. Sexy survived and felt the need to sniff out the scene when the newcomer came into town. Thank god she did, because Sexy has been Steph's one constant since the day she arrived. It is completely abnormal in this village for humans to have relationships with wildlife (feels weird calling a dog "wildlife"), so while it may have caused some confusion and weird looks from the locals, Steph and Sexy's friendship was undeniable, I think that when they first met they knew they needed eachother. Sexy follows Steph around the village, and became the first member of Steph's Thai family. Side note, and something Steph would probably want me to mention - she did not name Sexy. Sexy is a name given to her by the locals and while Steph has tried to make subtle changes to prepare Sexy for her arrival to the states (she tried "Lexi"), Sexy knows who she is and she isn't ready to answer to anything else (and I already love her for it).
Say hello to the cute little babe that is Sexy:
Fast forward a year, a lot of ups and downs that come with entering yourself into a third world society, someone else landed on Steph's doorstep - meet Forest. Forest started stopping by Steph and Sexy's home, and would sleep on their porch during the nighttime. It became pretty clear that Forest had no where to go, and in typical Steph style, he was quickly welcomed into, what she calls, her little misfit family.
Forest is a cutie! Here is a picture:
Elizabeth Taylor once said that "some of [her] best leading men have been dogs", and if you could translate Steph's Thailand experience into a movie, I truly think that if you asked Steph, she would say the same about her two little companions. When she was going through tough times, they are her friends and her comfort. When she needed a hug, she would find her dogs.
With a year and a half of Peace Corps volunteering under her belt, Steph is starting to think about her transition home, and I'm starting to think about how I can help her with that. I've discussed with Steph, and I think all of her friends are in agreement, that there is no way she will be leaving Thailand without her family, her pups. Having volunteered her time for the last two years, the financial burden of bringing two stray dogs to the USA will be significant. Without this page, Steph would still do whatever she could to make it happen, but I'm hoping that with this page, we can alleviate some stress and get those pups home! I love dogs, and I love Steph - I can't imagine her having to leave those two behind, it's just not an option in my mind; so I'm making it my mission to help bring these doggies back (I really can't wait to meet them!). Donations to this page will go directly to getting these dogs a plane ticket to the states, getting them up to date with their medical checkups and shots, and just getting them setup with the basics that dogs would need (they don't even have collars or leashes!)
Any donation amount will help, thank you for your support! If you have any questions about this initative or these pups, please feel free to reach out!
Thanks,
Katie
Some more pictures for your viewing pleasure :)
From the start, one thing was for certain: Steph was an outcast in this village. Many of these nomadic people have never stepped foot outside of the mountainous village and with no real access to the outside world, had certainly never seen someone that looked like Steph before. With that, there was a special someone who made her feel wanted and welcome; enter Sexy . Sexy is a dog whose (dog) family had been killed off for attacking the village chickens. Sexy survived and felt the need to sniff out the scene when the newcomer came into town. Thank god she did, because Sexy has been Steph's one constant since the day she arrived. It is completely abnormal in this village for humans to have relationships with wildlife (feels weird calling a dog "wildlife"), so while it may have caused some confusion and weird looks from the locals, Steph and Sexy's friendship was undeniable, I think that when they first met they knew they needed eachother. Sexy follows Steph around the village, and became the first member of Steph's Thai family. Side note, and something Steph would probably want me to mention - she did not name Sexy. Sexy is a name given to her by the locals and while Steph has tried to make subtle changes to prepare Sexy for her arrival to the states (she tried "Lexi"), Sexy knows who she is and she isn't ready to answer to anything else (and I already love her for it).
Say hello to the cute little babe that is Sexy:
Fast forward a year, a lot of ups and downs that come with entering yourself into a third world society, someone else landed on Steph's doorstep - meet Forest. Forest started stopping by Steph and Sexy's home, and would sleep on their porch during the nighttime. It became pretty clear that Forest had no where to go, and in typical Steph style, he was quickly welcomed into, what she calls, her little misfit family.
Forest is a cutie! Here is a picture:
Elizabeth Taylor once said that "some of [her] best leading men have been dogs", and if you could translate Steph's Thailand experience into a movie, I truly think that if you asked Steph, she would say the same about her two little companions. When she was going through tough times, they are her friends and her comfort. When she needed a hug, she would find her dogs.
With a year and a half of Peace Corps volunteering under her belt, Steph is starting to think about her transition home, and I'm starting to think about how I can help her with that. I've discussed with Steph, and I think all of her friends are in agreement, that there is no way she will be leaving Thailand without her family, her pups. Having volunteered her time for the last two years, the financial burden of bringing two stray dogs to the USA will be significant. Without this page, Steph would still do whatever she could to make it happen, but I'm hoping that with this page, we can alleviate some stress and get those pups home! I love dogs, and I love Steph - I can't imagine her having to leave those two behind, it's just not an option in my mind; so I'm making it my mission to help bring these doggies back (I really can't wait to meet them!). Donations to this page will go directly to getting these dogs a plane ticket to the states, getting them up to date with their medical checkups and shots, and just getting them setup with the basics that dogs would need (they don't even have collars or leashes!)
Any donation amount will help, thank you for your support! If you have any questions about this initative or these pups, please feel free to reach out!
Thanks,
Katie
Some more pictures for your viewing pleasure :)
Organizer
Katie Gavin
Organizer
Medford, MA
