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Who I am?
Just
a few words about me and the birthing of this project:
I decided to help this family and other families of a Akha village
where I had the chance to stay during many months as a volunteer. As
this experience was so beautiful for me, I wanted other people to be
able to discover this way of life at the same time contributing to
the Akha.
It was project that arose out of love. I began a collaboration with
my dear friend Jems Yahaa. I invested personal funds and together we
organized labor and material and oversaw the construction. I knew
that it would be very positive that visitors from other countries
stay in this Ahka village as the Akha love to discover other
cultures and be in contact with “white” people (“galapiu” in
Akha language).
In its inception I didn't want to make this place a touristy place
and didn't want any compromise to the village life. People who
travel here are a part of a real Akha experience and have the
opportunity to honour the culture and the people. And give the
village greater means to support themselves with this guesthouse.
Building the huts and the bathroom facilities was a journey. I tried
to involve/entice many of the village members, paying them for
helping us.
Ada
, the father of Jems, did most of the bamboo construction. He is an
expert in building bamboo huts. The budget kept getting larger and
larger (I was a bit worried that I would run out of money) and
the villagers had a lot of work to do in the fields so had no time
to help us. So at one point I was not sure we could finish this...
Thanks to Amuld (his uncle) and Ago (another good friend) who came
regularly it took only 3 weeks to build everything and we could
finish AkhaJulyah Guesthouse just before Christmas 2005.
This work was a great experience, even if it demanded a lot of
energy, a lot of thoughts, worries and doubts. I am musician and
music teacher originally from
France
, living in
Denmark
many years and didn’t have any experience with this sort of
thing...! But, as we know, you have to take some risks in life in
order to fulfil your dreams!
Of course, as these people can't read and write, I'm taking care of
everything related to the management, the advertisement and the
running of the place and also finding new ideas to inform people of
this place as I know people love to stay there.. (even if I'm
teaching music in
Singapore
now)
Ada
and Ama are taking care of the guests. And I promise you an
authentic experience as they don't know a word of english! even Thai
language is not their language. They speak akha. But you'll find
your way!
So any feedback to Lonelyplanet, or any guide books, about
your stay are welcome.
You can learn more about me on this webside: www.julieoliviafrom.com
And don't hesitate to contact me for any questions.
I thank
Casper
for helping me in the elaboration of the webside.
Photos are from my stay there. You can send me yours.
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