As we pulled away from Umpium Mai, the sheer size of the refugee camp came into view. I've never been confronted with conditions like these before, and the barbed wire fence surrounding the camp really brought the message home. The occupants of the camp are not allowed to leave, only return to Myanmar once the political issues there are resolved. This is a process which has been going on for over 20 years, and I had a bit of trouble fathoming (with my nice Southern Ontario sensibilities) that some have spent their entire adult life, if not simply their lives, in this little place.

Norm and I spent the rest of the drive to Um Phang digesting the opportunity which had freakishly fallen into our lap, as well as the impact that it had had on us. Upon reaching Um Phang, we discovered from a fairly unconvincing katoey (really, she wasn't fooling anyone) that the intended next leg of our trip, a road from Um Phang to Kampheng Phet, didn't exist. Should you ever be in this area, ignore what the map says...yes, even the Lonely Planet maps, which I am learning to take with a grain of salt. As it turns out, this road was never completed, as it was to run through the middle of a nature reserve, and was discontinued to discourage poaching. While this was great for the wildlife, it was lousy news for us, as it meant having to back track along the Death Highway. I could hear an audible groan from the Honda.

That night, at a little bar called Dot Com, we ran into a woman named Petra who was one of the organisers of the day's game. She works for an NGO called Right to Play, which organises sports events in communities such as Umpium Mai. The benefits of such things are team building, physical exercise, and developing community leaders by training coaches. I'd learned about a few other NGO opportunities over the course of the day, something I'd checked into for employment (as a lark, Don) while in Canada, but been intimidated by the prereqs. Still, in a lot of these places, one can live as a volunteer for relatively cheap.

I would definitely say that this whole experience has left a lasting impression on me. Seeing people in these dire situations with enormous smiles on their faces makes me want to re-assess what puts a frown on mine. Furthermore, it wouldn't take a lot of effort on my part to make a difference in situations such as these. Hey, even my terrible footballing got the crowd roaring with laughter and cheers. As I write this, six days later, I can already put this into the 'Top 5' of the last few months, something I'll be mulling over for a long time to come. Merry Christmas.