Dana Underwood is a bit of an inspiration to us all here at Area 3. When she’s not here at home singing to raise money for charity causes in the tsunami hit areas of Thailand, she’s in Thailand spending that money and her time to help others get back on their feet.
Dana has been in and out of Thailand since 2005 since a massive Christmas tsunami in December 2004 claimed more than 5,400 lives. Since then she’s been clearing rubbish, building houses, saving families and even pulling teeth. Really.
Her last project was to rebuild a house for a family she met there and we’re happy to say that with some help from us and others, and her charity gigging, she managed to raise funds and that house was completed. She recently went back to meet the family after a long time away and was delighted with the results, although it seems not all was rosy. On that visit she found her next project.
The mother of the family had a mastectomy just before her visit and the family could not afford the chemo treatment. Taking time from their jobs – the back-breaking and dangerous work of working on a rubber tree plantation at night – was not an option. At least not without help. Dana managed to raise the $800 needed to guarantee the mother her 14 treatments and hospital stays, with the rest covering the time she will miss on the plantation. For anyone wondering, plantations pay less a than $10 a night for 10 hours hacking trees in snake-infested grass.
In a recent email Dana described meeting the family again for the first time since the house was finished:
“I went there and the house is lovely. It’s been very built up around now by other houses which is good as the town has made a good comeback. They were so sweet when I arrived and had the biggest smiles on their faces ever. The little girl who was only 1 1/2 when I knew her is now 6 and is about the cutest thing ever. And I definitely would have recognized her….. They cooked up such a spread. It was such an honor…. the little girl took my hand and showed me through the house and pointed to two pictures they still have of me in their prayer room which was very humbling. Made me sad, as they are just the most lovely people with the brightest smiles and kindest spirits, to picture them working through the night in the jungle collecting rubber tree sap with flashlights going from row to row to row having to watch out for snakes etc. (there are cobra, python, etc etc etc here)
Both the mom and the Dad are working in the rubber tree plantation. I didn’t really like to hear that as it’s such hard work and so labor intensive. They work from 10pm through to morning as that is when the sap in the trees flow. their work is a couple hours away so they have to stay in tents while working during teh week and then come home on the weekends. And the daughter stays and sleeps at a dorm at the school during the week that is subsidized by the goverment.
Here’s what is even worse though. As we talked it came out that the mom JUST had a mastectomy two weeks ago. She has a huge scar and is obviously very very sad about it. And the doctor told her she needs to go to chemo and basically they can’t afford to do it. I realized after she said it she had been holding her hand under her right armpit. I asked if it still hurts a lot and she said yes still very swollen.
I cannot tell you how much my heart sank when I heard that she needed chemo. Plus the fact they had put together this lovely meal for me which obviously costs money just made me feel almost sick.”
Below, we have collected some of the many photos Dana has taken on her travels in Thailand, including the people and projects she has worked on since 2005. We here at Catalyst Exhibits have been honored to help out – and continue to do so.
If you’d like to help Dana help others, just us know here and we’ll put you in touch.
