Sombat Boongamanong (Nuling)
The founder the Mirror Art Group, Sombat is always active. Recently, Sombat has been concentrating his efforts on the Bangkok office of the Mirror Art Group where we operate such projects as the Lost Persons Information Center at www.backtohome.org. Sombat has been honored as an Ashoka Fellow.

Porntara Kankeau (Ao)
Alternating between detailed artist and savvy web designer, Ao handles the majority of the web design for the Mirror Art Group. This Saraburi native has taken her interest in claywork and painting and has created the Voice of Earth Clay Workshop which produces clay whistles. The profit from the sale of the whistles provides employment for villagers and funding for scholarships and other projects. When not running back and forth between her computer and her kiln, Ao has been known to cook a pretty mean banana blossom.

Prapai Kedsara (Pan)
Pan decided to join the Mirror Art Group after realizing that she was always calling in sick to her job as a research assistant so that she could take part in their drama perfomances. While she just didn't take to high heels, she found that acting and community development were right down her alley. Now, Pan assists with the Bannok TV and Thai Citizenship projects. She is also a proud mother of two sons, Ti-ma and Ti-ka.

Natapon Singtuen (Jo)
Jo is another example of learning by doing. Jo, who grew up with his cousin Ao in Saraburi, came to the Mirror Art Group as a general laborer with only a vocational education in automotive repair. But his natural curiosity led him to ask questions and experiment. Now he is an authority on the latest technology. He has also learned extensively about the nuances of Thai law through reading and correspondence with experts at Thammasat University. He works on the Bannok TV project and runs a project to educate recent recipients of Thai citizenship about the law. He also raises horses here at the center.

Parisuda Sudhamongkala (Moo)
This sassy city girl from Bangkok has brought with her to this small village a passion for helping others and a style that is all her own. While discarding the conveniences of city life and settling into the pace of the village, Moo has remained big city-efficient in tackling problems such as child trafficking that are devastating the community. Moo also works on culturally sensitive tourism and homestays with the villagers, and is executing an International Labor Organisation project about trafficking and labor issues. She has also turned her passion for local tribal weaving into a program where tourists are taught to weave during a homestay with local villagers.

Weera Yooram (Oat)
Yet another of the self-educated computer experts at the Mirror Art Group, Oat serves as the head computer technician and head of the Information Technology Program. Oat is from Buriram in the lower northeast, so when Oat is speaking to his friends, none of us can understand him, because he is speaking Cambodian. Always on the verge of bursting into laughter, Oat keeps everybody light during serious times.

Suchitra Sakkaew (Jeed)
Jeed's life has a beautiful sense of symmetry. Throughout her childhood in the South, Jeed helped her mother sell things, even though Jeed's true passion was performance. Escaping the world of sales, Jeed followed her dreams and has performed traditional Thai dance locations as far away as Japan. Jeed joined the Mirror Art Group during their days as a drama troupe. Fate, though, is a strong force and led Jeed back to sales as the director of the e-commerce program at www.ebannok.com.

Jonathan Morris (Jon)
Jon is the resident farang at the Mirror Art Group. He has worked with the MAG for three years and been in Thailand for over five. Jon has a strong interest in the local languages and takes time to study them whenever possible. Jon is the director of the Virtual Hilltribe Museum at www.hilltribe.org.

The picture here was taken by an Akha spirit priest, the first time he ever touched a camera.

Suparatanak Tilapat (Kob)
Like many of the two thousand other people who have come to be volunteer teachers here at the Mirror Art Group, Kob escaped the frantic pace of Bangkok for a few days in these serene mountains. Unlike the rest, though, she never left. Kob has been working here over three years and is responsible for the long-term Volunteer project and the Second-hand Clothing program.

Achu Mayeu (Achu)
Achu hails from the adjacent Akha village, Ban Leepa. Having worked in a variety of capacities at the Mirror Art Group, Achu now serves as the assistant dirctor of the e-bannok project. Achu has a beautiful voice which can be heard here singing an Akha song.

Somsak Mali (P' Somsak)
With over ten years as a hilltribe guide in the Mae Yao area, Somask is a valuale addition to our staff. Somsak is responsible for the Cultural Experience Program.

A-ma Meulae
A-ma doesn't say much, and he can't read or write, but he is smart, a quick learner and handy with electronics. By the time that his family moved to where his village, Ban Jalae, is now, the opportunity to go to school had already passed him by. A-ma plays the guitar pretty well, which is interesting since I think he just started fairly recently.

Sunsakit Mafoo (Sun)
Sun is a Chiang Rai native who decided to stay close to home rather than go 800 kilometers away to Bangkok for work. Sun works with the IT Program. Sun is really good at judo.

Peerapol Poyalo (Pee)
Recent graduate of the Rajabhat Institute in Chiang Rai, Pee was one of our first student interns now he is staff with the IT Program. Pee also does many sports activities with the local kids.

Vimornrung Bupasiri (Bim)
Having first been a volunteer teacher and then helping with several drug therapy camps, Bim was a natural choice to work in the Bannok Charity office in Bangkok, where she coordinates affairs of the backtohome.org project.

Chet
A former salesman turned development worker, Chet works with Bim in the Bangkok office. He also works with the backtohome.org project.

Atee Chermeu (Atee)
Atee is one of the "3 Boys" gathering data for the Virtual Hilltribe Museum at www.hilltribe.org. Atee is from Ban Apa, which is one of the last completely traditional Akha villages in Chiang Rai district. Atee is married to the lovely woman who graces the homepage of www.mirrorartgroup.org.

Jamu Jakar (Jamu)
Jamu, whose name is actually pronounced closer to Ja-mmm, is a Red Lahu from Mae Yao helping with the Virtual Hilltribe Museum. In addition to Jamu's skills as an interpreter and researcher, he has one other indispensible ability: he can drive a motorcycle up a very steep, muddy hill. This makes getting to some of our villages possible.

Yasae Jasee (Somchai)
Somchai is a Laba Lahu and the son of the Dtobo (religious leader) of Ban Jalae, where we are constructing a real-life Hilltribe Museum as a counterpart to the Virtual Hilltribe Museum at www.hilltribe.org. Somchai is one of the most polite people you might ever meet.

Jadad
Jadad is from near Cambodia (so he can speak Cambodian with Oat and we don't understand). Jadad works with long-term volunteers and student interns at the MAG.

Ohm
Ohm, as in the unit of electrical resistance, is the cousin of Ao and Jo. Ohm operates and maintains the computer network at the MAG. It's a good idea to be nice to Ohm.

Pinigorn Khampira (Moo Uwan)
Moo Uwan is one of the success stories from our drug camps. A former patient in one of the camps, he has come to work with us and has been a quick study with computers. Now he works full-time with the IT program, specializing in graphics and MSN Messenger.

Tean-wad
The daughter of Ao and Oat, Tean-wad is the boss of the Mirror Art Group kids gang. At only four years old, she is already quite adept at telling who is full of it and who is telling it to her straight. And she's not going to take any of your bull. Tean-wad is also an expert at the Mario game she has on the computer here--not to mention an expert at closing my work when I get up for a second so that she can play it.

Ti-ma
The older son of Pan and Jo, Ti-ma may look innocent, but the boy is pure mischief. It's amazing that his little legs can carry him as fast as they do. One second he will be playing with a toy, but when you blink your eyes, he's gone and off into some sort of naughtiness. He keeps everyone on their toes. For the record, Ti-ma has a traditional Thai hairstyle called a "glae."

Ti-ka
Really, what can you say about Ti-ka? You can say that he looks more like a cute turtle than most children. You could mention that he is Ti-ma's little brother. But, there's really nothing that you can say about this second son of Pan and Jo that captures his essence, the way he lights up when he smiles.