Espresso with a dash of sunlight
A solar energy project powers a coffee shop in the far North that helps school kids to learn new skills, writes Pennapa Hongthong
Ban Coffee has become a fixture of the landscape in Mae Hong Son, where it lies adjacent to the popular Bua Tong flower field and serves as a popular meeting point, an occupational training venue and a model of self-sufficiency through renewable energy.
Affiliated to a local school and run by students, it is a place where aspiring young entrepreneurs, baristas or just energetic kids hoping to cash in on the burgeoning tourism industry can learn to brew coffee and make beverages in preparation for the tourist droves.
Although the holiday season has not yet kicked in and the fields are quiet, the coffee shop is bursting with students eager to jump on the apprenticeship bandwagon.
In fact, the low tourism traffic these past weeks has come as a blessing in disguise for many of the students as they hope to be battle-ready when the tide turns and people from other parts of Thailand and other countries pour in.
This is likely as the picture of the yellow field set against a crystal clear, blue sky has been splashed on the brochures promoting the northern province’s tourism, one of its key revenue earners.
“Welcome to our ‘classroom’ for the Bua Tong flower season here at Ban Pang Tong School,” said headmaster Wirot Kamploy as he welcomed visitors to the coffee shop.
“Ban Coffee is part of our school’s jobtraining project for students,” said Mr Wirot, adding that students can choose the kind of job training they are interested in to groom them for future employment.
Ban Pang Tong School is situated on the path leading to Doi Mae Ou Kor in Khun Yuam district, which has long been a magnet for travellers who came from near and far to watch the Bua Tong in full bloom, which turn hills into a yellow, flowery visual wonder between the cool months of November and December of every year.
The school, which offers classes from Prathom 1 (Grade 1) to Mathayom 3 (Grade 9), does not only provide academic knowledge based on Office of the Basic Education Commission (Obec) curriculum, but also occupational skills through extra-curricular activities such as the “Ban Coffee” project.
The project took off with the school inviting experts in various job skills to train the senior students in 2014. After that, the trained students imparted the knowledge they gained to the younger students using the coffee shop as an experimental workshop.
In addition to coffee brewing, the training encompasses other occupational skills including massage, cooking, preparing lodging and producing souvenirs such as key chains.
“Our school is located close to where tourists go to see the Bua Tong flower bloom on Doi Mae Ou Kor. So we figured we should focus [extra-curricular training] on tourism-related activities which could be useful for the students’ future careers,” Mr Wirot said.
During the tourism high season, the coffee shop, which also offers meals and accommodation, becomes a place where the students take turns at working and learning from first-hand experience. They also earn a bit of pocket money from the work.
“I am learning to make beverages from soda and sweet drinks,” Sasipimol Phumchaisathien, a Prathom 3 student, said while preparing to serve visitors who came to observe them in action. “I like it. It is fun. I want to rustle up something like this at home. I can also make money to save.”
She said she wanted to make hot drinks but is too young for that.
Ban Coffee is where the youths can practise their job skills and the visitors witness the use of an environmentally friendly, renewable power source.
The coffee shop is powered by solar panels fitted on the kitchen roof. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Thailand financially supported the procurement of the panels which were installed last year.
“The UNDP chose Ban Pang Tong School for its demonstration project on the reliance of alternative energy using the technology which fits the rural context and is accommodating to the ethnic people,” said Sorat Phutthaphithak, the UNDP’s project manager for promoting alternative energy for development and natural resources conservation.
“The project allows the community
Students here have been taught about the necessity to be mindful and aware of what is going on in the world. NANTARAT RATANAJAMROEN TEACHER OF THE BAN PANG TONG SCHOOL
to see that we can produce and harness energy that is readily available from nature, and the power obtained helps people to reduce their expenses,” Ms Sorat said.
The off-grid energy powers lighting at the coffee shop as well as caters to customers wanting to recharge their mobile phones and tablets, she noted.
According to Ms Sorat, the campaign to encourage locals to turn to clean energy was born out of a cooperative effort between Mae Hong Son authorities and the UNDP to develop Mae Hong Son as a pilot province for producing self-sufficient power.
The solar-powered electricity is not only used to run the coffee shop, but is also wired to a dormitory of female students within the school compound. This gives the young students a first-hand opportunity to see for themselves the advantages of running solar energy.
The school has also rolled out a special lesson on alternative energy, a subject previously far removed from the conventional power sources most people take for granted.
“Students here have been taught about the necessity to be mindful and aware of what is going on in the world,” said Nantarat Ratanajamroen, a teacher at Ban Pang Tong School.
“Students may think this [clean energy] issue is a foreign concept, and they cannot figure out how they will save the world. But when the UNDP stepped in to develop the solar power system here, they understood that the sunlight can really be put to tremendous use.
“They also learned that if they prudently capitalise on renewable energy resources and use the power efficiently, they can help the environment and the world at large.”
Students are also assigned to record electricity charges at solar power-reliant buildings and those that do not run on renewable energy. The results are compared and the students can monitor how much energy can be saved and how much needs saving, which is an experience well worth gaining, Ms Nantarat said.
According to the UNDP, for many Thais, access to electricity is just a case of pushing a switch. But for those living in remote mountainous areas of Mae Hong Son, access to electricity is a luxury.
Due to the province’s rugged terrain, only 55% of villages are on the electricity grid. This means at night, many communities are plunged into darkness unless they light up candles which cost money and pose a fire risk.
“Without electricity or lighting students cannot read or do their homework in the evening, which is an impediment to their academic performance. Like children everywhere our students dream of escaping poverty through education. But being off grid doesn’t make that possible,” said Dararat Phiewpan, school master of the Khun Yuam district school, which has also received help in procuring solar-powered lanterns for its students.
UNDP Thailand has launched a donation campaign to buy lanterns for the students of the school.
Ms Sorat said the light would help enhance the children’s and their families’ quality of life. “Solar energy is clean. It should be promoted more in areas rich in natural resources like Mae Hong Son,” she said.