Power, Coral, and a Church That Paints Itself

A gift brought proper electricity at last: solar panels wired into the school building, powering a fridge — fresh vegetables now, not just meat — the water pump, and the coffee shop, where Chanab and Jieab began selling iced coffee and tea. Philip used the installation to teach Wud, Tine and the older youth how solar energy works, while carefully making the suddenly high-voltage system safe for a village that doesn't understand electricity. It came after a hard stretch: nearly two years of COVID school disruption had left the children badly behind, and the government simply cancelled the year-end exams, passing pupils on the little work they had done.

The congregation did something telling. Given a donation, the members decided to paint their own church, choosing the colours themselves; and when a Thai neighbour asked why Philip didn't do it, they told him it was their church to look after, not his. He only smiled — they were taking ownership of what mattered to them.

The reef became a new frontier. A diver on the island invited Philip and interested Moken to join a coral-restoration group, and Wud, Tine, Chanab, Jieab and Phet built the planting frames and dived to set living fragments of storm-broken coral, patient work that earned them an invitation to join permanently. A Bangkok documentary team also came and filmed the Moken youth, delighted to find real progress among the Moken. These young people, Philip wrote, are his heart's joy here — proof there is hope for the Moken, and that they are capable of great things.