สวัสดี Rebels. Hello, Rebels.

Ah, it looks like you’re just in time for the rain. Can you hear it? The clouds have gathered together in a soft blanket overhead, letting go of all the water they have stored. Just relax, as you listen to their gentle pitter patter. You are safe. You are calm. You are part of nature’s ebb and flow.

Did you know that water moves in cycles? When the clouds get too full overhead, they release water as raindrops – or snow, sleet, hail, depending on how cold it is outside. Once the water falls to the ground, it gets absorbed into the soil, feeding plants and trees, or it flows into lakes, rivers and oceans. Eventually, the sun heats the water so much that it evaporates into gas particles that float up up up into the atmosphere, where they join the clouds and the cycle starts all over again.

Learning about water and its cycles is very important for humans. Particularly in places where it rains a LOT, like the lush mountains and valleys of Thailand. Let’s travel there now to see what it’s like, and meet a clever rebel named Kotchakorn Voraakhom. Kotchakorn designed a spectacular park full of twisting paths, tropical plants and wide open fields. Later in the story, we’ll visit this winding green landscape to see how she’s made something beautiful by following nature’s course.

When we first meet Kotchakorn as a little girl, she and her friends are playing in a parking lot near her family’s home in the city of Bangkok. There has just been a big storm here, and the girls are running, giggling and shouting as they hop around puddles. Then, Kotchakorn stops and peers down at something on the ground. She lays flat on her belly to look closer. In front of her is a narrow, winding crack in the concrete. To Kotchakorn, it looks like a thin, promising river.

She crawls along, following its path. Then, she spots something else, even more thrilling. Up ahead, is a tiny green sprout, pushing through the crack in the cement, stretching toward the sky.

Kotchakorn stares in amazement at the brave little plant. Its bright green stem feels like a sign of strength. Kotchakorn waves her friends over to show them, [“come here, come see” in English and Thai] and asks them to help her out. She needs to make the crack bigger. She needs to give this little plant space to grow.

You see, Kotchakorn’s hometown of Bangkok has very few green spaces these days. It’s a big, busy city that has expanded a lot in the past fifty years.

But it wasn’t always like this. For thousands of years, the people in Thailand have lived and worked in harmony with the rain. Farmers respected that there were wet seasons and dry seasons, and knew when the weather would be best for planting, growing and harvesting crops. When floods came, as they sometimes did, the waters fertilized the land, and made the soil richer.

As the city of Bangkok expanded though, concrete was poured to build streets, apartments, and skyscrapers—room for about 15 million people to live! Now, with all this concrete, the water can’t be absorbed into the earth like it used to be.

It gets stuck with nowhere to go. Waterways overflow, and floods that used to be a part of life, become disasters, forcing people from their homes. Eventually, even Kotchakorn and her family have to leave.

Kotchakorn thinks about that little plant poking out through the crack. If that plant found a way to thrive, so can I, she tells herself.

And she does. She studies to become a landscape architect — someone who designs parks and green spaces. She is determined to work with the water, as her ancestors used to.

Kotchakorn blossoms as a landscape architect. There are not many women in Thailand who do this job and sometimes people doubt her abilities. Instead of feeling mad or discouraged, Kotchakorn sees this as a gift. She believes that being a woman connects her to the cycles of nature. She knows that she holds a very important position between the land , the sea and the sky.

One day, Kotchakorn and her architectural firm find out about a contest being held by Thailand’s oldest university. In honor of their one hundredth anniversary, the school will donate new park land to the city. Whoever wins the contest will get to design this special place.

Kotchakorn has so many ideas. She feels like her brain is a rising tide of shapes and angles, winding footpaths and waterfalls. She’s pretty sure that other people’s designs will involve more concrete, creating walls to try to hold floodwater back. But working against the water wasn’t working. Kotchakorn wants to do the opposite. She wants to work with the cycles of the water, and the beauty they create.

Kotchakorn huddles in her office with her team and brainstorms. Years ago, the king of Thailand spoke about the significance of kaem ling, or monkeys’ cheeks. Monkeys store food in their cheeks to save for later when they need it. What if Kotchakorn could design a park that saves flooding rainwater like that and keeps it for when the land is dry?

Before she even collects the water though, she needs it all to flow in the same direction. Hmmmm…Bangkok is a very flat city. What if she tilted the park so that gravity could help collect the water too?

Kotchakorn finishes her proposal for designing Chulalongkorn Centenary Park. She hands it in proudly and soon learns that she’s won the contest! Kotchakorn is so excited to build this park with her team. She feels like this is a new beginning. Just like that little plant poking up through a crack in the gray landscape — this park will be a fresh start. A big green crack in the concrete heart of Bangkok.

Ah, it looks like the rain has stopped, so let’s tour the park, shall we, Rebels?

We’ll start at the top, on the green roof—the biggest green roof in all of Thailand. From up here, we can see the many buildings of the city, tall and solid. In contrast, the park is flowing with nature. Even the pathways seem organic, curving and winding through greenery.

Walking along one of these pathways, we weave past lush shimmering lawns where children play tag, families picnic, and students meditate. Leaves flutter in the breeze, and new branches provide homes for chirping, singing birds.

Under the green roof, tanks swell with rainwater, stored to sustain the park in the dry season. There’s a museum under the green roof too, and an amphitheater where concerts are held. Audiences love to sit out on the lawn and watch the art unfold.

Listen closely. Do you hear a little trickle? That’s the sound of the extra water making its way from the green roof to the wetlands area of the park. Let’s follow the water’s path.

The wetlands area is a thick carpet of flourishing native plants. Some are knee-high, some even taller. Their stems lift up to the sky and sway in the breeze. They filter and clean the water as it passes through, heading down to a retention pool, which looks like a peaceful pond.

Imagine the journey of the water. What might have started as a driving rain, one that could have caused flooding in the city, instead sustains these plants in the park, coursing through the wetlands, then gathering here in the pool. It’s a beautiful example of how the park embraces water.

Over the pool are floating platforms, so you can walk out and listen to the water lapping near your feet. And there are bicycles on the shoreline. When you pedal them, a paddle wheel turns, helping to aerate the water. As Kotchakorn says, “when life gives you flood, have fun with the water.”

Now, Rebels, why don’t we pick a nice shady spot in the grass to lie down and reflect. Visiting the park, it’s easy to see how Kotchakorn’s ideas honor the earth. She finds inspiration in every drop of rain and each new sprout.

Listen to the soothing sounds of nature all around us, growing and thriving. Now imagine that you are that little plant, making its way up through the crack in the pavement.

As Kotchakorn says, “No matter how rough the path, how big the crack, you push through your goal, because that’s where your heart is.”

You are just like the plant, Rebels. You are strong. You are bright. And you are ready to bloom.