BAN HUIYA, Thailand - Cows mooed, water buffaloes stared and the locals wondered what a caravan carrying 13 young American women was doing on a muddy track heading for a remote hill tribe village in northern Thailand.
They were members of the women's basketball team at Carleton College in Northfield, Minn., - trying, through sport, to help impoverished girls resist being lured into Thailand's vast sex industry.
Accompanied by coaches and family members, the students spent two weeks in hill tribe villages, stalking grounds for middlemen who trick vulnerable teen-agers or buy them from their desperate parents to work in brothels and massage parlors.
''Any activity that is taught girls always helps them gain confidence. We want basketball to be part of their routine activities, to help them gain respect for themselves,'' said Bridget Seeger, 21, of Elkhorn, Wis.
During their stay, the group slept on mattresses on the floor of a community dormitory and used primitive bathrooms. Parents, some of them doctors and psychiatrists, provided free treatment to the villagers.
''It's an eye-opener to meet people from such a different culture and lifestyle. I don't speak their language but I can use basketball as a bridge to link us. Sport is universal and especially when we are female, we are connected,'' said Cassie Glasrud, 21, of Spring Grove, Minn.
Some 320 children of the Karen tribe and other ethnic groups, many barefoot and wearing ragged uniforms, attend the school at Ban Huiya, 360 miles north of the Thai capital, Bangkok.
Built by Japanese aid money, the concrete-surface basketball court, is the school's only luxury.
''Basketball is little known in jungle village schools even though we have a court and equipment. But we have no skills. It's a good opportunity for our students and teachers to gain firsthand experience from American basketball players,'' said school principal Udom Chuenchuprai.
Wrestling with the language barrier, the Americans nonetheless managed to demonstrate the basics of basketball, which is becoming increasingly popular in Thailand, during their June 12-29 stay.
''They are fast learners. They have picked things up quickly,'' said team coach Tammy Metcalf-Filzen, 38.
Many of the students were also enthusiastic.
''Our school has the best women's volleyball team in the district. I hope after the visit of the Americans, my school will set up its own women's basketball team to compete with other schools,'' said 13-year-old Laddawan Phetpichitchai.
''I had no chance to learn about basketball because I graduated before we had the court. I am sure the game will help players physically and mentally,'' said Kanya Yingsinsuthad, a recent graduate, watching her younger friends dribbling and passing.
The American women did some learning of their own before undertaking the project, focusing on the sex industry in Thailand, which a recent United Nations report says employs as many as 300,000 women. Other experts say the numbers are far higher.
The players also toured Patpong Road, Bangkok's notorious red light district.
''We have read a lot about it. But seeing it is completely different. I just wanted to scream at those Western guys who were with Thai girls and ask if they knew what they were doing,'' said Renee Willette, a 19-year-old political science and women's studies major from Minneapolis.
''We all realize there is no quick fix. But building awareness is what we want to establish within the girls,'' Willette added.
Aid worker Lothansiami Ralte of the Karen Resource Development Program thinks it can.
''Tribal women are more vulnerable to all kinds of exploitation facilitated by roads linking towns to their villages. What we can do here is help them choose good rather than bad influences,'' she said.
''The visits are a golden opportunity for our girls to learn the game from the Americans,'' Ralte said. ''But I hope they will also think, 'If the American girls can do this much, why not us?'''
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