Abc - The Stratton ABC Foundation Childrens Home Chiang Mai

February 2012
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Faa Gamma, ABC Movie Club–Can You Do Similar?

Jun 092011

This post is to say continued thanks to the Faa Gamma Fund Raising Team in Queensland Australia who have been holding a monthly “Movie Club” for interested folk to get together for coffee cake and a Movie. Their monthly contributions of between two thousand five hundred and three thousand baht are very much appreciated.
As a small Foundation we rely on finding as many sources of funding as possible.
The Gamma Teams Idea is one we believe could well end up being the mainstay for covering our running costs.
But for that to happen we need more teams.

Our present running costs are around 40-50,000 baht. So ideally we are aiming to find 15 to 20 teams out there.
Have you volunteered here recently, or heard of our work from friends, or possibly come across this site while surfing the net and like what you see?
If you would like to join us in developing this Foundation and helping to help many more children here in Thailand please consider setting up your own fund raising team.
We can supply you with promotional material and info on our Foundations work, Aims and Objectives.
We are currently in negotiations to purchase land on which we hope to build a purpose built , permanent facility that will increase the number of placements we can offer.
To make this a reality we desperately need your help. Each team will have their fundraising work reported here on this website.
If you would like to help please get in touch using the contact link at the bottom of the page.

M is for Monday

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May 032011

As the new School year approaches we have now got back to daily English language tuition and practice. I’m proud to see the “family” working , with the older children assisting the younger ones in practicing their ABC before the afternoon class.

Its been a while since I have had the chance to teach the kids and its been great seeing the improvement in their English language skills since they first came here.

Gus skills have improved immensely although he still needs to work on his confidence as he gets very nervous when called to speak.

May 2 has leaped forward in her ability getting very close to being on a par with our top student, Tai.

Nu is also not so far behind and has plenty of confidence, not afraid of making a mistake; best for good learning.

The younger ones still have a way to go but all have improved by leaps and bounds with their pronunciation and recall of short phrases.

The two new boys, Bong and Zak are also doing well.

Bong speaks very clearly with very good accent and Zak has excellent mimicry skills and recall and, I think, will be very fast to learn.

The Garden Grows

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Dec 092010

Busy, busy, busy. We are still working hard here at Stratton House to increase efficiency and cut costs. One major way we can do this is to grow our own vegetables.
To this end we have been working hard on expanding our growing project. Every late afternoon this week the children have helped out with this expansion which is going very well.
However we desperately need help with funding the next expansion.
The plots you see featured in the photos cost around 2000 baht to produce, including all the bamboo and soil.
Can you help us expand further with a similar sized area?
We are also hoping to create dry leveled pathways in between the plots, using gravel, which comes at 1800 baht for a large lorry load.
At present we are not sure how far that will take us but would have a better idea if we can get that first load.
If you feel that you may be able to help fund these expansions , please contact us.
A healthy diet for our children is very important to us. If we can supply this using our own organically grown produce then more funds can be redirected towards continued development of our activities and services to help these and many more children.
Thank You for your consideration.

Stratton House Dance Troupe

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Oct 162010

This was such an enjoyable Friday evening I just had to share it. We are hoping to find a dance group for these kids to attend and maybe practise for our own show.

Jae Festival Time

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Oct 132010

Every year around this time many people in Thailand celebrate the Chinese Buddhist “Jae” Festival. This includes an extended period of practising vegetarianism. Locally, the people from Mae Salab enjoyed an event held at Wat Mae Salab last weekend.

Three of our children, Jor, May(2) and Nu were part of the ‘show’ as the children of Mae Salab School started the main event singing traditional songs on the main stage.

Everyone dresses in traditional white clothing for this event. We did our best but with nine children our budget restricted us to buying the traditional costume only for the girls who were performing.

The girls went of to prepare at around 5pm and the rest of us followed on just after 6.

The road was cordoned off and there were many foodstalls by the riverside outside the Temple.

Inside the Temple and School grounds there was the large stage and Marquees and hundreds of chairs set out. We had been told that they were expecting around 4000 people to attend.

Overhead ominous skies lingered. Some of the blackest clouds creeping slowly across the sky towards us.

The School children started their performance at around 6.30 as the expected crowds began to fill up the seating area.

I was very proud of our girls doing their bit on the stage.

It must have been hard work for them having to remain sitting cross-legged for around an hour and a half.

The event carried on for most of the evening but we left shortly after the girls had finished on the stage.

Just as well because not long after we got home the rain hammered down with avengence. How they carried on at the Wat I don’t know.

The children here are still respecting the vegetarianism, supposedly a ten day stretch. I caved after 3 days. Although I am happy for the children to follow the tradition if they wish, I personally believe that there are far too many different events of this kind that seek to make Buddhism a religion rather than a philosophy. Its fine as an event that brings the community together, but as I am not a vegetarian I feel that my 3 days was enough.

Directors Gallery 7

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Aug 222010

Todays Gallery features more snaps of life at Stratton House.

Directors Daily Gallery 2

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Aug 142010

A new daily event here at Stratton ABC .com , by way of some pictorial background on Foundation Director, thats me, John Cope. Where I’ve been, what catches my eye, family and friends and much much more. Just a small gallery today, images from Maesai, on the border with Myanmar, Northernmost of Thailand.

Kaow Pan Saa

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Jul 242010

Continuing our association with Khruu Khem at Huay Sai, I responded to a request to visit Huay Sai on Friday(23rd), to make a photo record of the Kaow Pan Saa Festival, attended by many Lamphun Schools and culminating at Huay Sai School.

Kaow Pan Saa celebrates the beginning of the new rice growing season.

It was a colourful affair with children and adults from the many schools all dressed up in their different traditional costumes. All meeting at the local Wat, the procession got under way at around 2.30.

There were many colourfully adorned pick up trucks and marching bands as well, adding to a great atmosphere.

Thankfully the rains, that had been on and off all day, held off during the procession.

All the children seemed to enjoy the affair very much.

My ex-pupils from Pasak school were in attendance and it was very nice to see them all again. I do miss you lot!

Sadly I could not stay for the whole celebration as, with House Mother on her day off, I needed to get home ready for our children to get back from school.

I sure it all went well and hope everyone enjoyed it.

For all the photos please visit our photobucket album here.

For all the video clips visit our youtube here.

Back Online

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May 212010

More apologies for a complete lack of updates for a protracted period of time. This has been mainly due to the recent end of school year holiday. With all the kids at home its was simply pretty much impossible to get away to the internet shop to keep up with things.

Hopefully I will complete the catch-up over the next week , so please check in for features on the holiday period, including our first Volunteers;

a 7 day home visit for the kids from Nan; two new arrivals;

and the return of regular updates on life at Stratton House.

Back To San Kampaeng

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Mar 232010

First of all apologies once more for a lack of action on the website. Things have been busy here and still not internet at home, I simply havent been able to find the time to catch up.

Last week saw 5 of our 7 children go down with a 5 day virus. poor Jack even ended up in hospital for 3 days with a fever of 40 degrees.

I’m happy to report that everyone made a full recovery.

Last weekend I was not so well myself and Sundays day out was a quiet afternoon in Chompoo village which I shall add a report on later this week.

This weekend the children had asked to go to the waterfall at Doi Suthep but we explained that with the recent heavy rains this might not be very safe.

So in the end we decided on a trip back to San Kampaeng Hot Springs.