Giving Children A Better Chance in Northern Thailand
"telling someone what they have to learn is a long and tortuous road, often ineffective; giving someone the opportunity to explore what their brain finds particularly interesting at the time opens the gateway to optimization of that individuals potential" anon
Previously I posted on Tai’s school project, making an amplifier for wireless Internet signal.
It appears that he actually has to do a presentation with his group and he has continued to test the equipment and refine his research and end product information.
This included a trip to school earlier in the week to further test the amplifiers effectiveness from different distances.
He has been producing an impressive looking storyboard and has been seen practicing his presentation. Just yesterday he spent most of the evening researching more detail on the Internet.
From what I have seen of the study and research he has been doing I shall be surprised if he does not get top marks….he certainly does from us…proud of you Tai..excellent work.
Its been a mixed week this week as both Prathom, (primary), and Mattayom,(Highschool), school terms come to an end, with some of the children still needing to go into school and others staying home.
At home there has been plenty going on with the help of our volunteers Nat and Ip.
Following the success of their Rotee class the girls decided to have another cooking class on Thursday, teaching the kids how to make doughnuts.
As before the mornings task was to prepare the dough and doughnuts for rising before cooking them later in the day.
It happened to also be Zaks Birthday, so the whole idea fitted well.
Its a well known saying often proved to be true, but we are very grateful for it too.
For many months we have watched one of trees in our garden grow and grow and grow. I have yet to identify the tree properly but it produces colourful red seed pods that we were subsequently informed are dangerous when they fall and dry as they are covered with hundreds of tiny needles harp barbs that can be very painful in contact with the skin and easily lead to infection.
For this reason we really wanted it felled and yesterday our good friends Des and Jochen; who had also popped in again on Sunday afternoon, kindly donating more food supplies; came to assist with the removal of the tree.
After the storm the night before the air had cleared and the skies too, bringing the full force of the summer sun into play, but this didn’t stop the mad dog crew.
Job well done:) All the wood was given to our elderly neighbour for future use on her cooking fires.
Another excellent day yesterday with our talented Volunteers holding cooking class for the children. The order for the day was Rotee, South American style.
The kids did have work hour in the garden first thing , so Natalie and Ip got started in the kitchen with Nu watching, whilst the rest of the crew were outside digging soil for new vegetable plots.
However, after some sterling effort with the shovels, the work hour was shortened and everyone joined the girls in the kitchen.
Natalie and Ip were great “Teachers” and really got all the kids involved.
It was fantastic to see the children all watching attentively and taking their turns kneading the dough, rolling the Rotees and then folding them and placing them on the tray ready for rising.
Once all the Rotees were prepared the children also helped out with preparing the vegetables for the planned Indian styled stew that was to accompany the Rotees on the dinner table.
The whole exercise was very popular and the kids had great fun and we now have an additon to our menu that I feel sure may become a regular thing.
Great job Nat and Ip.
After the work was relax and play games time.
In the afternoon the girls accompanied myself and Bpaa Zang taking Nu to the hospital, where, after a long wait, we got the good news that her arm is fine and her plaster was removed.
With such a long time at the hospital dinner was a little late as the girls needed to cook the stew when we got back late afternoon.
For me it was well worth the wait. We aren’t too sure how the kids felt about it, it is notoriously difficult to get them to try and enjoy something new, especially when it is not accompanied by rice. That said all plates were cleared.
What was most definitely popular was the sweet ,Rotees with strawberry jam that the kids had for breakfast this morning.
This week we have been joined by our latest Volunteers, Natalie and Ip, hailing from Canada and presently on a break from study as occupational therapists at Uni in Queensland.
We picked them both up from The Parami Guest House on Sunday morning, getting back just in time for lunch.
This friendly pair have again been an instant hit with the kids, pitching straight in with fun and games in the afternoon and chilling with the girls in the evening.
On Monday they joined me on a trip out to The American Pacific International School Campus near Samoeng where we chatted with staff and pupils about our re-cycle project with a view to the children there getting involved( full report on that visit coming soon).
In the afternoon Natalie did a great job giving further piano lessons to May2, teaching her some great new methods to increase her skills. Meanwhile Ip had fun playing card games with the younger children.
Yet another excellent pair of Volunteers, thanks for coming girls
After two years study at Thaivitchaslip College, my assistant, Boon, is now progressing fast with the building of a Thai language website for The Foundation. With evermore support from the local community I have been desperate to ensure the availibilty of good information on our work in the local language.
Keep at it Boon, and well done on completing College. Sorry i couldn’t be there on your graduation day , and thanks to your friends for getting the photos.
Last week saw another visit by the recent additions to the extended Stratton “family”, Christin and Nadine. Primarily they are offering me assistance with admin but as last Wednesday was a day off school for the kids they found themselves helping to keep the children occupied.
Lots of fun, with badminton, frisbee and much more.
Thanks girls and look forward to seeing you again this week.
Today it was the turn of some very kind Thai community members to make a generous donation, this time a full PC Set.
Our kind lady friend , proprietor of Suantai Garden Nursery in Sarapee; who last week donated a monitor, keyboard and mouse; phoned to say that her good friend, Ninnat Onwan; Teacher at a technical college in Huay Kaow Rd; had donated a full set second hand PC, with newly loaded Windows XP.
We were able to pick the computer up from the Nursery on the way back from school, ( the Mattayom kids had Saturday study this week).
The computer is already set up for use and we would like to say a very big Thank You to Khun Ninnat.
A pleasant meeting yesterday, at Ratchadamneon Coffee, in the old city, resulted in a very kind donation of brand new copies of the first two Harry Potter books, in Thai language, from a visiting Foundation supporter, Rick Carbert.
Rick has expressed his hope to supply the complete set in time and maybe donate further with a view to building up the children’s reading library.
Having always been a great believer in the value of reading I have always done my best to ensure a supply of various books, so this is a very welcome donation
