We are in the lead up to the end of the school term and , indeed, school year. We have been very happy with our childrens progress in their respective schools this year.
As is always the case at this time, the childrens homework and study load has been quite high and if they are not studying for tests they have been busy with projects that also go towards their final grades.
Monday afternoon brought a brand new activity for the children thanks to our friends Des, Pui, Jochen and Ran who organised a horse riding session at Abenteur Farm, situated in the grounds of Mc Keans Hospital.
Going straight from school we drove over to the farm ready for the session booked for 4.30.
Des, Jochen and the girls were all there waiting with the friendly staff at the stables.
After greetings and refreshments some of the children went with the staff to begin grooming the horses ready for the riding, whilst the others played on the trampoline.
The children soon overcame whatever nervousness they might have had and did a great job with the grooming.
With four horses available they all had to take their turns, but this was no problem with the swings and trampoline to keep them happy as they waited.
Everyone had a go and they all thoroughly enjoyed it and I’m sure it will not be the last time.
We would like to say a big thank you to our friendly hosts at the farm and to Des , Jochen and all the gang for making this fun activity possible. And of course, a big thanks to the horses:)
This last weekends work sessions have been a bit of light relief for the kids after recent hard work at the Foundation land.
Sunday morning saw more effort to progress the A B C Mural, instigated by our recent Volunteer Emilie.
Some great effort and lots of fun.
This mornings “work” session for the children was not to forget their promise to our recent volunteer Emilie. She had started a pictorial AB C using animals as our latest Mural painting efforts.
They all had a lot of fun bringing this project along.
Tai, who had been otherwise occupied at the time Emilie instigated this project, chose to work on his own idea having sketched out “The Angry Birds” on 2 walls earlier this week.
As end of term approaches there has been a lot of extra study for the kids here in preparation for their tests, but they have all been encouraged to ensure they get plenty of chill out time in between and not to stress too much.
To do your best is all you can do .
You will spot young Nu is sporting a sling after a fall out of bed. Good news is that the resulting fracture does not appear to be too serious and she hopes to be out of plaster in just two weeks.
Yet more thanks to Pui for helping to put us in touch with our new friend and supporter Jurgen,
Today we had a very welcome visit from Pui, her family and Jurgen and his friend Ohs. Jurgen has expressed an interest in helping our Foundation, liking our core philosophies and our work so far.
Our visitors came with yet another great lunch for the kids, with green curry, chicken, noodles and much more. Jurgen and Ohs also presented us with a huge supply of toothpaste and toothbrushes for the children, donated by a dentist friend of theirs in Switzerland. Sorry I failed to get your name, but we all say a big thanks for that.
After a fantastic lunch Jurgen offered a return visit to Childrens World at the Night Safari. And so there followed a wonderful afternoon for the kids and a relaxing time for the adults with chance to discuss several ideas in connection with onward funding and development.
This includes a kind offer to help design and produce drawings for our ” permanent facility”.
We would like to thank Jurgen, Ohs, Pui and all her family for their generous support and I look forward to ongoing discussions in the near future.
A couple of days before Xmas day our microwave was discovered to be unusable anymore, as its inner lining had deteriorated.
It wasn’t long before it found a new use, feeding the curiosity of an inquiring young mind.
14 year old Tai, already established as a grade A student at school, soon had at it with a screw driver, investigating its workings.
This is just the sort of activity we have hoped to encourage with our style of doing things at Stratton House, and I would very much like to further support this new found interest in electronics.
We would very much like to purchase an electronics starter kit to facilitate further , safe, learning in this field, giving Tai and any of the other children who may be interested, a chance to look into developing a new skill.
Having surfed the internet I am posting a link to one such kit that comes in at $94.95.
If you feel you may be able to help please consider either donating $100….I have been so far unable to establish shipping costs… or visit the link and purchase direct on our behalf….shipping address 36/1 ( Stratton House) Moo 7, T.Chompoo, A. Sarapee, Chiang Mai 50140
Or if you find another similar kit that is aimed at beginners this would be most welcome also.
Last week I mentioned the lovely Thai family we met at Huay Tung Taow. The older daughter, Bouy, expressed a great interest in visiting Stratton House and helping out with the kids.
This Sunday, true to her word she appeared with members of her family along with their friend Des Sheldon, a fellow Midlander it turns out , and another friend Jurgen.
The first major surprise was that they turned up with literally a truck load of supplies for the kitchen. All the kids came up to help offload.
Not onle kitchen supplies either but Xmas tree, decorations and books for the kids too.
Then our Thai visitors set to preparing traditional Papaya salad , with assistance from House Mother, Muay and many of the children.
What a great lunch it was to with roast chicken on the table to compliment the salad and Pandan Tea to wash it all down.
That was the plan as far as I knew, doing lunch for the kids….but it didn’t stop there.
Mid-afternoon we got the kids on the truck and headed over to The Chiang Mai Night Safari, where our guests very kindly paid for all the children to visit Childrens World, the great new play facility that was finished recently.
Although Childrens World turned out to be a great treat for the children one of the main highlights of the trip was the visit to the Lovebirds aviary. All the children and adults too, were enthralled by these delightful birds who with a little gentle coaxing will come and feed from your hand.
We are so grateful to our visitors for being kind enough to make this day a very special one. It was also good to discover Childrens World, which is cost effective enough for us to consider making regular trips there. With the excellent facility staffed with friendly supervisors it is somewhere we are able to leave the children knowing they can play safe whilst the adults get some real chill time too if they want.
Thanks once again to Des, Jurgen , Bouy and all her family who we hope to see much more of in the future.
The Stratton ABC Foundation Re-Cycle Project has been underway for some time now but we are desperately in need of more participants to make it feasible to carry on.
Born of both, a concern for the environment and the future we are leaving our children and a need for more sources of funding for Foundation work, this Project gives you the chance to help us without hurting your pocket.
We need sponsors of all sorts and if you want to help but just don’t have the income to spare why not consider our offer to collect your re-cyclables.
Right now we have one main run through Sarapee to Hang Dong Road where we collect from The American Pacific International School Kindergarten and Kwan Wiang Moobahn.
We are prepared to consider collection from anywhere in and around the Chiang Mai City area as long as we can get enough participants to make the transport costs feasible.
If you would like to join in, maybe even organise a spot for our collection bins at your Moobahn, please get in touch:)
One of our most popular activities here at Stratton House is Mural painting. We have a large concrete wall around our grounds made up of many “panels”. Slowly but surely the grounds get brighter as the children explore their artistic sides.
