Stratton House Childrens Home Chiang Mai

Newly registered, on 16-06-10, our Foundations work started in ernest on November 1st 2009 with the arrival of the first placement at our Childrens Home in Sarapee, Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand.

What we do;

At present we have placements available for up to 14 children. Our placements are available for underprivileged children from Northern Thai Provinces, although we would consider cases from further afield if especially requested to.

Right now we are caring for 9 young children all from socially deprived areas;the majority have come to us to ensure consistent education due to difficulties with transport/uniform costs, etc back at home where financial resources are low.

As well as ensuring continuing educational placements within local government schools we also engage the children in after school and weekend activities,including English Language lessons, art and craft and physical activities such as badminton, football, etc; and helping out with our vegetable growing and general upkeep and improvement of our facilities.

It is our belief that involving the children in making improvements will give them a greater sense of  ‘ownership’ and hopefully lead to a greater respect for their home and environment. It should also help to build the self esteem of youngsters who have often had little to feel good about and may feel of little worth.

As part of our wish to operate this Foundation in as open a manner as possible and also to allow our friends and supporters to feel a real part of this venture; and maybe to inform others who maybe thinking of setting up a Foundation here in Thailand; we will be showing the whole story here.

Where we are; 36/1 Moo7, T. Chompoo, A. Sarapee, Chiang Mai

Travelling from Chiang Mai towards Lampang ,on Highway 11, approximately 18 kilometres out of town you will reach the Sarapee/Banthi intersection; turn left for Banthi and follow the road to Ban Mae Salab; as the road bears left to cross the river, carry straight on under the village gate, (don’t cross the river), shortly after Wat Mae Salab on the right side you will see some brightly painted metal doors,( pink, green and yellow), these mark the start of our premises and you will see the gate shortly there after….approximately 2 kilometres from Highway 11.

Visitors welcome but a call in advance would be good to ensure we are on site. For the safety of the children all visits will be staff supervised.

A great liking for art already established we decided to try the children at producing some seasonal greeting cards.

Using some simple designs taken from the internet we set the children to work with felt tips, latex glue and tinsel, with some great results.

This proved such a popular activity that we now hope to establish a range of greeting cards for purchase in our, soon to open, on-line  shop.

Because we are only caring for 3 children at the moment and the activity is on a totally voluntary basis, the volume of original handmade selections will be limited but we also hope to soon be in a position to produce quality prints of the originals.

These will be on sale at bargain prices.  They may well be too late for use this year, with Christmas so near and postal services under the usual seasonal strain. But hey!…why not think ahead and have that extra special card to send next year?

In the same vein we hope to use prints of the best of the childrens general artwork to extend the range with cards for all occassions.

The general art work will also be available as  A4 poster prints.

For connoisseurs amongst you, although none of the designs are Picasso or Renoir standard, in my eyes, they are none the less beautiful because each one is done with heart and soul by children who are deserving of the nurturing care that you can help us provide.

With a view to  producing an ongoing line of cards we would like to welcome you to a preview of the first offerings in the ‘Because You Care’ range.

He did stay for the Tamboon ceremony that was held at Stratton House over the weekend. This is a special Buddhist ceremony where Monks are invited to the home where they perform special blessings in the presence of friends and neighbours.

On Saturday the head lay helper from Wat Mae Salab came with others to help us make the correct preperations.

White string was tied from the entrance gate all around the property, back to the gate and then back to the house.

A special blessing and offerings were made close to the properties water well.

Inside the house the living room was prepared with mats on the floor and items brought from the Temple, in readiness for the Monks arrival the next morning.

The word was sent out inviting all our near neighbours and other friends to.

The children we very well behaved and in the afternoon I took them to the playground in Mae Salab school as a thankyou.

The next morning there was more last minute running around making sure everthing was properly prepared.

This is an important cultural ceremony and I was at pains to make sure we did everything right and am very grateful for all the local understanding and support we received. Wasanaa worked very hard in the kitchen, with help from some local villagers, preparing the food.

There was a great turn out of local well wishers, as well as our landlord and also my good friend Ally and her partner Pee Took, who is a fellow Director of The Stratton ABC Foundation, with a couple of their close friends too.

At 9.30am myself and Somboon walked to Wat Mae salab to collect the four Monks and one Novice Monk , who would all perform the blessings for us.

Somewhat nervous about performing my own duties in the correct manner I was taken by the feeling of serenity that took hold as I walked beside the Monks to our home.

There was a slight delay as the Head Monk was held back for a short while to accept merit giving by some Temple visitors.

Once he arrived proceedings began with me lighting candles and incense sticks on the prepared ‘altar’ and paying due respect to the teachings of The Lord Buddha, his followers and to The Buddha himself.

There was then a series of chanting performed by both the Monks and also the lay followers and all Thai visitors in the room. I would have loved to have joined in the lay peoples chants but was concerned that unpractised repetition, with possible wrong tonal inflection, may cause offence, so I sat in respectful silence. Although I cannot deny extreme discomfort whilst kneeling or sitting cross-legged, and being unable to prevent a degree of fidgeting, I did mangae some prolonged periods of stillness and once again experienced profound serenity as the Monks chanting took me into a meditative state.

Indeed Somboon had to gently nudge me out of this state when it came to me to perform more duties, passing gifts into the hands of the Monks.

The Chants and blessings went on for approximately three quarters of an hour and throughout the blessings the Monks held the white string that now led into the house from outside. In this way, I understand, the blessings are applied to the whole of the property.

The children present looked on with keen interest and Jack even came to sit beside me and joined in with the lay persons repetitions of the chanting.

It was then time for the personal blessings for all present where white string is tied around the wrist, before the feeding of the Monks, which had to be done before 11a.m.

Most of the visitors went to our kitchen/dining area outside.

The Monks ate at low tables set out in the living room and before they left I was able to chat with them for a while. Thankfully the head Monk spoke good English and I thanked them for their blessings and talked of my love for Chiang Mai, its people and its culture. They in turn thanked me for the respect shown and wished The Foundation every success and welcomed us to the village.

Although the Monks left shortly after 11 , many people remained to enjoy the prepared food and drink and , like the Monks, they welcomed us warmly and wished us success, some placing their own personal Tamboon to us in our collection box.

The day was not about money, but about acceptance within our local community and proper respect to the local culture which happens to be genuinely close to my heart.

I hope and believe that the day was a great success and certainly left me an ever growing confidence about the future of The Stratton ABC Foundation here in Mae Salab, Sarapee,Chiang Mai.

For more Tamboon photos please visit our photobucket album here.

Impressed by the childrens patience and behaviour throughout the ceremony, a tired crew made the effort to reward them with a trip to the popular waterfall picnic area a quarter of the way up Doi Suthep, Chiang Mai, later in the afternoon.
For more picnic photos please visit our photobucket album here.

Thanks again to all who attended.

However, we have no wish to see a ‘couch potato’ culture develop and do our utmost to control the childrens allowed viewing times.

During school days no TV is allowed in the morning. On returning home, the strict rule is that the TV does not ge turned on until all homework is finished.

If some children are slower than others then for the ones who have finished there are chores to help out with or  physical leisure activities to partake in whilst waiting.

Jack is very keen to help out with the expanding vegetable growing and runs round with the watering can most evenings whilst waiting for Yong and Mae to finish their homework.

If homework is done, and behaviour good, an hour or twos cartoons or childrens movies are allowed.

On the weekend we aim to occupy the children with sports or art and craft as well as extra curricula English lessons, again limiting the T.V use to an acceptable level.

All the children are given plenty of positive attention, and assistance where nesseccary, whilst doing their homework and and are proud to show their finished work.