Hi Selwyn, In case you don't see this I will email you direct also, early this week. I think the best i can reccomend is that you contact the RICD(Royal Institute For Child Development) (http://www.ricd.go.th/) close to Mae Rim. This is an excellent facility with expert Doctors , social workers and all the access and knowledge of the sort of help you ar […]
just seen your last three updates,with all the hard work done by everyone it was good to see there was also time to relax and have fun, thankyou to all who made this possible xxxx […]
Hi John My name is Selwyn Wilson a soon to 66 year old UK pensioner. I have been the only carer of 10 year old Arissa Sompamit from Omkoi since she was struck down with JEV in September 2009. She is brain damaged and has all that accompanies this Disease.I met 2 Thai ladies at the Mc Kean rehab centre where I have taken her for Occupational Therapy until Mar […]
My brother recommended I might like this blog. He used to be totally right. This post actually made my day. You can not consider simply how a lot time I had spent for this info! Thank you! […]
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
Mae Salaab is not such a typical Thai village , in that it addition to the villages Buddhist Temple it also boasts a Christian Church.
Tradition has been formed that a show is put on every Xmas Eve, with performances by local residents and school children.
Year we watched Yong doing her bit on stage and this year was the turn of Jor , who with her Prathom 6 classmates put on a contemporary dance performance to the jolly sounds of Jingle Bells.
Other performances included on exercise routine by elderly members of the community, hula hoop dancing by Mae Salaab schools little ones and a Nativity Play by some of the older children.
Free food including Pad Thai and other local cuisine was provided for all who attended and many gift prizes were given out in between the performances.
yet more prizes were given out by Santa who arrived around 9pm at the end of the show.
Our children benefited by many small prizes including snack food, washing powder, toiletries and, most impressive, a toaster.
It was a great show and everyone had lots of fun…loved Jors dancing…though I’m not sure she should give up her day job..555
End of term was last week but there have been activities going on for some of the children at Mae Salaab School getting ready for todays end of year show.
Our three eldest girls have been going to school through the week practising for their performances.
So this morning we all went along and joined everyone there to watch performances by all the different age classes.
It was a great morning with much effort by all involved with several different traditional dancing displays and then award giving at the end of the ceremonies.
Well done to all and good luck to all in Prathom 6 who move up to Mattayom next year along with May 2.
On Saturday three of our girls, Jor, May and Nu attended school for extra learning on the environment with World Vision. At one point they were up by the little bridge close to our home doing studies involving the river and preparing to go on a short boat trip.
I took the opportunity to go and grab some photos of the class at work.
Whilst there we were informed of a Kantoake meal being held at the local Church with performances in music and dance by local youngsters.
We were all invited and accepted the invitation.
Skipping dinner at home we went along to the Church shortly after 6pm. preparations were well underway for the meal which started at around 7.
The food was delicious and there were some fine performances on stage.
We’d all like to say thankyou very much to the organisers and well done to all the children that provided the entertainment.
The official childrens day is the second Saturday in January, but it came a day early at Pasak School with a large event held, to which several local schools came to take part.
There was a big turn-out and the many food stalls and attractions were kept busy all the way through.
All the children were very patient, standing in line with their respective schools on the sports field whilst the opening ceremonies were performed.
Once all the opening announcements were finished it was time for the fun to start and the tidy lines became a stampede for the games, on offer under the various marquees and of course, the free kanom.
Throughout the morning there were various performances on the large stage close to Wat Pasak. It really is a delight to be at such an event and see the effort made by the whole community to make a special day for the children.
In between performances by children, from all the attending schools, there were prizes given away, ranging from boxed milk to big cuddly toys to bicycles.
The dancing shows were fantastic to watch and it was obvious that all the children had put a lot of effort into practising their routines and they should all be very proud of themselves. I’m sure also that many teachers and parents worked hard behind the scenes with the wonderful costumes worn for the performances.
From the tiny infants, excitedly giggling their way through their acts, to the older kids turning in very laudable routines, they all put in a huge effort and a great show.
For me, whilst they were all very good, special praise should go to the three acts featured in the video clips below.
The traditional Thai dancing always holds me spellbound when performed so well.
The girls from Pasak School did a fantastic job with their lively number.The lead dancer for much of the routine, Best, looked very relaxed and professional and has that killer smile to top it off.And I can tell you that that smile is natural, brightens my day everytime I go to teach.
Hope you don’t mind girls, but my personal favourite was the traditional dance and drum number. In the heat of the day I think these boys deserve a medal for what was clearly quite an exhausting routine for ones so young. The lead Drum boy pulled off a wonderful flowing performance as did the mock fighting dancers with their cymbals. All our children appeared to have a great time. Jack couldn’t believe his luck with so much kanom around and everytime i turned around he was eating something.
In the marquees there were stands where the children could aim at targets with catapults; knock cans down with balls, throw hoops over bottles or roll metal balls onto targets. There was a large marquee for the infants with lots of colouring books and lots of adults there to help and make a fuss of them. I also saw children playing some sort of board game that looked similar to scrabble.
Right in front of the Temple was the obligatory bouncy castle and a small merry-go-round.
The kids were treated to a fly over by a motorised paraglider,(not sure if it was arranged or not) There was so much fun and excitement to enjoy that alot of children were ready for home by 1pm as the heat got ever more intense.
It was clear that the children in this friendly community all had a wonderful time as do thousands of children throughout Thailand during this great annual event.
Personally I think this day should be adopted worldwide…cliche or not..the children are our future.
