‎"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

Anna and Tom Join The Family

 Lead  1 Response »
Jan 152012
 

Its a popular time of year for Volunteers it seems as we have now been joined by Anna and Tom who will be helping out for 2 weeks.

Once again they have fitted in quickly with the children and having arrived on Friday evening have already had one busy day helping with the days trip out on Saturday for Childrens Day.

They have come armed with some great activity ideas and buckets of enthusiasm. We look forward to lots of fun during the next fortnight.

Childrens Day threatened to be a wash out with heavy rain first thing.

Thankfully this eneded at around 10.30am and , with Anna and Tom , we boarded the truck and headed first to the local celebrations at Chompoo.

It has to be said that we appeared to have missed the main fun and games but there was still a few things going on in the well organised village affair.

Gu managed to win himself a big money box and all the kids tucked in to the free food on offer.

From there we headed into Airport Plaza where everyone enjoyed watching a magic show. We actually decided that it was a tad noisey and also difficult for supervision of the whole group here and after the magic show we moved on to Central Plaza , Huay Kaeow where the children enjoyed the rest of the afternoon at the show and Playground set up in the centre of the Mall.

A lot of running around and as Anna and Tom can confirm , a tiring day for the adults, but the important thing was that the kids had a great time :)

 

Funday Sunday

 Lead  No Responses »
Jan 082012
 

A direct antidote to mild exhaustion is overseeing a fun filled day for the kids. Seeing so many smiles and so much laughter blows all the cobwebs away, and today has been such a day.

After all the kids had done their bit with the mornings work project of building a shade for the fish pond most of them then set to having fun on their recently serviced bicycles.

Proving their ever growing senses of responsibility I was most pleased to receive several offers of help in the kitchen preparing the midday meal.

However, as I had a simple lunch planned I was happy to hand the kids over to our volunteers Angela and Alexi, who arrived mid-morning.

Shortly after this we were treated to a visit from Li Li Tan and our latest friend Blue.

A friend of LiLi’s , and fellow artist, singer, poet, Blue is a lovely bubbly lady who throws out warmth and was an instant hit with the kids as she and Li Li soon had them all crafting shapes and animals out of special balloons.

It gives me much delight that Blue has expressed a great interest in helping out here on a regular basis and I look forward to meeting up again very soon to discuss this further.

Li Li and Blue left as we had lunch.

After lunch, and a democratic vote with choice between Huay Tung Tao, Huay Kaow Waterfall or San Kampaeng Hot Springs we set off for an afternoon at San Kampaeng.

It was very busy there today but the kids all had a great time; boiling eggs with Angela and Alexi, dipping their feet in the hot springs stream; playing in the playground and doing a “Draw What You See” English language session.

It was an energy boosting day for me with “Small World” magic going on. Whilst enjoying the bustling atmosphere we bumped into other friends doing the same. First there was Ray and Tak with their little lad Mik, who we first met sometime ago at Huay Tung Tao. They very kindly bought Ice-cream for our whole party and also donated extra funds that helped cover the days expenses. They have also extended a generous offer of lunch at their home sometime soon and we look forward to that very much.

We also bumped into Boons friend , Bap, who painted the Winnie The Pooh Wall art at Stratton House.

Wanting to ensure plenty of chill time for the children to make the trip worthwhile we decided to give them the rare treat of dinner out at at around 5pm we popped into the onsite Thai restaurant, finally heading home once everyone was happily fed.

A truely Funday Sunday:)

 

So Much In One Day

 Foundation Blog  No Responses »
Mar 272011
 

What a great Saturday, so much happening in one day.
After breakfast all the children helped finish off the base painting of the playground walls and the fence posts we put in yesterday.
With help from a couple of the boys I attached the chain link fence, finishing that early afternoon.
In anticipation of the afternoons music session the children got everything ready for Freds arrival and got into some practise.
For a while I joined in with Gu , Tai and Jack with them playing drums and keyboard and me playing flute.
For a while it was sounding sweet and I’m sure we will be doing much more of that in the future.
A little after 3pm Fred arrived with Ally and Li Li Tan.
Its been a while since we’ve seen Li Li and the kids were all very happy to see her.
While the music lesson went on Li Li did some work on one of the unfinished Murals, ably assisted by Som. Jor , May and Nu also joined in after the music had finished.
It was another great lesson by Fred, with the children working on the Beatles classic “Let It Be”.

Getting Ready For The Next Stage.

 Foundation Blog, Lead  1 Response »
Mar 262011
 

Firstly I would like to apologise to any of the Art Relief International Volunteers who may have been upset by yesterdays post suggesting that the playground was not quite finished. We are all very grateful for all the very hard work put in by everyone and the children have already had lots of fun using the playground over the last couple of days. We would also like to thank all those that contributed to the Art Relief Appeals for funds to make it happen. Your donations have made the children here very happy.

Thanks to a rapid response to our appeal for funds to complete the fence this should be completed today and we look forward to seeing you all sometime in the week for the official “Opening Party”.

Yesterday all of the children got busy with paint brushes to brighten up the walls around the playground and look forward to working with Art Relief on more Mural work in the near future to make the play area even nicer.

Thanks again all…great job:)

Playground All But Finished

 Foundation Blog  2 Responses »
Mar 242011
 
DSCF3485

The Volunteers from Art Relief International have been working hard this week to bring the work on the Children’s Playground to a finish, and at last today saw the job done.

This morning the children did their bit before the volunteers arrived all pitching in to scrub the walls down ready for painting in the near future.

They have also been lending the occasional hand with the volunteers, especially Jack, who spent a long period helping to shovel sand. A thick bed of sand is being spread throughout the play area to provide safety.

Big thanks to all once again.

One last thing we need is to fence this area in to prevent the resident dogs from using it as a toilet. Unfortunately the playground budget ran out and we would like to make an appeal now for help to cover the costs of this part of the project.

A rough estimate at the costs is around 5000 baht.

If you can help please donate using the button on the upper left hand side of the page or by direct bank transfer using the details on our ‘Donate’ page. Alternatively why not pop in and donate in person if you are in the area.

For all the photos from today please visit our photobucket album here.

There Is A Greenhill Not So Far

 Foundation Blog, Lead  No Responses »
Mar 212011
 

With the hotter dry weather returned so returned the guys from Art Relief International for more work on the playground. Big changes today with the addition of grass on the hill, stepping stone tyres and the  climbing frame being painted.

As expected the dogs went crazy with the grass a little before we had got round to covering it for the night. Hope we were able to get it back in place alright and its now covered with tarpaulin for the night.

Break In The Rain Brings Art Relief Back

 Foundation Blog  No Responses »
Mar 192011
 

A break in this weeks horrendous rainfall brought the Art Relief International Volunteers back to do a little more on the playground. If the rain holds off on Monday there should be major changes with grass going on the hill and installation of a slide.
Fingers crossed guys…and thanks as always.

Aaron Volunteers

 Foundation Blog  No Responses »
Mar 192011
 

Our latest volunteer, Aaaron, hailing from Massachusetts in the USA came to us on Thursday and has rapidly settled into the Volunteer house.
He is planning to help out for around a week and has so far enjoyed playing badminton and football with the kids as well as a spot of Tak Kaw practise.
On Friday he pitched in to help the Art relief International volunteers with the playground work.
He also came along to the end of school celebrations at Mae Salaab school.
Today he joined in with the music class too.

Sunday Work Time

 Foundation Blog  No Responses »
Mar 132011
 

Slightly shorter and easier work this morning with the majority of the children simply locating bamboo sticks by the latest sprouting bean and pea plants in the vegetable plots.
The two eldest girls, Jor and May, worked carefully with the garden knives to cut thin sticks for the others to go and place next to each sprout.
Meanwhile Gu and Tai assisted progress with the playground by sanding the rough off the climbing frame and Monkey bars.

Muddy Waters

 Foundation Blog, Lead  1 Response »
Mar 102011
 

So school is out, just about and all but one of the kids were home all day. This meant extra hands for the playground crew from Art Relief International and today saw some major progress.

The children especially enjoyed with further work on the hill over the tunnel as it meant getting really messy with the mud being used.

The Monkey bars are now done all bar sanding and staining.

The hanging Bamboo is complete.

And the climbing frame is taking good shape.

We’re not expecting the crew back until next week now so the hardest job is to stop the children using the playground before it is all complete and checked for safety. Thankfully the children here are usually very good doing as they are instructed so hopefully it won’t be a big problem.

We understand that some of the crew who have been working here will have moved on by next week and we would all like to say a big thanks to you all for all your hard work and please feel free to drop in if you ever return and see the kids enjoying your efforts.

After a hard mornings work and with a shortage of water from our normal supply there was a short break in the afternoon when the children went for a swim in the river nearby, supervised by myself, House Mother Muay and some of the Art Relief International volunteers. Great fun and a great way to cool off.

To see all the photos from today please visit our photobucket album here.

 Older Entries