Arriving yesterday we picked her up from Sarapee on the way home from collecting our four Mattayom level students who have been away on a 3 day Scout camp with their school.

That was lunch time and it didn’t take long for Emily to pitch in, helping the girls with the post-lunch clear up.

And she appeared to be an instant hit with the kids after that joining them in their Saturday afternoon free time and instigating some fun and games herself.

She also helped the May 2 and Jor with their new “spring” mattresses purchased yesterday.

We bought 3 with one going to Tai. We will be replacing more in the near future but are still looking for a kind hearted sponsor to cover the costs.

Emilie will be with us until next Saturday so I’m sure there will be much more fun in-store.

First bonus was that Brendan kindly took us all out to lunch at our favourite Kow Soi restaurant on the Sarapee/ Samoeng Rd.

After a wonderful lunch of Kow Soi and Spring Rolls we then went off for a surprise visit to the Night Safari. We had told the children that we were going to try and find more participants for the re-cycle project.

This trip was made possible by our Ukulele playing friend, Craig Moore, who recently donated his fish after suffering in the recent floods.

Both entrance and refreshments as well as Birthday Cake later in the day were all sponsored by Craig. Thanks very much..the kids had a great time:)

We first took the trams around the two “safari routes” on which the children had great fun feeding deer and other animals.

We also took the walking route around the lake before heading home for Birthday Cake and present giving.

So far Nu has had a new T-shirt and a doll set and has a little left from her Birthday budget which she wants to use for new trousers.

Hope you had a great day Nu, we all love you very much and you deserved that day.

The children have been told that this is a serious project and as such they will be graded on their efforts and receive a relevant certificate at the end of the Project.

Rules are that I will only intervene in an advisory capacity if it seems necessary. If we have volunteers present then the volunteers or myself can be called upon to help out with the heavier work. Advice can be asked for but can be withheld if it is felt that the effort to think for themselves has not been sufficient.

Day 1 went well after a shaky start due to the children having failed to make a firm plan of action. After some gentle advice from me they pulled together, under Tai’s leadership, and selected to undertake more ground clearance and to make sure of a firm plan of action for the next project session on Thursday.

It has been agreed that, during the holidays, the four main participants will work on the project for at least an hour and a half on 3 separate days each week. This will be in addition to the hour long work sessions on Saturday and Sunday mornings when the Prathom level children will assist under the teams direction.

There will a short discussion period after each session where the children can give their own progress report, ask for advice, or order necessary items for the next session.

I was very impressed with how it went today and the children continued to impress in the afternoon when we went out and about to advertise our Re-Cycle Project.

Thanks once again to Khruu Bleecha for his help and to the friendly staff at the Amphur office to. These I.D cards are now valid for 8 years.

Thankfully this is not the case and we can get it done here in Sarapee. After liaising with the local schools we took all our Prathom level children to the local Amphur office where many local children were getting their I.Ds done.

The process turned out to be less straight forward as we’d hoped when, despite having the school teacher there verifying our children’s identity both in person and on paper, it transpired that the officials would not process any I.Ds with out original birth and house papers. As all the original documents for our children remain in the hands of their families this means that we are now waiting for the paperwork to be posted from Nan before trying again.

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.

Unfortunately it meant no Bai Tio this weekend.

We had a bit of a break on Saturday morning with no rain so everyone pitched in to try and get on top of the rapidly growing jungle in the garden.

But Sunday was very nearly an all dayer so it was indoors all day.

Still we had a good English seesion learning, this, that, those and these, which was lots of fun.

I’m bracing myself for getting behind on website and some admin this week as I have allotted this week for major out and about work looking for sponsors and more sites for our collection boxes. another reason for hoping the rains stops.

Sorry for the further delay with the ‘Where to go and Find ‘ Directory , but should be live very soon.

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.

Must be because its perfect for our requirements.

Lots of space to run around and play;

plenty of food and drink available if you need it;

the beautiful lake for swimming;

and general all round ambience, with the views of the mountains behind, means I get a chance to chill out to.

On the 10th of May Tai was the first to go back to school, starting Mattayom 1 at his new school in Sarapee.

Tai proved himself to be a good student when he first arrived and finished Prathom 6 at Pasak  School.

He did very well in the entrance test for his new school , getting an overall mark of level 4 out of 5.

Already it is clear that this level in Mattayom 1 has much work and Tai often spends 2 to 3 hours every evening doing homework.

Keep it up Tai, you’ll go far.

A week later Mae Salab school opened and the rest of the children who had attended Pasak School last year,  started at their new school;

which is much more convenient, being just 3 minutes walk away from home.

New girl Jor also joins the crew at Mae Salab.

Gu, our oldest child, at 14, took a little longer to start the new school year as there was some delay getting all the necessary paperwork from his old school in Nan.

But he eventually started at the same school as Tai two weeks later. Gu has started Mattayom 2.

He has started at the lower level but we hope that with extra support here at Stratton House we will see an improvement in his school grades over time.

He certainly appears to be putting some effort in already which was apparently a problem back at home in Nan.

The start of the new school has been quite a drain on the Foundations funds, what with Thai schools having several different uniforms for the children to wear.

Also term fees for the Mattayom level boys as well as money for lunch everyday which is not free in the Mattayom school.

All the children seem to have settled well in their new schools and all are very good at getting their homework done every evening; the ‘no TV until homework is finished’ rule helps alot.

Check out our photobucket album here for more photos , including general activities in the house; playtime; homework; cooking and more.