School - The Stratton ABC Foundation Childrens Home Chiang Mai

February 2012
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DIY DIY, Jigsaw, and Soooo Much More

Jan 162012

Once again a full day here with smiles lighting the place up and the sounds of laughter filling the day.

Anna and Tom arrived around 8.30am and after grabbing some breakfast it was time for the mornings work, continuing with the prep for the new shelving in the “workshop”.

Yet again Tai excelled at organising the team and by the end of the hours session the majority of the bamboo needed was cut and prepped to slot together in true DIY furniture kit style.

With the kids back to school tomorrow I asked Tai to draw out how he planned the shelves to be so that Anna, Tom and myself can put it all together whilst the kids are at school. Not surprisingly I was handed a very clear drawing later in the day detailing position and lay out for the shelves. Look out Ikea!!

After the work it was chill out time with a variety of activities going.

After lunch, prepared once again by Anna and the girls, our two volunteers accompanied me and the boys on a run into Sarapee for a few things we were in need of and for the boys to have their school haircuts.

Back at the house it was more fun and games with jigsaw making, Patong, bike riding and other games going on. Everywhere I looked was a beaming smile and the sounds of happy laughter rang out all day long.

Even the car washing session was full of laughter.

Look out for May2 on keyboard, under helpful instruction from Anna.

Happy Monday

Jor Entertains For Xmas

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Dec 262011

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

Small Hands Do Big Wonders.

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Jun 162011

Teaching empathy and compassion for others, to children such as these, has got to be a good thing and a great base for a rounded life.

Roshni Kaur spent time here at Stratton House recently and was so impressed that she pledged to make The Stratton ABC Foundation the beneficiary of funds raised by her school initiative, “Small Hands Do Big Wonders”.

All through the past school year the delightful looking children of K2 , Raindrops Montessori School in Indonesia have been donating bits of their pocket money in order to help other children in need.

Last night the children of Stratton House got together for a small video thank you to Roshni and the kids from K2. The video will be shown to the K2 children on their “end of year” day this weekend.

With a total donation of a little over 3000 baht I would like once more to give thanks for the generosity of these fine young individuals.

Seeing How Things Work In A Thai School

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Jun 102011

Our volunteer Melissa has been making the most her time here helping out at The Stratton ABC Foundation, not only spending time with the children but also spending a lot of time at Mae Salaab School seeing how things work over here in Thailand.

She has proved very popular with all the children. The girls at Stratton House have especially welcomed her help with their English homework as well of lots of encouragement with the other subjects too.

Melissa has managed to take time out for sight seeing as well. Today she came along with me to help out check on our collection boxes in town.

Whilst in the Old City we took time out to visit the Chiang Mai Reflexology Centre in Ratchadamneon Rd for some welcome stress relief.

I also took Melissa to try out the signature dish of Chiang Mai, Kow Soi at a long established Thai Kow Soi cafe in Prapaklao Rd, close to The Three Kings Monument.

This evening, Volunteer House caretaker, Somboon has taken Melissa into town to join in a Karaoke evening.

Accounts Update

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Jun 012011

This a notice to apologise for our accounts being so out of date for so long.

What with the Song Kran Holiday period, new arrivals , ensuring we do our best for Jack, and me battling a health problem my time and energies have all but been used up.

Now we have finally got all the children back to school, and with the presence of extra staff I have now managed to catch up until the end of March. April and May should be viewable by the end of the week.

Thank you for your patience.

Top Marks

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Apr 042011

As well as the Summer Fair at Panyaden Saturday was sign up day for May 2 at her new school as she moves up to Mattayom and joins Gu and Tai in Sarapee next term.

It was a morning of much queing and waiting but it was worth it to see May getting sorted for her move up to the ‘big school’.

Gu and Tai were there to offer support and also to collect books for their new year in May.

Then on Sunday morning it was back there bright and early for the boys to collect their grades.

A morning of pride in the boys as Tai collected his special certificate having come in 7th in the top grade of Mattayom 1, with grades of 4 for all but one subject.

This was followed shortly by Gu who has continued to show huge improvements over the year. I glowed as I noted 4′s , 3.5 and 3′s amongst his grades. Previously 2.5 had been the highest.

Indeed Gu received recognition from the school for outstanding effort, being chosen by his teacher to receive a financial reward towards educational materials.

Well done both of you, hope you know how proud I am of your efforts, enjoy your holiday and keep it up next school year:)

Panyaden Summer Fair

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Apr 042011

On Saturday morning we had an early start to get over to Panyaden School to set up our stall at their Summer Fair. The event did not start until 10 am but we needed to go early as I also had to take our 3 Mattayom Students to their school in Sarapee for books and uniform collections.

So we arrived at Panyaden bright and early at around 8.30am to set up shop.

I have been privileged enough to see this place grow from its early construction and it was great to see the huge difference now that the grass is laid and the school is up and running.

Our Volunteer Roshni was along to help as well as “Ar” Boon. With the childrens help we unloaded the truck and took all our things to our allotted space.

Once set up I then had to take Gu, Tai and May 2 back to Sarapee for May 2 to be signed in to her new school and measure up for uniform and for all the children to collect their books for the next term in May.

The rest of the children stayed with Ar Boon and Roshni to help man our stall and enjoy the many activities laid on at the Summer Fair.

We rejoined them shortly after lunch.

There was lots of things for the children to enjoy with many play activities, martial arts demonstrations, music and craft workshops and much more.

I met and talked with other visitors at our stall answering questions on our Foundations work and I’d like to say a big thanks to all at Panyaden for giving us this opportunity to promote our work.

Also big thanks to all who stopped by to chat and offer encouragement.

Special thanks to Teresa from Nok Em Ded, who on seeing our craft items for sale has offered to make a space in her shop in the Old City where we can locate the childrens handmade items.

Great day ; a wonderful School with a brilliant concept.
For more photos please visit our photobucket album here.

Aaron Volunteers

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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.

End of Year School Celebrations at Mae Salaab.

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Mar 192011

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.

Latest Playground Work

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Mar 092011

Another hard day for the Art Relief International Volunteers with no let up in the high temperatures.
The Monkey bar frame is up;the “Castle” mortared and the tunnel hill has grown some more.
It’ll be interesting tomorrow with school now closed for the “summer holiday” and all the kids at home.