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 […]
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
Thanks to a herculian effort by all the children yesterday , it looks like our original estimate of 5 weekends was way over the top.
Once they got started and the track started to take shape , the children didn’t want to stop.
All the younger children worked hard gathering up loose stones and leveling the track.
Tai was entrusted with the job of shaping points on short bamboo stakes to hold the track marking poles in place.
All the children wanted to have a go at banging the stakes in and managed very well in places where the ground was softest; using wooden sticks as hammers when I refused to allow them to weild the heavy metal lump hammer that myself and Tai used later to bang the stakes in until they were firm.
Even working lat in the afternoon the heat was quite intense and I tried calling a halt to the work after a little over an hour.
But the children would have none of it, not wanting to stop until the whole track had at least been laid out.
Well done kids, to say I am proud of you is an understatement!
For more photos of this project please visit our photobucket album here.
Belated thanks to our first child sponsors, Azadeh and Heather from the Faa Gamma fund raising team.
Azadeh has started sponsoring Nu and Heather is sponsoring Jack.
I have to apologise for continued technical problems with the sponsor facility in the shop.
Also an explaination of our child sponsor programme……..
Its still early days, but an early estimate of the basic running costs of caring for the children is standing at between 50 to 60,000 baht a month.
We have space for 14 children and so we have divided the basic costs between 14. Rather than ask child sponsors to pay a high rate and so exclude many who may like to help, we have decided to ask for 4 sponsors per child.
At a point where I can sort out my problem with the shop programming, this will be made clear in the shop with sponsorship availability clearly shown. When a child has 4 sponsors they will still be seen in the shop but “product” availibility will be at 0.
Another Sunday, another fun day out. The childrens choice was Huay Tung Taow.
This time we took two of the bicycles with us to extend the range of the days activities.
As usual the kids had lots of fun playing in the water.
Water snail collecting seemed to be the popular past-time for the day.
In between times the bicycles were put to good use as was the nearby play area with swings, climbing frame, etc.
With so much to do the children were very undemanding giving myself and Boon time to relax and enjoy the atmosphere too.
Our very first placement, Jack, is at heart, a very special boy, who likes nothing better than making others laugh and be happy.
Unfortunately Jack has many problems, that have become more and more apparent as time has passed since he arrived.
Having known Jack previously, whilst helping out at his previous placement, I had been a little baffled by the ending of his placement.
The possible reasons are now very clear, but rather than return him to an atmosphere of neglect and abuse we fully intend to help Jack conquer his problems.
There is a strong possibility that he suffers fetal alcohol syndrome and we are also investigating the possibility of ADHD as his behaviours strongly resemble those in the diagnosis criteria for this disorder.
Although there is treatment available for ADHD we feel that to move Jack forward to best effect will involve 1-1 staff for a significant part of the day, for quite some time.
As a new Foundation still in the throws of registration and with no major sponsors as yet, this will not be possible without sponsorship.
We estimate the cost of 1 extra staff (to be trained onsite); to work half day 1-1 with Jack and the other half as extra staff for all the children,(8 hours a day), 22 days a month, at 10,000 baht a month(approx.200 pounds sterling). Despite his difficulties , Jack is well settled and very much loved here at Stratton House and part of our aims is to be able to offer such support for any child where needed.
If you feel able to help in anyway, either as an individual sponsor for the staff or to maybe hold a fundraiser for this special purpose, please contact us as soon as possible.
Just a note to apologise for the long delay in adding details of how to sponsor a child with us.
I have been having technical difficulties with the shop and have had problems adding details.
I have managed to add details of two of the children to our shop today.
For those of you who wish to start sponsoring any of the children at Stratton House, and can not find their details in the shop, please contact me here as to which child you wish to sponsor and please pay through Paypal for now.
The child sponsor rate is 20 pounds sterling per month.
As a childs sponsor you will receive a personalised profile of your chosen child with a quaterly update on their progress in life and education. You can also exchange letters and gifts with your child;
If sending gifts please consider the other childrens feelings and don’t be too lavish.
In the future we hope to sort our internet connection problems and be able to facilitate email exchanges as well.
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.
After the brisk swim in the chilly waters of Huay Tung Taow in cool season, we had promised the children that the next trip out would be to Kan Kampaeng Hot Springs, and this Sunday that is where we went.
After checking out the geysers and the hot water pool where folk gather to cook baskets of eggs purchased from the onsite stalls, the children wandered the gardens for a while. Tai had been showing keen interest in my camera so I allowed him to borrow it and take t some photos along the way.
Looks like we may have to consider getting him his own camera as he seems to have a good eye for it and its nice to get pics of what they’ve been doing whilst we take a rest.
We sat for icecream and a relaxing foot soaking in the man-made stream before making our way to the large swimming pool, filled with the warm mineral waters of the Springs.
It was quite busy and the girls had quite a wait to get changed into their wetsuits, (yet another round of thanks to Faa Gamma for the large donation of clothes that Heather brought during her recent visit).
Lots of fun was had, although the kids did , later, express a preference for Huay Tung Tao.
The water play had made everyone hungry so we visited the restaurant nearby for a bonus lunch, ( we had eaten before leaving Stratton House).
With the emotions of Childrens Day some of the Children were understandably missing their families and May(2), in particular, had asked if she could visit her Aunty, who lives in the same village as Yong and May(1)s family, near San Pa Tong.
So on Sunday we drove over for a visit. Unfortunately it transpired that Mays Aunty was away. She chose to join Yong and May visiting their family, whilst the rest of us went for a short drive in the nearby countryside.
We found a small river where we stopped for a while and the other children had a paddle and Boon and me relaxed for a couple of hours before returning to the village.
Its a long time coming, but here at last is the report on the recent Childrens Day celebrations.
Childrens Day is an annual event in Thailand, held on the second weekend in January, where a lot of effort is put into making a special day for all children.
Personally I prefer it to Xmas as there is no religious pretence, just blatant spoiling of the children for a day.
Indeed many children get more than one day as the schools often hold their own ‘Childrens Day’ on the Friday, as they did at Pasak School, where I teach.
It was not an easy decision as to where to take the children from Stratton House on Childrens Day; so many events, large and small, to choose from.
In the end we elected to follow advice given by a local friend and take them to Airforce 41 Base, close to Chiang Mai Airport, where, we were told , there would be several aircraft on display and lots of interesting stuff going on.
Hindsight is a pretty useless thing as, but in hindsight it was not such a good descision for us.
It certainly was a big affair with thousands of local families attending. Our problem was the numbers and lay-out. From the car parking area there was quite along route to walk to get to where all the aircraft and activities were.
This route was lined with hundreds of stalls selling all manner of clothes, toys, nic-nacs, food, etc; so many distractions for the kids within a narrow walkway packed with hundreds of people.
Within 10 minutes we had lost the two older boys. Although confident that they could look after themselves we still needed to locate them incase an emergency caused us to need to leave. Everyone had been issued with a card with phone number to ring if our group got seperated.
Leaving the other children at The Bouncy Castle with Wasana, our house Mum, myself and Boon went on a search. Nearly 2 hours later after much searching and numerous tannoy calls we bumped into the 2 boys on the way back to the car, blissfully unaware of the stress they had caused.
Lucky it was Childrens Day and they got away with stern instruction not to wander off again. In view of the crowds and difficulty in keeping the group together we then left Airforce 41 and drove into Chiang Mai to Kad Suan Kaow Shopping Mall where there was a special Childrens Day playground set up in the centre ‘garden’.
After lunch in the Food Court in the lower level of the Mall we took the Children to the fun and games in the central garden area.
The two older boys were given the job of acting as extra eyes to keep an eye out for the younger ones as they joined the fun.
Being a much more contained area the crowds were not such a problem and the kids had a great afternoon.
It was late afternoon , early evening when they got their special Childrens Day surprise, made possible by the generous efforts of the Faa Gamma fundraising team in Australia.
The team kindly held a special Xmas appeal to raise money to purchase bicycles for the children to use and enjoy.
We were able to buy four bicycles for the children to share and these were presented to the children on their return to Stratton House.
Apologies for the poor photo quality.
Many thanks to our good friend Heather and all her team; the kids love the bikes and use them everyday as soon as they return from school.
As reported last week, the basic layout of the bike road around the house is now finished, after much hard work by the children.
Our good friend and webmaster, Ally, has kindly offered 5, 000 baht if we can raise the other 5.
