"Ladies that Lunch"

We were asked by a UK sponsor to arrange a birthday shopping trip for one of our students and to arrange for Pauline a visiting friend of another UK sponsor to meet the student that she is sponsoring. As both girls attend the same school it seemed sensible to combine both requests into one lunch and shopping trip along with Liz and Suky of MERCY.

The girls were each given 1,000 B (with explanations) and we set off to watch them spend it - always great fun.

They were very good housekeepers, choosing only a T-shirt and shorts each, and then they wanted to buy school supplies - books, pens,coloured pencils, pencil case, sketch pad, etc etc. At the checkout Channapa had less left than Chompunuch, as she had also bought a T-shirt for her little brother, but Chompunuch was able to buy Dunkin' Donuts to take home with her for her family. However, when they got to the shop, there was a special offer on and since they both had money left, they were able to take advantage of the special offer - a darling black teddy bear in a D.D. T-shirt. How can any little (or big) girl resist a cuddly teddy?
    

Although we had arranged to take Chompunuch home with her goodies, she said grandma was coming to get her from school. Oops - particularly as we had thought that this would enable Pauline to see her house and be able to give the sponsor a first hand picture of her living conditions.
However, after the initial disappointment, we were blessed in the fact that grandma wasn't there waiting for her, and after a few minutes and (being unable to reach grandma by phone) the decision was made to revert to our original plan. So - off we went,

First we took Channapa, (who beamed as she said "Goodbye', and ran off through some newly erected property, swinging her goody bags and then Chompunuch, who lives down one of the many little side roads - very much unmade surfaces with deep ruts which seems to go on forever. However, just as the light was fading we got to her house, where (it seemed) great grandma, grandma and grandpa were home to meet us. All we're sure of at the moment is that there are now 7 persons living in the tiny house where there were originally only three. We'll try and fathom out the relationships at a later date.

Registered Charity No. 1104335

100 Years From Today

It will not matter how big your bank account was, the sort of house you lived in, or the kind of car you drove. But the world may be a little better because your help touched the life of one child.

'Tai' and Grandma Nid

A recent addition to our Scholarship scheme is 10 year old ‘Tae’, Tae lives with his grandmother who takes sole care of him. She rents the land and pays 625Baht rent plus electricity and water each month totaling nearly 1000 baht per month. She collects rubbish to recycle and tries to sell it but she doesn’t get much money for her efforts, she also grows vegetables around the house for them to eat.

The main problem is that there is no mother and father around every day. Sometimes the father comes by with some money to help provide for his boy, but it is rare.

The grandmother does her best, but she is sick and doesn’t know how long she will be here. She worries a lot about what is going to happen to ‘Tae’ when she is no longer here.

Tae is a good boy and he goes to school every day, but his future is unclear, if it is only the grandmother who takes care of him.

They have moved around a lot before, but now they rent the land which is better as it gives them a more stable home.

‘Tae' was recently sponsored by a Pattaya based ex-pat who asked if there was anything that he could help the family with and Grandma said that the boy needed a new school bag and food. We arranged through ‘Kate’s Project trust’ who are working with the family for the money to be used as the sponsor requested and a new school bag and a supply of food was purchased for Grandma Nid and ‘Tae’

Registered Charity No. 1104335

100 Years From Today

It will not matter how big your bank account was, the sort of house you lived in, or the kind of car you drove. But the world may be a little better because your help touched the life of one child.

www.slum-kids.org

UK sponsors visit to Pattaya.

A few days ago Thailand based UK sponsors Tom and Tim visited the two boys that they sponsor Toey and Jaay.
after lunch at sizzlers in royal Garden Pattaya and taking in a short film they all returned to Baan Khong Por children's home where Tom and Tim were able to spend a couple of hours helping to amuse the kids at the home.
The boys are now looking forward to their next visit in December.

Registered Charity No. 1104335

100 Years From Today

It will not matter how big your bank account was, the sort of house you lived in, or the kind of car you drove. But the world may be a little better because your help touched the life of one child.

www.slum-kids.org

Does sponsorship really work?

We are often asked ‘Does sponsorship really work?”

Since day one of PSK the trustees have personally sponsored children, some of the kids have now moved on into work whilst others are still at school. We have been able to follow the progress of ‘our’ kids, both the highlights and the ups and downs that kids living in the slum go through.

We are also privileged to personally know the people running and administering the various projects that we support and we can vouch for the many hours of voluntary hard work that they put into helping the kids have a better life.

You will also see on our website that sponsors have been able to see their kids graduate from college, go onto University, and progress to a level that was once beyond their wildest dreams, for kids in the slums there is very little hope unless they can gain an education and that is where sponsorship steps in and gives that bit of hope. Some of the kids have parents in prison for drug offences where the sentence can be twenty to thirty years, some others have a mother working as a ‘bar girl’ or a parent who is either a drug addict or an alcoholic. In slums where drugs are endemic it is very easy for kids without hope to fall into the same cycle of drug taking, with a scholarship these kids not only get the feeling that someone somewhere is wishing to help them but being able to go to school every day widens the child’s social circle of friends and gives them the extra on the spot support that they often need.

We are always looking for people who are interested in sponsoring a child and if this is you we would ask you to take a look at the sponsorship page on our website: http://pattayastreetkids.homestead.com/childrenneedingsponsors.html it cost nothing to look and you may just see a child that you are willing to help to a better future. We are always ready to answer any questions that you may have about sponsorships so please do not hesitate to contact us.

100 Years From Today’

It will not matter how big your bank account was, the sort of house you lived in, or the kind of car you drove. But the world may be a little better because your help touched the life of one child.

www.slum-kids.org 

New shoes for the kids at Baan Khong Por

Today was the day for the kids at Baan Khong Por to get the new shoes that we bought for them. After ten weeks of school holidays when the old shoes took a battering and with the kids feet growing fast we were happy to be able to meet the cost.

Ceremony by the Monks to cut a student's hair.

 

Kretsada had been allowed to wear his hair long for some years as because he was a premature baby his mother 'dedicated him' to Buddha, and he had to keep his hair long at the back (which is the only reason the school allowed this.) She believed that if she ever allowed his hair to be cut, he would get sick again.

But on September 9th at 9.00am his hair was cut, by the monks and his sponsor Philip who is visiting from Australia,  was invited to the ceremony, and was also  invited to cut a lock or two).  This kind of ceremony isn't seen very often, so Philip was fortunate to be in Pattaya at this time and was highly honoured to be invited to participate.

Registered Charity No. 1104335

100 Years From Today

It will not matter how big your bank account was, the sort of house you lived in, or the kind of car you drove. But the world may be a little better because your help touched the life of one child.

www.slum-kids.org

Scholarship Fees Cheque paid to Nongprue officials

This morning Liz and Suky from MERCY Pattaya handed over a cheque for 212,000Baht on our behalf to the officials of Nongprue Municipality for the Nongprue area scholarship students school fees for the current school year for the students sponsored through PSK.

www.slum-kids.org

Another fantastic response from the Lady Boys of Bangkok UK shows.

Today we received staggering £5265 from donations made by the audiences of the Lady Boys of Bangkok show touring the UK. This brings the total amount donated this year to £11393.50. On behalf of the kids that the money is helping to feed, clothe and educate we send an enormous vote of thanks to everyone who has donated and to the entire crew of the shows who have wholeheartedly given their support to the charity.

With winter approaching we have already been asked to help supply warmer clothes for the kids as well as having more kids coming onto our monthly food drop program, without your help we would not be able to help as many of these kids as we are doing.

100 Years From Today

It will not matter how big your bank account was, the sort of house you lived in, or the kind of car you drove. But the world may be a little better because your help touched the life of one child.

www.slum-kids.org