A 'Hello' gift from a sponsor.

Nathawut was newly sponsored during the past few days and his sponsor from Europe send some money to by a gift for him as a ‘Hello’. This morning  Suky went to school to take the gifts for him.  

We got him a magic set and a big bag of snacks, which proved a very popular choice.  You can see from the huge beam on his face and the way he tore into the wrapping (very un-Thai, actually) how excited he was.

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

American sponsor's flying visit to Pattaya

You could be under no illusion as to whom this report refers to, could you?  As I said to Jean "Giving a camera to a photographer is like giving a pair of scissors to a hairdresser - they never know when to stop".  Which, fortunately, made him laugh.  Talk about candid camera, I hate to think just what he's shot (for his personal use only) during the course of the few hours we were with him.

 

It's always a joy to do something with Jean - he's just so pleasant, and when I asked his permission to bring along another little boy (found living on the beach and currently in the care of the Father Ray 1/2 way house on Thepprasit Road), for whom I would pay for lunch, he readily agreed - and subsequently also paid for his lunch - and for Dunkin' Donuts to take back and share with the other children in the facility.

 

Chinakret is usually not very chatty, but having Phuk along (they're quite close in age) put him more at ease, and then having mad cap Tom (zipping down the isles with the trolley and advising them on their fashion needs (in the manner of all young Thai teens), was a hoot. Chinakret even even sat on the front of Phuk's trolley and had him push them both.  It was a real fun outing.

 

The boys opted for Pizza (much to Phuk's delight, as I don't think he'd had it before but was determined to use a knife and fork, even when we told him he could eat with his fingers), and chose the biggest size with the most things on it - a meat lover de luxe with sausage in the crust, which Tom and Boonying were delighted with, also.  Jean and I shared a pepperoni and  a bacon and cheese - the first time I've seen a pizza served half and half - and delicious, I must say.

 

Having declined ice cream, we went downstairs where the boys chose T-shirts and shorts, and then groceries for Chinakret.

 

Having taken Phuk back to his temporary dwelling place, we asked Chinakret if he'd like to play crazy golf, pool or anything that he might fancy, but he preferred to go home and show off everything to his Dad - who was on duty and happily came over to be photographed and introduced to Jean for the first time. 

 

Jean was happy make the rest of us (particularly Chinakret, after having to disappoint him earlier) happy.  

A very successful encounter, I think.

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 sponsor's visit to meet his two students.

We've just come back from lunch and some personal shopping with Dave and his sponsored students.

It was two years since Dave had seen them and they had grown so much, he was amazed.  However, the warm and protective attitude big sister has for Adiporn, is still very apparent.

We learned that Nat's favourite subject is Thai and that she's 11th in class at the moment, whereas Adisorn has no real idea of how he's doing, except that his favourite subject is Art and he's doing "O.K".

Mum is still working at the hospital, but to make extra money she's also assisting with home care patients.  Big brother, who was working spasmodically with his uncle, is now at home, out of work, and with no idea what he's going to do.  He'll be 18 this year, so at least he'll then be legal to take full time employment somewhere.

The children ate well at Kiss restaurant - rice and chicken with orange juice, then ice cream, before we went to Tesco Lotus to buy soft toys, a book about transformers, a game, T-shirts and shorts.

Dave brought along a teddy and a copy of his book, and he had signed it inside, for her. It has a picture of himself on the back, and Suky explained what it was all about, and the hope that one day she'll be able to read it.  Of course, at 65,000 words, that is likely to be later rather than sooner, but...the thought was there.

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

Home visit to a slum family

 

Suky and the Social Worker went to do a Home Visit recently and discovered that this family lives next door to Taksin and Chaniwat Patpang, would you believe?

They are desperately poor, as you can see, and because Mum (Dad too, if not hired by local demolition squads) salvages what she can from trash to resell, the place is always surrounded by 'junk'.  What is it they say "One man's junk is another man's treasure"?

 

When there's not much 'treasure', Mum tries to earn money by making and selling umbrellas.

They also bag charcoal, so they (and the place) always look grimy.  I find myself wondering if they will have any medical problems like coal miners used to do, with pneumoconiosis (or however you spell it) or something similar?  It's a dreadful way to live, and the inside of this pitiful dwelling would bring tears to your eyes.  Mum (who is somewhat 'slow') also has a younger child to care for in this unhealthy environment.

 

Even if we were able there's little that can be done to improve their home, as a road is scheduled to be built directly in their path, and at that stage they will have to move, of course.  However, with the rainy season just starting if they don't catch pneumonia, I'd be surprised.  Let's hope the ground is high enough that they don't get flooded.

 

At least now that Theera is going to school we know he's getting breakfast and lunch for free.

 

They pay 2,000 B per month for the land, utilities cost 300 B and other living costs are estimated at 1,500 B.  They try to give Theera 20 B a day for snacks and a day's food is estimated at 100 B for this family of four.

 

Income rarely meets expenditure, no matter how hard they try.

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

 

"The gift of a lifetime"

As the school year is now underway this seems a good time to repost this blog from one of our long-time sponsors.

"Today’s post is an appeal. What I’m asking you to consider is no more than a single drop of water in a pond, but let me explain how that one drop can spread circles across the surface much farther than our eyes can perceive.

Several years ago I learned from a friend about the enormous amount of selfless, ongoing good work being done by the Pattaya Street Kids Support Project, a charity based in England that indirectly has made futures brighter for hundreds of Thai children. More importantly – looking back at the ripple effect just mentioned – it will most likely make a positive difference not only in their lives, but the lives of their children and their children. If you continue to follow this blog you’ll read more stories about my experiences with them, the students and the other kids they help, but let this serve as an introduction, if you will.

Normally it’s not polite to stand here online with a hand out (even if it is on behalf of others), but I wanted to pitch the possibility today of a personal reward I can heartily recommend from my own experience: making the commitment to yourselves that you'll become a child's school sponsor on an on-going basis. This means you'll be giving educational stability to a child and assuring that they'll be able to complete their basic education, giving them essential and valuable tools for a better life; both for them and their families.

For the relatively small sum of around $100USD per school year. you provide nearly everything a child needs for school except their lunch. If you stop to think about it, that's about 25 cents a day over a calendar year. Thankfully very few of us can say we couldn't come up with that. Younger children’s fees tend to be a little less than this, high school students can be a little more. You can pay in a lump sum or monthly, either way - either by bank draft or PayPal (which accepts credit cards).

You don't sign a contract, you just make the decision to do it: contact them through the web site below, let him know if you have any basic preferences (elementary school, secondary school, girl or boy, two from a family if needed, etc.) and - just like expectant parents - you "receive" a child. They know where the needs are most urgent, so I’d recommend letting them arrange for you if possible. If circumstances truly change and you can not afford the upcoming year's funds next year they'll do their best to arrange another means of funding so the child can continue school. One of my students was previously sponsored by a woman who could no longer afford it due to age and health issues.

Please take a moment to look at their web site, if you haven't already – and please note the funds many would use for the polish and flash of a “professional” site have been channeled into something more useful! Administrative costs are almost zero…you'll see that your funds truly DO go where you intend them to go (board members pay their own expenses to visit Thailand, for example), there is reliable transparency up front, and it is NOT a religious organization with an agenda.

OK, so why am I posting about this now, you ask? Because it's the middle of April, the new school year will begin in a few weeks and fees are due very soon. There is a year-round need, but if you've ever considered doing this, the time to act truly is NOW.

If you do, when you look back years from now you’ll be able to think warmly of the far-reaching ripples of hope you started with this single act of kindness today.

You won't regret it."

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.

Children needing sponsors 

Student's shopping trip gift from sponsor

The first thing is that he is no longer to be known as above, but as Tanapon  (as if his other name wasn't difficult enough for us).

When Tom (MERCY) and I arrived at school 7 Kru Oi immediately appeared with Tanapon and we discovered that his choice of food was K.F.C.  Poor Tom, he can't look at or smell chicken, so whilst we ate he beetled off in search of a blueberry smoothy, and his photo's were somewhat at a distance initially.

 

Although conversation was extremely limited, I did cause Tanapon great amusement when I tried the tiniest bit of a spicy chicken leg and it nearly blew my head off.  He laughed and laughed.  It was my turn to laugh when we shared a baked tart though, as the chocolate kept running off in all directions whenever he took a bite. 

After lunch we went downstairs to shop, and whilst Tom and he headed off to find some clothes, I headed off to begin the grocery shopping.

 

I learned from Tom that he prefers casual clothing, T-shirts and shorts - no jeans yet.  We thought he might like some sports clothing too, but he's not into sports at all.  When I asked him what he does in his leisure time he said he watches T.V. and VCDs, although he was thrilled with the remote controlled car he chose.

Despite also buying rice, oil, soy,fish and oyster sauces, condensed milk, tinned fish, jam, honey, bread, seaweed crisps, Kit-Kat Bites, peanuts, pork, minced beef, eggs, flavoured milk, toothpaste, toothbrushes and shampoo we still had 1,000 B left over and since he said he'd never been to Underwater World, we thought we'd try and arrange to take him sometime.  It's quite near his home and it wouldn't take too long, so I don't think his grandparents would mind.  We'll see what we can do.

 

He's such a nice child - always clean and tidy, always has a smile and always very respectful.  Since there was so much to carry we took him home with the groceries etc, and then back to school and he gave us a lovely wai as we left him.

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 sponsor's second day visiting his students in Pattaya

We've just come back from a delightful couple of hours with Dave, as he met up again with "Patch".

 

Having picked him up from his hotel, we headed off to the school to collect her, Mum having spoken to the school and asked permission for her to have the afternoon off.  It took several documents, three different members of staff and a copy of Suky's I.D. card before they were allowed off the compound, but it gave Dave and I time for a long chat and some laughs and fortunately he's a patient chap.

 

I'm so glad Thailand has seduced him.  He's taking a TEFL course in Chiang Mai when he leaves here, and will then be able to do volunteer teaching when he comes over in the future.  He's also rapidly picking up Thai, and was practising with Patch and Suky - and is really keen not to let retirement retire him!  He's a real ball of energy and very upbeat - he's going to take life by the scruff of the neck and make it better for everyone he can.

 

After consuming a good portion of Khao Phad Goong with a water melon shake, Patch decided she would like to have some clothes, so off we went to Tesco Lotus where she found underwear, socks, black sandals, stylish pink and blue striped wedge heeled shoes, navy jeans and shirt and a navy spotted chic little dress.  Ever the kind heart, Dave made sure she chose something for her brother (a football strip) and sister (a pretty pink and white dress) also.

 

Not forgetting Mum and Dad, Dave then suggested some groceries, so rice, cooking oil, tinned fish, fish sauce, oyster sauce, noodles, eggs, Fabric softener and  Kitkats, were purchased, along with Dunkin' Donuts to share with the family at home.

When we got to the house Mum was there, and was just so thrilled to see everything.  Her smile was worth 'a million bucks', as they say, and she was happy to have a photo taken with Patch and Dave before waiing us off as Dave said he hoped to see them all again in November

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.slumkids.org