children cabaret show..

Day 42, 43, 44, 45

Time is passing really fast.. been back at Takuapa and helping at the orphanage..

did handicrafts-sewing little cashew nut key chains.. (since when do i sew??) took a lot of patience..kept getting knots with the thread.. and the ladies in charge were so good at it! by the time i finally finished 1..they did 4.. haha. oh well. there's always a first time.
swept the floor.. tidied their stuff.. did some admin work for the english ones..


sunday was really cool.. 2 volunteers from australia were leaving.. and they actually had a surprise party for them..

we were all in for a huge treat! there was lotsa food.. a cabaret show by one of our own children!!! a lady-boy to be..definitely. 15 years old. he's very good!

more dancing by the girls.. it was hilarious and entertaining.. really sweet. the 2 volunteers were very surprised and impressed! so were the rest of us!


today.. the children were in for a treat too, 3 huge boxes of clothes were delievered from an organisation supporting the orphanage. there were both new and second hand clothes.. and each of the 60 children received an avg of 4 pc of clothings!
I was very impressed to see that there wasn't much arguing of the clothes during the hand-out by the "Mother" of the children. They sat and waited patiently for their chance, and even excitedly shouted out suggestions of who can fit the clothes!

It is really adorable to see a 4 year old folding her new clothes, and putting the neat pile into her wadrobe.. independence and responsiblity is something most children of the "modern" and well-to-do families lack of..

being here has taught me many lessons.. an experience i think everyone should go through.
last night while reading the profiles of the children.. i felt my heart ached and broke many times..
it's the 3rd time i read it since last year..but it never fails to teach me how strong they all are..

"D" was 8 years old when the tsunami hit. was swept away to the sea by the waves.. clung on to a log for 20 hours alone ..n ended up on an island with dead bodies around.. he was very lucky to survive and was finally found by the rescuers..
was brought to the orphanage (which were only tents, not a nice building as now..) and have been here since then.
some of the children victims lost their entire family..some never found their bodies.

now..i understand why he is so brave, always helping with the "dangerous" tasks such as setting up fire for cooking etc.
he is quiet but always take the intiative to help the staff and the younger ones..like a big brother.
even those left with a parent after the tsunami didn't seem like a "blessing"..
some of them were abandoned, after their parent remarried, and the new step parent didn't "want to have anything to do with them"(quoted from them).
some were abused, both physically and sexually, even at the tender age of 3.
the lucky ones were found by neighbours who called the orphanage to get help.
i am very sure there are hundreds or thousands even, out there who are still suffering in silence.

most of the children have not been to school until they came here. their families were too poor, and education is the last thing on their mind when they only have a proper meal every 3,4 days.

im helping to look for sponsors too.. cos funds are running low as more children have been coming in.. and the funds are now shared among more..
it's really affordable to sponsor a child actually, only 800 baht (S$35) for the young ones and about 2000 baht (S$100) each month to sponsor the elder one through education at a vocational college to learn working skills which is very helpful.
otherwise you can also do one time donation (even S$50 can go a long way to buy rice, cooking oil etc.)
if anyone knows ppl interested, let me know. at least im here to make sure things go smoothly and money well spent!

had a call from home last night. nice. :) miss family but im having a wonderful experience here.
been 45 days but i learnt so much already.
let's see some...
-travelling on my own (all the precautions to stay safe..),
-making decisions,
-managing budget,
-pick-pocketed,
-going to the police and discovering corruption,
-got match-maked by some lady (i only met her for 10 mins!) to her son,
-understanding what it means when the shirt says "Good men go to heaven, bad men go to Patong"
-trying to understand how the thai culture works..
-trying to understand what sustains a thai girl-ang moh man relationship...
-seeing how "powerful" females can be when men are hum sup (whine and u get A LOT OF expensive gifts..)
-not to mention the wonderful children's strength and love.. as well as the noble staff that work like mad on a very little allowance to help these children...

more to come, i m sure..just wish for health and safety to be with me.

love love,
sabaai dee...