Volunteer & Festival Fun
Malaeh, 3, welcomes you to Baan Dada Children's Home!Volunteers Galore
We've had quite the start to November with a friend from Vancouver, Charlene, arriving for a week of volunteer fun at Dada's, along with my 19-year old cousin, Kate, who is here for a month or more. Two travellers saw the brochure I designed and put up in a Kanchanaburi travel agency and came out here to take a look. Debbie stayed for only a few nights (she may be back for longer), entertaining the kids with her songs and stories, and Musti, a Swiss-Turkish backpacking Buddhist, is here for as long as he can be. Another fellow, Lane from Arizona, met the boys while they were playing a concert in a Sangklaburi guesthouse and came to the Home to meet the rest of them. I'm confident that more volunteers will hear about us either through our own website (www.baandada.org), Go M.A.D. (http://www.go-mad.org/intlprojects.shtml) or from my promotions in Thailand itself. More are always welcome!
We've had quite the start to November with a friend from Vancouver, Charlene, arriving for a week of volunteer fun at Dada's, along with my 19-year old cousin, Kate, who is here for a month or more. Two travellers saw the brochure I designed and put up in a Kanchanaburi travel agency and came out here to take a look. Debbie stayed for only a few nights (she may be back for longer), entertaining the kids with her songs and stories, and Musti, a Swiss-Turkish backpacking Buddhist, is here for as long as he can be. Another fellow, Lane from Arizona, met the boys while they were playing a concert in a Sangklaburi guesthouse and came to the Home to meet the rest of them. I'm confident that more volunteers will hear about us either through our own website (www.baandada.org), Go M.A.D. (http://www.go-mad.org/intlprojects.shtml) or from my promotions in Thailand itself. More are always welcome!
We had to say a farewell (sniff sniff!) and happy travels to Mireille, from Holland, who is continuing her journey through Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Malaysia. She will be missed!
NOT ABOUT TO BECOME ILLEGAL...
I managed to get a new Tourist VISA for 60 days at the Thai Embassy in Vientiane, Laos, without a hitch. It involved an overnight bus ride north to Vientiane from Bkk, a 1 night stay in the beautiful capital, with plenty of time to drink in the sunset and beer lao along the lolling Mekong, and a flight back to Bkk to greet Kate. We spent a day near Khao San, lunching with Art, a fun-loving Thai friend who Fiona and I met in Vancouver, and shopping with Charlene, who was leaving for Oz the next day. Charlene and I had a fabulous time hitting up some rather posh nightclubs in a clubbing district of Bangkok - one was so lux it had a boy band playing in the gigantic marble women's washroom! No cover for any of them, though the beers were pricey (still cheaper than home though!)
Floating House
Ali, Kate, Musti and I are getting re-caffeinated at the bakery at the moment after a rather sleepless but festive night on a floating house on the lake in Sangklaburi with nearly all 40 of Dada's kids. We got down here yesterday afternoon, went swimming, tubing, and boating for hours from our perch on the house which kept floating further and futher from shore, watched some longtail boat races, and were entertained by the ever-energetic, giggling, rowdy, life-jacket wearing kidz leaping and dunking and diving and splashing, shouting 'sister! sister! i! i!' when they wanted us to watch a cannonball splash or their latest swimming stroke.
School of Rock!
The boy band rocked out at a guesthouse on the hill at 7pm to a reasonably interested crowd. Naoki is really engaging on bass, Kamal's sweet voice almost makes you want to cry, and Olan's steady beat keeps the band united. My current fav is "My Love,"to which our volunteers' table sang along with glee.
Earlier, Ali and Kate had finished a colourful banner shouting out "Baan Dada Children's Home School of Rock - all donations towards children's college fund" with green and blue foot and hand prints from the children as a border, while I made a photo album to pass around and engage the audience with. I chatted with a Thai fellow about our role as volunteers and he later gave Dada his card so we can contact him with more pics. Maybe his company will be able to sponsor one of our projects!? Thanks to him and his table of coworkers, the boys made a whopping 2,160 baht!
After the concert, the 4 of us wandered up to the market to check out the festivities - there were orange-sequinced men and women prancing about on a stage singing, a boxing ring with pre-teen boys punching either other's lights out, heaps of meat grilling, people staring at the farang, a giant movie screen, and a mini merry-go-around (which seemed quite tame compared to the rest). It was the most excitement I've ever seen in Sangklaburi. We settled down for a banana crepe and a round of Beer Chang and a game of Pass the Pigs, an evening favorite.
Loi Krathon Festival Fun
We're heading back to the houseboat for more swimming to cool off this afternoon, then the kids will make mini boats out of banana leaves and send candles out into the water to celebrate Loi Krathong festival. "Loi" means "to float" and a "Krathong" is the lotus-shaped vessel made of banana leaves. The Krathong usually contains a candle, three joss-sticks, some flowers and coins. Firecrackers are of course an integral element of the ritual....so my ears will be ringing all night.
Karen Weaving Enterprise
I'd like to ask you to think about purchasing one of our Weaving Products as a gift for a friend or family member for Christmas. Our bags, wallets, purses, and clothes are colorful, comfortable, and come in many sizes and designs. Please browse photos of some product samples and prices on http://thaiweavingenterprise.blogspot.com
http://lindzinvancouver.myphotoalbum.com/view_album.php?set_albumName=album08
Our Weaving Enterprise began in late 2005 to employ Karen residents of Molaka village. The women weavers use traditional hand-woven techniques to produce shirts, shoulder bags, purses, change purses, and wallets. Proceeds return to the weavers directly, with 10% going to support Baan Dada Children’s Home and the 42 orphaned and abandoned children who live here.
Our workers are paid 90 baht per day, which is above minimum wage for this area. We consider these fairly traded products as our workers receive a fair price for their labour, they work in safe, clean conditions, and they use democratic decision-making in maintaining the enterprise.
We have recently completed the Weaving Center next to the Home, which allows us to expand the enterprise by inviting more unemployed women, mostly single mothers, to live and work here.
Your purchase will be directly helping to improve the quality of life for impoverished Molaka residents as well as for Baan Dada Children’s Home. Please contact me at lindsay@volunteerinthailand.org with your order. For those in Vancouver, I will be home on December 18th and can hand-deliver them to you!
Sponsor a Boy!
I'm adding the following to this Blog in hopes of finding a Sponsor for the 5 remaining children at Baan Dada Children's Home who have yet to be partnered with one.
They are all boys, between the ages of 8 - 13. Their names are Parkher, Ekachai, Somchai, Neh, and Olan. They are great kids, all ambitious, fun-loving, sweet, but with each their own distinct character. I would gladly give you more details about them, as I've spent time with each of them over the past 2 months of living at Dada's Children's Home in rural Huay Ma Lai, Kanchanaburi Province, near the Thai/Burmese border.
For more details, please see http://www.baandada.org/support.htm
Our International Sponsorship Program is helping sustain the entire children's home and ensuring our children receive the shelter, care, healthy diet, and opportunities to learn that they deserve.
We are seeking individuals or families who wish to commit to providing 2,000 baht ($60 CDN) a month donation towards sponsoring a child. This amount has been increased to reflect the rising costs of living in Thailand over the past few years. The monthly donation covers basic necessities such as food, clothes, school fees, uniforms, and some medical expenses (medical emergencies are not included). Your child will send you handwritten letters, drawings, and a recent photo in the mail at least twice a year. Your letters and photos are appreciated as well, or come out to Huay Ma Lai to meet them in person!
It is best if you can commit to sponsoring a child until they graduate from high school. If they wish to further their education by attending university, finding a way to pay for tuition and living costs can be discussed by you and Dada Ricardo Zoleta at that time.
Other sponsors have found family members and friends to help cover the monthly donation as a group. Please pass along this message, or simply the link
http://www.baandada.org/support.htm, to your network of family, friends, and collegues to stir up interest. Spreading the word about the needs of these children will help us fulfill them to the best of our ability here at Baan Dada Children's Home.
Thanks so much / Khap Khun Mak Kaa!
Hope everyone is well and good. Enjoy your day!
Love,
lindz x
Floating House
Ali, Kate, Musti and I are getting re-caffeinated at the bakery at the moment after a rather sleepless but festive night on a floating house on the lake in Sangklaburi with nearly all 40 of Dada's kids. We got down here yesterday afternoon, went swimming, tubing, and boating for hours from our perch on the house which kept floating further and futher from shore, watched some longtail boat races, and were entertained by the ever-energetic, giggling, rowdy, life-jacket wearing kidz leaping and dunking and diving and splashing, shouting 'sister! sister! i! i!' when they wanted us to watch a cannonball splash or their latest swimming stroke.
School of Rock!
The boy band rocked out at a guesthouse on the hill at 7pm to a reasonably interested crowd. Naoki is really engaging on bass, Kamal's sweet voice almost makes you want to cry, and Olan's steady beat keeps the band united. My current fav is "My Love,"to which our volunteers' table sang along with glee.
Earlier, Ali and Kate had finished a colourful banner shouting out "Baan Dada Children's Home School of Rock - all donations towards children's college fund" with green and blue foot and hand prints from the children as a border, while I made a photo album to pass around and engage the audience with. I chatted with a Thai fellow about our role as volunteers and he later gave Dada his card so we can contact him with more pics. Maybe his company will be able to sponsor one of our projects!? Thanks to him and his table of coworkers, the boys made a whopping 2,160 baht!
After the concert, the 4 of us wandered up to the market to check out the festivities - there were orange-sequinced men and women prancing about on a stage singing, a boxing ring with pre-teen boys punching either other's lights out, heaps of meat grilling, people staring at the farang, a giant movie screen, and a mini merry-go-around (which seemed quite tame compared to the rest). It was the most excitement I've ever seen in Sangklaburi. We settled down for a banana crepe and a round of Beer Chang and a game of Pass the Pigs, an evening favorite.
Loi Krathon Festival Fun
We're heading back to the houseboat for more swimming to cool off this afternoon, then the kids will make mini boats out of banana leaves and send candles out into the water to celebrate Loi Krathong festival. "Loi" means "to float" and a "Krathong" is the lotus-shaped vessel made of banana leaves. The Krathong usually contains a candle, three joss-sticks, some flowers and coins. Firecrackers are of course an integral element of the ritual....so my ears will be ringing all night.
Karen Weaving Enterprise
I'd like to ask you to think about purchasing one of our Weaving Products as a gift for a friend or family member for Christmas. Our bags, wallets, purses, and clothes are colorful, comfortable, and come in many sizes and designs. Please browse photos of some product samples and prices on http://thaiweavingenterprise.blogspot.com
http://lindzinvancouver.myphotoalbum.com/view_album.php?set_albumName=album08
Our Weaving Enterprise began in late 2005 to employ Karen residents of Molaka village. The women weavers use traditional hand-woven techniques to produce shirts, shoulder bags, purses, change purses, and wallets. Proceeds return to the weavers directly, with 10% going to support Baan Dada Children’s Home and the 42 orphaned and abandoned children who live here.
Our workers are paid 90 baht per day, which is above minimum wage for this area. We consider these fairly traded products as our workers receive a fair price for their labour, they work in safe, clean conditions, and they use democratic decision-making in maintaining the enterprise.
We have recently completed the Weaving Center next to the Home, which allows us to expand the enterprise by inviting more unemployed women, mostly single mothers, to live and work here.
Your purchase will be directly helping to improve the quality of life for impoverished Molaka residents as well as for Baan Dada Children’s Home. Please contact me at lindsay@volunteerinthailand.org with your order. For those in Vancouver, I will be home on December 18th and can hand-deliver them to you!
Sponsor a Boy!
I'm adding the following to this Blog in hopes of finding a Sponsor for the 5 remaining children at Baan Dada Children's Home who have yet to be partnered with one.
They are all boys, between the ages of 8 - 13. Their names are Parkher, Ekachai, Somchai, Neh, and Olan. They are great kids, all ambitious, fun-loving, sweet, but with each their own distinct character. I would gladly give you more details about them, as I've spent time with each of them over the past 2 months of living at Dada's Children's Home in rural Huay Ma Lai, Kanchanaburi Province, near the Thai/Burmese border.
For more details, please see http://www.baandada.org/support.htm
Our International Sponsorship Program is helping sustain the entire children's home and ensuring our children receive the shelter, care, healthy diet, and opportunities to learn that they deserve.
We are seeking individuals or families who wish to commit to providing 2,000 baht ($60 CDN) a month donation towards sponsoring a child. This amount has been increased to reflect the rising costs of living in Thailand over the past few years. The monthly donation covers basic necessities such as food, clothes, school fees, uniforms, and some medical expenses (medical emergencies are not included). Your child will send you handwritten letters, drawings, and a recent photo in the mail at least twice a year. Your letters and photos are appreciated as well, or come out to Huay Ma Lai to meet them in person!
It is best if you can commit to sponsoring a child until they graduate from high school. If they wish to further their education by attending university, finding a way to pay for tuition and living costs can be discussed by you and Dada Ricardo Zoleta at that time.
Other sponsors have found family members and friends to help cover the monthly donation as a group. Please pass along this message, or simply the link
http://www.baandada.org/support.htm, to your network of family, friends, and collegues to stir up interest. Spreading the word about the needs of these children will help us fulfill them to the best of our ability here at Baan Dada Children's Home.
Thanks so much / Khap Khun Mak Kaa!
Hope everyone is well and good. Enjoy your day!
Love,
lindz x
Playing a tune or two in the music room
Ali, Mireille, and I Teaching it up in Piloki Village!
posted by taikopower @ 10:23 PM
3 Comments:
You make me want to be a better man. I miss you. Sorry I am such a twat at communicating. I know people who are coming there at Christmas. I will give them a Christmas prezzie to pass on to you. Why? Because you rock my world.
xx Greer
Lindsay....what an amazing adventure you are having! I may be one of your next visitors...I would love to come and help with whatever I can! Let's talk!!
Andraya
Well. I am a total stranger. But tomorrow or the day after my wife is coming to Baan Dada Children's Home to help Dada out with "Eye For Sight".
Say hi! :-)
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