Jan2004report

During the Christmas 2003/New Year 2004 holidays one of our trustees visited Thailand to update the project on the current situation. Here is part of his report on the visit:

On January 20th I returned from a month in Thailand where I visited all of the various projects that we are involved with.

Christmas Day, along with Pastors Dianne and Fred Doell of the Mercy Project in Pattaya, was spent collecting children from some of the slums in the area for a party at the street kids’ drop in centre in Pattaya. All of the sixty-five kids were treated to an afternoon of fun and games followed by a chance to have a proper meal. Many of the children from the slums have no access to water for either washing or drinking and the visit to the drop in centre gave many the opportunity to have their first proper wash for some months. One little boy named Dah age 4

(see photo) lives with his father in one of the worst slums in Pattaya and spends his life with his father searching the rubbish bins for anything that can be recycled. Like his father Dah is addicted to sniffing solvents and, as you can see from the photo, had not washed for a very long time.

In this photo is a picture of Pastor Dianne Doell with what is termed a ‘throwaway baby’ Many of the slum dwellers (photos) have more children than they can possibly cope with and these babies are then abandoned in the hope that they will be cared for by someone else. Dianne is at the moment in the process of arranging the adoption of three of these ‘throwaway babies’ but there are many more in need of care and attention.

In addition to his work with the slum children Pastor Fred Doell also visits the local prison most days taking milk and fresh fruit for the many children there. Often when a parent is imprisoned and there is nobody else to care for the child that child also spends time in jail. The cells are crowded often holding up to 200 prisoners including children and conditions leave a great deal to be desired. Fred ensures that there is a fresh supply of milk for the babies and fruit for the mothers and children.

The New Year’s Party for the children at the Huay Pong Children’s Centre that we had planned for January 9th had to be brought forward to December 27th owing to the caterers not being able to supply a disco on the original date. This year the party took the form of an open-air Chinese Table with fifteen courses and was held in the grounds of the centre (photos) on a very very warm evening. After the meal which was enjoyed by all of the kids the staff of the children’s centre each took to the stage to entertain the children with song and dance. After this the disco and kareoke started and within a few minutes every child, and most of the staff were on the dance area where the disco continued for two hours.As always the atmosphere at the party was fantastic with hundreds of happy smiling faces wherever we looked. It was almost midnight before the music stopped and the kids filed back to their dormitories to catch some sleep before the start of their day at 5am.

I spoke to many of the kids the following day and they all said that they had a really wonderful time and how they had been looking forward to the party since my last visit there in June. As you will see from the photos the children are all happy and well cared for and the 367 children at the centre do at least now have a place of safety to stay. Most of the kids at the centre have either been abandoned by their families or rescued from working in the sex trade.

The Home at Hauy-Pong has been informed that the age of the children it cares for is being lowered from 6 years to 4 years which means that another 40-50 children are expected at the centre over the next four months. We are hoping to be able to raise sufficient funding to provide an additional dormitory with bedding when it is required. Also on our list of ‘wants’ is clothing for some of the children. Because of the cost involved none of the boys under 12 years of age have underwear and many need shoes. There is also an urgent need for safety shoes for the kids that are learning a trade in the workshops at the centre. Working with sheets of metal, wood and machinery whilst only wearing open toed sandals is not conducive to safety. We are therefore hoping to be able to provide shoes with safety toecaps.

In Pattaya the problems for those children still living on the streets continue. To survive many of the kids are employed by managers to visit the many bars in the city to sell gum, flowers or other goods. Often in return for a days work the child will only receive something to eat at the end of the day and if lucky a place to sleep. Unfortunately despite the best efforts by many NGOs the child sex trade in Pattaya also continues to flourish.

On my return to Pattaya I visited an eleven year-old girl named An who we are sponsoring for her education. An lives in a small shed in somebody’s garden along with her blind grandmother. There is no electricity or water and apart from a small mattress no furniture. After school An works from 5pm until midnight slicing fruit for a street vendor. For this she is paid

60 Baht (90pence). This money pays for food for both herself and her grandmother. An does her school homework by candlelight and want to study to become a doctor. Her father is serving a long prison sentence for dealing in narcotics and her mother – who An has not had any contact with for four years – works as a prostitute in Bangkok.

Unfortunately An’s circumstances are not unusual and there are many children living a similar life in need of support. If you would like to see details of any of these children with a view to helping them please let us know.

In closing this report we wish to thank you on behalf of all of the children that we are helping for your support. Your help does make a great deal of difference to the life of a Thai child and of course it also tells them that someone is aware that they exist and is thinking of them.

All of the expenses in connection with this trip to Thailand were met privately with no cost being born by this project.