Settling in to daily life at BTN

The heat is quite oppressive and you forget how draining it is.  Forget having any control of your hair or for makeup to stay on your face - it all slides slowly down your cheeks and neck with the sweat.   Air conditioning is a distant memory and one that I have so often thought an unnecessary non-sustainable luxury, chewing up the energy of the planet. And yet, when you are back again in it,  it pays to remember how many people live like this throughout the world.

The children are wilting and we have been advised to give them a full bottle of electrolytes every morning to avoid dehydration.  That is the most common problem among the volunteers.

This morning I got up early to catch up on some work - about 4.30am to be precise when the first dog started howling. I was astonished to find the girls had broken into my suitcase to reclaim their iPhones. They are now safely back under padlock and combination in my suitcase.  Nice try.  It must be like taking ciggies away from a committed smoker, or the last fix from any addict.  They are then prepared to do anything, including stealing to get another fix.  I am hoping cold turkey will be over soon!

Tom and I decided to ride the school bus with the kids when they leave at 7.15am. They all leave in their beautifully ironed uniforms, lining up to collect lunch money, keen to get to their place of learning.  It is wonderful to see the enthusiasm for education and many of them take it very seriously.  The bus is an open sided, over-crowded noisy ride but everyone shuffled up to make room for the enthusiastic visitors.  The cooler morning air blowing through our hair and opening our early morning eyes was a big high-light of the day for me.

Alison the manager at BTN was kind enough to take us to the market and to Tesco this morning to buy supplies. The market was a colorful fiesta of tropical fruit, gory cuts of meat and fresh fish, as only an Asian market can be.

When we got back we decided to take on the clearing out of the playroom, mainly used by the younger children after school.

The piles of old jigsaw puzzles and jumble of dusty toys definitely needs a makeover and this will undoubtedly take a few days for the transformation to be complete.   The fans were not working so by the time we gave up for the day, we all needed cold showers. At least we knew we were starting to be useful.



BTN is quiet in the daytime, apart from the clatter of pots and pans in the kitchen and the thump of the pestle and mortar, making delicious spicy pastes.  The staff here work hard and seemingly long hours and are always so helpful and friendly.

As soon as the kids arrive back from school, the home is filled once again with laughter and chatter, everyone organized into chores and homework groups.

If they are not working, they are playing and Tom had his work cut out for him with the growing number of soccer players, keen to test his skills.

Hannah and Meg are enchanted by the little ones who follow them around like little lambs.  Tomorrow we are going to spend the day helping at the kindergarten.  The first batch of Teddies will be handed out

The girls even read books tonight and at last started writing their diaries.

Dinner was again delicious, after which I learned how to use the wonderful old washing machine and then indulged in a beer with Alison and Maya (the English teacher) who live next door. Alison recounted her own incredible Tsunami story and how she came to be involved at BTN.  Everyone here has a story.