Teddy Mania at Bedtime!

Hannah, Tom and Meg have collected Teddies and fundraised over the last few months in preparation for their trip to Baan Tharn Namchai.  They were very excited about being able to start delivering them to these gorgeous children.  Over the last few days, we have been hearing how some of the children came to be at BTN and some of the stories are shocking. There are many reasons that these children were at risk in their community or, in some cases, simply dropped off at the door. 

Tonight the first bag of Teddies with gorgeous messages from New Zealand and Australia was handed out to these excited kids.  The messages of hope and inspiration were read out to them and they all got the big cuddles and hugs that you sent.  We will let the faces speak for themselves.  Thank you to everyone who supported and donated.  Rest assured that 100% of the funds goes directly to helping children like these, and the money goes a long way. Thank you.  

Getting eaten alive...literally!

On Saturday it will be Children's Day in Thailand, which we are looking forward to.  It causes a few rolled eyes for those Farang (foreigners) that live here.  It was Father's Day not long ago, then Christmas, then New Year, then it will be Lunar New Year.  Somewhere in the midst of all this, the bike riders will come in, which is one of the biggest days on the calendar of BTN.

To help with the preparations of Children's Day, we spent a few hours packing up 250 presents of blankets, shampoo, toothbrushes, pencils, rubbers etc.  These will be handed out at the local village, ITV, at a big party.  This village was set up after the Tsunami and sponsored by ITV, the Thai TV station, from where it took its name!

We worked until 2pm and then Maya took us on a wonderful adventure to see some waterfalls.  And these were SOME waterfalls.  There are about 5 levels and you climb up higher and higher into the rainforest, accompanied by the high-pitched shrill of cicadas and tree frogs.  At each level you stop for a dip to cool off, surrounded by beautiful butterflies.  It was one of the most magical places we had ever seen.

Each pool is inhabited by Gara Rufa fish - yes the very ones in the tanks in the big cities, where you pay money for these hungry little fish to nibble off all your dead skin.  And here they were in the pools and we were up to our shoulders, at times.

The children (and we) shrieked and squirmed as the fish feasted.  Tom was rather concerned that they would swim up his shorts and was more cautious!

We showered under waterfalls, never tiring of the refreshing, soothing sounds.

Tom rolled his ankle on the way back down, which resulted in a slow descent, mainly piggy-back on his mother.  He is fine today and back to playing soccer.

In the evening, we went out for dinner with Alison and Maya to the local seafood restaurant for delicious local fare.  The tamarind prawns, black pepper squid and lemon fish were all to be recommended.

The kids enjoyed their ride home in the back of the truck and are getting used to the new mode of travel.

Tomorrow we are booked into the small craft factory to assist with the production of some amazing rice bag handbags and shopping bags which they sell in the shop here.  We are going to bring some back to NZ to sell there for fundraising, so here is a sneak peak!

Children and the Language of Communication

Being a lover of languages, I have undertaken to learn some Thai. This is my first venture into a tonal language and I know that if you get the tone wrong on some key words, it can result in offense or an outburst of giggles from your target listener! For children, language is much simpler.

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly children learn to use language, without worrying about the structure or how silly they may sound. Tom is becoming quite the little star at BTN and is getting slightly concerned about the children that follow him around, particularly girls. So he hangs out with the boys and I caught them playing paper, scissors, rock on the school bus last night on the way to temple.
“Mum, you don't actually need too many words for them to understand. I use my hands as well and smile a lot”. Ahh, my work is done!




We spent the morning and some of the afternoon at the BTN kindergarten, watching Olivia teaching English. She has been here for 4 months from Sydney and is doing a great job with the little ones, whose English skills were impressive. It is so wonderful to see how enthusiastic most of them are to suck up any learning that is on offer.

Like Tom with his new Thai friends, children learn while having fun. (I am sure I have heard that before somewhere!) My kids felt at home in the Montessori classroom and its beautiful equipment and set about doing some “work” with the children.














Late morning we ventured off for the first time to check out the beach and were kindly transported in this luxury vehicle. Great fun.

The beach was beautiful, a long empty expanse of white sand, with crabs darting to and fro. Hannah, Tom and Meg were delighted by the tropical temperature of the sea and made good use of their (waterproof) cameras. You can't do that with an iPhone!  It is, however, also sobering to remember that this is where the Tsunami hit the worst and we have yet to go to the memorial.






Straight after lunch, our tropical paradise was rudely interrupted by Meg being stung by a jellyfish, not too badly, thank goodness. Despite Hannah's pleas, I don't think Meg was too keen for Tom to “pee” on her leg, so the beach restaurant staff brought out the vinegar. We headed back to the kindy for the rest of the afternoon, where they made a welcome and soothing compress of aloe vera for Meg. She is fine now.









We rode back to BTN in the preschool bus, which is an adventure in itself, everyone squeezing in, with babies on knees and giggling preschoolers, keen to continue their English lessons with Tom.

As soon as the older children get back from school, they all get straight into chores, water blasting, sweeping and clearing up. It is all very organised. The arrival of the annual bike riders on the 23rd is a very major event in their calendar and we need to have everything looking spick and span.

Our plan to hand out the first batch of Teddy Bears, was postponed, when it was announced that everyone was going to the temple for the evening. Khun Rotjana, the BTN Director, has gone there for 3 days to meditate and get away from her phone. She works very long hand her dedication to these children is unwavering but finding her balance again is, on occasion, essential.

At 7pm, the children all piled into the school bus and room was made for us to squeeze in.  We arrived in a dark back alley to a simple building with tiled floor and florescent lights with robed monks and Buddha at one end.  Mats were laid out in rows for children and babies  and even a kitten were passed around to keep them entertained and quiet.  The monotonous and very soporific chanting started and continued for over an hour.  I was impressed by the (mainly) good behaviour of the children, although there was some prodding and pinching of the younger ones, who had started to fall asleep.  Hannah and Meg did well.  Tom, Tiger and Gean occasionally shook with giggles, that they were trying so hard to suppress, especially when Tom was irreverently turning his eyelids inside out. Unfortunately, he was not within my pinching reach.

We were back home by 9pm, ready for a well-deserved night's sleep in the knowledge that the clatter and clanking of the breakfast kitchen would be our morning alarm.

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.

Arrival At Baan Tharn Namchai..finally!

After the shopping feeding frenzy and well-deserved foot massages in Bangkok for 2 nights, we left on the plane this morning to fly to Phuket.  Our driver who we had met coming in from the airport was true to his word and showed up on time to drive us and our six HUGE bags to the airport.

It was the girls who were late getting out of the shower, their room and completing their packing and we were lucky to make it just on time for our flight.

Tom spent his time on the flight learning his Thai expressions in anticipation of his meeting his penpal, Gean.  Anticipation is such a wonderful thing and I sat watching him, hoping and wondering whether finally meeting his penpal would live up to his expectations.

I stood by my rule and took away the iphones that the girls would have back in 2 weeks time, not without a small amount of protest and pleading.  The girls had spent 2 full days indulging in selfies, photographing the clothes they had bought themselves and sending images back to friends, seeking their approval.  They had books, diaries, pens and paints to document their adventures from now on!

We arrived in the heat at Phuket on a plane full of Russians, it seemed.  I was feeling at home already. Baan Tharn Namchai sent their driver to fetch us and we drove about 1.5 hours up and beyond Khao Lak to what will be our home for 2.5 weeks.

The place was quiet as all the kids were at school.  We were shown to our beautiful little bungalow and settled ourselves in.  Lunch of Pad Thai had been prepared for us and we were called in to eat.

Barely had Tom taken a couple of mouthfuls, than Gean and his friend, Gan appeared.  The smiles said it all. The 11 year olds were all so happy to finally meet.  It was a very touching moment.

Suddenly the whole house was full of children, bustling in busily from their school day.

Tom was quick to make sure that the boys would play soccer with him and disappeared for ages.

Children here are so affectionate and will grab your hand and take you off to show you things. They were all delighted to have found their new friends.

The girls were treated to a personalised guided tour by the older girls. The initial reservations were falling away and I am sure that daily life at Baan Tharn Namchai will present a whole new way of looking at the world.