NEWSLETTER NO. 34
THE MUANG MAI ORPHANAGE
Thursday, August 10 through Wednesday, August 23
We’ve had two calm weeks. We’ve managed to celebrate the
Queen’s birthday, which also is Mother’s Day here in Thailand. We’ve made an
excursion to a waterfall. Actually, we’ve celebrated not only the Queen’s
birthday, but also a little five-year-old’s birthday.
Since we’ve had two completely ordinary, calm weeks, I
thought I’d tell you a little bit about what two ordinary weeks here are like.
Each weekday we wake up the children at 6 a.m., so that
they have time to take a shower, brush their teeth, put on their school
clothes, and have breakfast. At 7:15 a.m. the kids hop on the school bus that
takes them to the schools.
While the kids are at school, the volunteers are at
school as well, teaching English. We give about 4 lessons/day.
On Monday and Thursday mornings we leave for Super Cheap,
which in Thai is called Suupacheap (it’s true!). At Super Cheap we buy all
groceries and all other necessities. The first visit to Super Cheap is usually
an overwhelming
experience for us Farangs. It’s very hot, full of scents,
and especially has tons of food items and products. Most things can be found at
Super Cheap. Everything from peas and other vegetables to TV’s and furniture.
On Tuesday mornings, Sussi has a financial meeting with
Wow. After the meeting, we have a meeting with all staff members and all
volunteers. A regular weekly meeting, during which we review the week that
passed and the week that is to come.
On Wednesday and Friday mornings we don’t do anything…
Well, that’s actually when we do everything else. There are always things to do
at an orphanage for children and families. We are to make sure that the rooms
are clean and that the yard looks nice, respond to e-mails from interested
volunteers
and others requesting information about the orphanage.
Other things include paying bills, making trips to the hospital with little
Jokk or some other sick child (this can obviously happen on any day). So, our
mornings pass quitequickly.
Then the clock strikes 2 in the afternoon and it’s time
to pick up the youngest ones from school. When they come home, we are to make
sure that they shower, change into their
regular clothes, and have a snack.
At 4 p.m. it’s time to pick up our next group, our seven-
through twelve-year-olds. And then the same routine, which now also includes
nagging about homework.
And then finally, at 4:30, we pick up the oldest ones.
Our thirteen- and fourteen-year-olds. This often takes the longest, since teens
like to linger at school to chat with friends, check out their first love, etc.
At times we have to wait for a while at their school before they saunter over
to the car.
Once we’ve returned home from this last pick-up, we have
a regular family afternoon/evening. Those who have homework do it, some play
games, others wash clothes, and we have
dinner.
At 8 p.m. the youngest go beddy-bye, and at 9 p.m. the
oldest hop into bed.
If we may brag a bit about our dear children, then it’s
to say that they are very good at both mornings and evenings. Getting them out
of and into bed usually requires very little nagging.
And then we have our weekends. Often we make some kind of
excursion, depending upon the weather and if anything special is going on. The
shortest excursion we make is that to Phuket Village, where we go for dips and
practice swimming.
The Queen’s birthday, which is also Mother’s Day here in
Thailand, was celebrated during the weekend following our course with Save the
Children UK. We were supposed to have risen bright and early (at 5 a.m.) to go
and “feed the monks” in Phuket Town. A
genuine Monsoon rain put a halt to
this event, however. So the only thing that happened, was
that we all rose bright and early (at least all Farangs). Realized what all
Thai had already realized, and went back to bed to try to fall asleep again. In
other words,
the morning turned into a lazy one, with lots of
continued rain and lots of semi-tired people.
But in the evening we took off for Sapan Hinn – despite
the rain that at that point had become significantly more gentle. Once there,
we had to muster up some courage before heading out into the rain. But we had a
really cozy evening with lit candles and songs for the Queen. The evening
ended with all kids having Thai pancakes and soda. Then
we headed back home.
Last week was a regular week (see above). The children
went to school and Jokk had to spend two days at the hospital. I accompanied
Jokk and his mother to the hospital in Phuket Town on Tuesday. Jokk’s mother
Rat is an incredibly strong and calm woman. It wasn’t until we had received
help that
I realized the extent of the worry she’d felt on the way.
That’s when her tears came.
It was painful to watch her, especially knowing that this
doesn’t happen that seldom. I had to fight my own tears back. Little, little
Jokk and her little, strong mother – such fighters!
One of the longer excursions took place this past
weekend. Off they went to Kathu Waterfall, located roughly in the middle of
Phuket Island. I didn’t join them, as I had some time off.
The volunteers who did go have told me that they all
spent much time swimming in the waterfall and that they then left for Patong
Beach, where they had the lunches they’d brought along with them, and that the
kids played on the playground. A long, fun day in other words.
Among many other things, we’ve spent this week so far on
taking inventory of what we have at the orphanage, so that we’ll be able to
quickly figure out the necessary purchases. We are now as ready as we can be,
while waiting to hear about the impending arrival of our new kids.
Today is Wednesday and yesterday, Tuesday, little Gaeo,
sorry – big, Gaeo, turned 5. We celebrated with cake and soda after dinner.
Tomorrow we will continue our work on our Child
Protection Policy, this time without the support of Save the Children UK. In
other words, we’ll have to resort to dictionaries often to understand each
other, but I’m convinced
that we’ll manage.
But in order to manage I think I must now hit the bed.
Warmest regards,
Sussi
