Cooking

On Thursday we decided to do a volunteer activity. It’s great having more volunteers so that we can organise activities. As good as it is that the kids can play with whatever during the day, it is great to have structured activities. So we chose cooking...well decorating pre-cooked biscuits. We had ice-cream sauce, coloured sugar, sprinkles and popping candy. The popping candy was a new experience for them all I think and it was funny seeing of the children’s’ expressions. At one point, Sua didn’t know what he wanted and was being really moany. Then he spotted the bright green sugar and clearly thought it looked tasty. He took a massive spoonful of it and the look on his face was very funny when he realised it was obviously pure sugar! I don’t think he enjoyed that.

The messiest child by far was Art, it turned into a bit of messy play with him. I was finding sugar all over me after that.

So I’m looking forward to maybe trying to do a volunteer activity each week, for a bit of a change to the normal routine.

Fah's last day and Tui moves on

I wanted to write a post about Fah who is moving to Nontapoom orphange tomorrow. Nontapoom is the orphanage that we would like to see as many of our children going to as it is so much better than the Rachawadee homes. It is for the more able children, so this is great that she is going to Nontapoom and not Rachawadee girls. As it was a worry for me last time that they wouldn't see past her disability and she'd end up in Rachawadee girls. She was here two years ago when I was out before and she was one of the children who remembered me. She is a very very bright girl but has difficulty with communication.

Here is Fah, gazing lovingly at Alex...she certainly knows how to impress the men! She would always rather have a guy feed her than a girl! She's very clever :)

 She got to chose what to do this afternoon as it was her last afternoon with CCD at Fuang Fah and she chose to spend it with me in the sensory room. She loves the sensory room and particularly loves one on one attention. And it's not often that we can give children our un-divided attention. So it was a lovely afternoon.

Posing with a teddy

The head of CCD at Fuang fah is taking her on a little trip tomorrow to make it exciting for her and I guess just to reassure her that Nontapoom will be fine and she will get on OK. I'm sure the staff will visit her, I would also like to take her and another boy I know who moved there on a trip at some stage if it's possible.

Another boy, Tui from CCD Fuang Fah has also moved on. But he has gone on to Rachawadee boys, so pray for him, that he will settle in quickly. I discovered just the other day that he is in fact 14 years old!



He also had a nice end to his time at Fuang Fah because he came on the trip to dreamworld with us last Thursday.

I hate dogs!!

I thought I’d write a post about the nasty, mangy dogs that roam the streets around here. There are hundreds of stray, disgusting dogs around here. During the day it’s bad enough trying to avoid them all. They sleep in the middle of roads but at night it’s awful. They become a lot more vicious and protective of their areas. I have had quite a few bad experiences with them already!

I haven't taken pictures....I’m not getting close enough for long enough to get any pictures thanks!

When I was staying with friends’ at the beginning of June I was cycling back along their street late at night and there was a big white dog up ahead, so I deliberately avoided it but it cam chasing after me, barking at my heels. I was terrified! Riding the streets here after dark is certainly one way to get the adrenaline going.

A few of us went to their house last week for bible study, we got there safely. But the whole way home on the bikes we had to cycle on the wrong side of the road to avoid dogs and a few times groups of them chased after the bikes barking away. I was backing my friend on the bike which is normally hard work but I couldn’t make my legs go fast enough. We were trying to make noise going past all the dogs to scare them and in our hysterical panic Kara and I ended up singing/squealing out ‘the great escape’ which was actually quite apt for the situation! And this is a journey we’ll have to make every Thursday afternoon.....I would say these dogs are somewhat making me not want to go to bible study!

Dreamworld

Today has been such a fun day! We went on a CCD trip to ‘Dream-world’. The kids are shattered and so are I and the staff, so it must’ve been a good day! Unfortunately the majority of volunteers didn’t get to come because there weren’t enough tickets. We picked the children up from the orphanage just before eight this morning. I was looking after a boy called At (that’s how its pronounced). They were all dressed up nicely for the occasion which was really nice, not that they stayed clean and tidy for long!

At!

So we took a rather hot bus journey to ‘dream-world’, picking up children from Rainbow house along the way. When we got there, there was a bit of hanging around until we got the tickets but it was a great opportunity for all the Thais to take big group pictures. I never really knew what I was meant to be doing because there were so many photos. Then once we got into the park there was more photos taken, this time from the Thai staff I work with. There were lots of pretty flowers and nice scenes for them to pose next to. Then we fed the children and began our tour of the park and of the rides.

A group of some of us that went

We started off with the ‘giant house’ where everything is enormous. At was scared of going on any of the stuff except the chute that was meant to be a spoon. Then we went and fed some cows and coats. The little boys weren’t sure what to make of the animals and At was certainly very scared of them. It was funny watching some of the others feeding the cows, they loved it.

Lay sitting in the spoon!

Daring to take a peak at the cows

A group of the staff and me took a few children on what was my favourite ride  from two years ago. ‘Space Mountain’. One of the staff wasn’t going to come but then I managed to persuade her that it wouldn’t be scary....oops. She was a bit scared. It was a totally dark ride with the odd shapes jumping out and it went all over the place so each move the rollercoaster took was a surprise. I enjoyed it though! And I think the kids were OK too, well other than the girl sitting behind me who started saying she wanted it to stop halfway through!

This year we had a free ticket to get into ‘snow world’ which was fun. Well it was FREEZING cold! We had to put wellies on and massive jackets. We could barely see the kids because the coats were so huge. It was a great look....wellies, shorts and a massive jacket!! And I got so cold even in the 15minutes we were in there. My hands and feet were painful and apparently my nose turned red. At’s nose certainly started running! There was a sleigh and a little hill we went sledging down! So weird and the heat really hits you when you walk out even into the air con which felt cool when we walked in. The staff thought it was good. Not so sure the kids loved the cold though.

Had to put this one in of At, drowning in his coat

Us in Santa's sleigh

Tobaganning!! In shorts.

So we took them on a train that goes around above the park and they enjoyed that. We went on a water ride too which got us soaking! It took till the end of our time there to dry off. I was going to go on the biggest rollercoaster there with some of the staff and we got right to the front of the queue to find we didn’t have the right ticket. I was looking forward to hanging upside down on my first really scary rollercoaster. But it didn’t happen.

Before getting on the bus we stopped at some nice gardens and took some pictures.

The bus ride home was very very hot. There were five of us to two seats with two of the children asleep. It was really sad when we arrived on the road that the orphanages are on, one of the girls starting crying because she didn’t want to go back. And then At cried when I took him back to his ward. I guess it has to be the sign of a good day out.

So all in all a really great day and I am sure we will all sleep well tonight!

This weeks activities

Eating some weird Thai dessert

Last weekend it was just me in the house Friday night and Saturday. On Friday night I attempted to find my way to the home group, and of course, got lost! It was POURING rain and dark so it was hard to see what house I was trying to find. I ended up walking into 2 different peoples' houses before I found the right one. And in one of them I had to speak to someone who was sitting in the room I'd just walked into (they don't lock their front doors there). So that was awkward. But I persevered and ended up soaking wet but had a nice evening getting to know some more people from church.

How we get around here

On Saturday morning I did jobs around the house, getting the volunteers (who arrived this weekend) beds made up for them and doing some shopping. I went to see Madagascar 3 in the afternoon with a friend and his daughter. It was so funny! It comes out in the UK in October, so you'll all have to wait til then. So a big group of volunteers arrived at Sirin House on Saturday evening and another volunteer. After church on Sunday there was a TexMex pot-luck lunch which was really good. Lauren, I had GOOD refried beans (none of this tinned stuff :) ). A few of us then went to a little island on the river which has a market. So we cycled along to the ferry and had a wander around the market. Then went for a painful Thai massage at a school for the blind.


My friend and her boyfriend have arrived now and it's lovely to have them here again! And they are both settling into work too.

So we were in the adventure room yesterday afternoon again, with a different group of children. We have a new boy who arrived to CCD daycare on Monday so he came along, and seems to be settling in well to the routine of the daycentre. Some of them can find it really quite difficult. And today we went to harrow this afternoon and again had fun running around. Unfortunately one of the boys I work with hasn't been well the last couple of days (he's now in hospital) so he missed out on the trip to harrow today and is going to miss a big exciting trip tomorrow which is such a shame!

What a poser he is!

Yeah, so tomorrow I am going with CCD staff and children to 'Dreamworld' which is a theme park place, a bit like lego land except without the lego! I'm looking after one little boy for the day, which will be hard work but good fun. The new volunteers have been told they can't come (they're too new) which is a realy shame as it means we can't take as many children. So I think there will only be a couple of other volunteers but they will have different aged children. So I will probably spend most of the day with the staff. And going into work for 7.40!!

These two boys getting excited for the adventure room and both playing the 'high five' game!

Our new boy enjoying soft play

He wanted to pose for a photo but didn't quite sit still for long enough!

Harrow International school

I just want to say thank you to everyone for your prayers and thoughts again. I received a lovely email from someone at church the other day and it just made me realise again how blessed I am to have such support from a church like Carrubbers and I can tell you, as with everything, nothing here is possible without God being at the centre of what we do, particularly with the government orphanages like Fuang Fah and rachawadee girls and boys. Yesterday was a real demonstration of God at work in CCD's ministry. There have been a team here from all different countries and they are all some sort of engineer. They gave up their time to plan a new build that CCD are raising funds for. It is going to be a vocational training centre for the older children and adults. And one of the engineers said 23years ago the director of CCD said that he wanted to set up this facility and now all that time on, the plans are laid (and look fantastic) and with LOTS of fundraising it should be on the way to being built very soon!

And yes, I rode on the back of a motorbike for the first time on Tuesday night....I vowed I would never get on the back of one over here because the motorbike taxi drivers are a littel bit crazy. But it was a bit of an emergency and it wasn't on the main roads. A guy from home group drove me on his motorbike and where they live is very big wide roads that have sensible (usually western) drivers! So it was fine.

On Wednesday afternoon we took a group of children to Harrow International school. I caught a few action shots of Jew scoring baskets. 

I spent some time on the ward with the children this afternoon. We just took them outside to the covered patio and played with them. I tried doing some positioning with one boy and played the tamborine with him which he foound hilarious particularly when I banged it on his stomach. It is lovely seeing the kids smile and laughing is even better.

So this weekend is when all the summer volunteers arrive. A group of 5 of them will arrive tomorrow night to Sirin house and then my friend and her boyfriend arrive on Sunday night, which I am very excited about, I haven't seen her for over a year, and she is as excited if not more for coming back out to Thailand again. So it's going to be a full house by Sunday. I spent this afternoon making up all the beds and got very very hot doing so!

Playground and adventure room

This weekend I just enjoyed relaxing. I went with a friend and her daughter to a pool which is on top of a very tall shopping centre so we had an early morning swim there which was really nice. It's very refreshing swimming outside here. And Sunday was church and in the evening we went round to a friends' house to watch highlights of the Jubilee (patriotic family!) but it was nice, still feel a part of the celebrations in the UK! I also moved my stuff out of my friends' house and into Sirin House (the volunteer accommodation) and in the process of unlocking the front gate got absolutely soaked. Rain here is nothing like rain at home. You just have to be in it for a minute and you might as well have been for a swim!

It was lovely to go back into work on Monday, I feel so at home there. In the afternoon we took some of the children outside into the little playground that CCD have outside the day centre.

These three boys were loving the swing!

Today, three visitors that are here for another two weeks came to Fuang Fah with me. One of them is very musical so he was asked to play and sing songs for the children this morning. It was good fun, and some of the English songs  we sang, we also sing them in Thai with the children. This morning we did tac-pac which is a sensory experience for the children using different things to touch the childrens' skin with like sponges and fur. This was set up by a previous volunteer a few years ago, so it's great that they still use it. Then this afternoon we took the children to a reasonably new adventure room which has been donated to the government orphanage by some people. It was great! Such a development for the orphanage, now it just needs the government staff to use it well. So the kids had great fun going in and out the ball bit, playing on the swing and raunning around. As did all the staff and volunteers, throwing balls at each other all over the room! So much fun! I didn't get any good pictures of the adventure room (too much runnning around) but here are a couple to give you an idea.

Mid throw!

First weeks thoughts

I am covered in so many mosquito bites right now...they must like fresh blood. And there's plenty flying around the room just now!
Just a little update on work.
Just want to say thanks to everyone for their thoughts, prayers and messages over the last wee while. They have definately worked, as I've settled in really well and had a wonderful first week back at work.

Yesterday we took out more children throughout the day, all of whom I knew two years ago, and they are all just a bit taller. I have been able to go right into all the wards this time to pick up all the kids.
Today I did a bit of physio with the physio at CCD. We used a tilt table! But it's really hard to do stuff with a lot of the more disabled children because they don't understand instructions very well (not that I can say any physio related Thai words anyway) and they have very tight muscles and just require a lot of support. Though the boy who was very very ill for three months when I was here last has made such progress. Which is fantastic because there was a stage everyone thought he wouldn't make it.

Reading a book. He tried to get me to read it but unfortunately for him I don't read Thai!



Standing in the tilt table!

This was Pee Tee just after he came back from sick ward 2 years ago, after I left.

And this is him now. Put on a lot of weight,

grown a lot and able to move around himself.

The physio is now working on trying to get  him

four point kneeling and crawling. And he's much

more aware of his surroundings than he was after

he was ill. 

Last night Lily asked if I could watch her taekwondo so this morning I went to school with them to watch her perform in assembly. She was great! And it was good seeing the school they are at. Then I headed to Fuang Fah for the rest of the morning and just showered the kids and played with them and did some physio stuff. I had lunch in the government staff cantine with a friend which was a new experience. I'm finding eating with the staff a lot of fun and I also don't have to think about what to order elsewhere. Maybe I'm a bit more adventureous this year!

Then this afternoon I went to Rachawadee girls (government orphanage for older girls and ladies) because the Fuange fah staff had a meeting, and just spent some time with some of the girls doing colouring in, playing pairs and other things like that.

So it has been a great week!

First days of work

Yesterday was my first day back at work with CCD and I started at Rainbow house. It was lovely seeing quite a few of the children I knew at the government orphanage 2 years ago, doing so well at Rainbow House. And I also saw one of the staff I used to work with. It was great, just getting a chance to chat to her. A lot of the children I knew who are now at Rainbow house daycare really have progressed! One of them is now talking and the others just seem a lot happier and alert. So I spent the day at Rainbow house yesterday and then at the end of the day got the information I'd been hoping for. I am at Fuang Fah!

So today was my first day back at Fuang Fah (government run orphange) where CCD run a daycare centre for some of the children in the orphanage. It was so nice to be back and once I was about half an hour into the day, it felt like I only left yesterday! Three of the staff are the same, so good to see them again, but trying to find out what each other have been doing over the last 2 years is a bit difficult with limited Thai on my part and limited English from them (though, their English is better than my Thai). I was asked to describe my 'class' (uni) well that's what I understood anyway, so that was some random story. Two of the kids remembered me which was lovely. So there were quite a lot of kids still the same so it was great seeing them again, how they have grown. But I also met a lot of new faces, so it'll be good getting to know some more children. It's great being back with them all.

This morning we did a structured activity which was painting which involved the children (and us) getting very messy, and trying to avoid getting paint absolutely everywhere! Then this afternoon was a bit different from a normal afternoon. We took a few of the children on a trip to Harrow international school where the students at school take our kids to run around a big gym hall and just play with them. It was good fun especially for one wee boy who just runs and runs everywhere. So, thanks to Kru Saen (one of the staff), I have some photos of painting this morning,

Attempting to stick the paper to the table when they're all trying to grab it!

The more artisitc ones...we were just slapping on the paint.





 

Getting reading to go to Harrow.

Thailand!!

So, I have arrived! After a total of about 13 hours on planes and then a 4 hour car journey from the airport (it should have only taken 1 but it was so busy!)
And yes, for all of you who have been asking...it is hot! Not perhaps quite as hot as I remember being the first time I arrived two years ago but it's getting into rainy season now, so a bit cooler. I just have to get used to feeling hot and sticky all the time. And remember and sort of effort gets you very hot! Cycling a bike here is a whole different experience to Scotland. You just have to sit on it to feel hot, far less peddle any distance. Ah well. Such is life here ;)
I have had the weekend to relax and just back into the way of life here, that mainly being the heat! And today has been a bank holiday so I've had an extra day. The weekend has been pretty relaxed, meeting friends for lunch/dinner and went to church yesterday. It is very different from Carrubbers but I'm hoping to try and listen to Wayne's online sermons so I still feel part of that :)
I head to rainbow house (CCD's-run orphanage) tomorrow to meet the volunteer co-ordinator and hopefully find out where I am working (I am really hoping for Fung fah again). So prayer would be welcomed for starting work and see difficult situations here again.

Rachel x