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Published: December 25th 2006
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Lines of Privilege
There was no water at the orphanage today. The lines between the main road and the village of Phru Teow were cut accidentally by a team of excavators clearing land for apartments. The staff had to haul water for bathing by motocyc this morning for the children, but many opted simply to jump in to the klong running behind the village.
I opted out of that after being warned of a variety of nasties living in those waters.
The day was spent repairing the dance costumes that are badly in need of replacement in some cases (I have a plan for this and am in negotiations with the shop in Takuapa for a new sewing machine for the orphanage. The one they have now is a relic to be nice about it. Foot power driven and rusted so badly, no cloth escapes unstained by the residue. We’ll see if it can be afforded.)
So, by hand we stitched seams, trimmed hanging threads and made patches out of the closest available cloth.
Tonight the children perform for the Sarojin Resort in Khuk Kak. This place runs about 400 CDN per night.
They are so
excited….The school uniform shirts have been ironed and starched, the white canvas runners, patched and bleached with peroxide and sunlight and the kids washed as best as can be expected with river water (no one is willing to use soap in case it harms their favorite fishing spot) .
Rotjana is nervous and she flits around the orphanage fussing over small things and smiling in an odd forced way. She is very nervous at having been asked to perform for such an elite crowd. Even the staff seems nervous.
The kids and I have been practicing the Christmas songs, Jingle Bells, We Wish You a Merry Christmas and Deck the Halls. Also a version of Silent Night has been thrown in for good measure. Before the volunteers left, Pennyela and Marina taught the kids these songs and it was left to me to continue the practice until tonight. All in all, it is a sweet way to celebrate for the kids.
“jindu bew, jindu bew, jundu aw da waaayyy. Oh what fun it is tu wi in a one hor open say…Hey!”
Even Malie and Buus have started singing the songs in that heavy accented way.
Really, only the tune is recognizable..the words stumbled over, but so beautiful. If I had a tape recorder….well.
We dressed all the kids in the green and red striped skirts (frayed hems and all) school uniform shirts and white socks and shoes. To add to the effect, one of the sponsors last year bought a bagful of Christmas caps. We added red bows to the collars and “voila!” instant Christmas.
We loaded up the van and the back of the pick up truck with 34 kids and off we went to the super-fancy-swanky-pants resort about a 20 min ride down the main road.
There was absolute silence as we pulled up to the staff entrance around the back of the resort…even two-year old Pbalen was quiet. The Sarojin is massive and completely rebuilt post-Tsunami. I am told this resort lost over 50 employees in the Tsunami. I am unsure of the count for guests.
We ate dinner with the staff in the canteen area and the kids were so impressed with all the staffs uniforms. Everyone in Thailand loves uniforms it seems. A sign of belonging somewhere is very important.
After we ate, we were filed
into the main courtyard and lined up in the steps. A variety of extremely well-dressed guest began emerging from their equally well-appointed suites and took up the seats in the Sala.
Then the kids sang….we were introduced as children form a local school this time. (Every performance is interesting when we perform for foreigners. They seem to make up the story as they go along sometimes. Rotjana ALWAYS sets the record straight at the end when she thanks the hosts for the invitation to perform and then says a thank you from the “real” us.
The kids were rewarded with a quiet round of applause and then the guest began the picture taking session.
This always amuses me. People are fascinated but not enough o come too close. In a setting such as this, you could see the lines drawn clearly. Guests would position their own children about five feet in front of the kids from the orphanage and then take a photo from a distance.
I have to laugh at this as I was at that time covered in Bpalen’s snot all over the shoulder of my white blouse as she had fallen asleep during the dinner and has a cold right now.
I couldn’t help but imagine if one of the children had sneezed just then! I don’t mean to sound uppity or at all rude, I just found it so obvious during the evening; the difference between privilege and survival.
Another good example happened a bit later when the children all filed down to the “Martini lounge” overlooking a miniature golf course where the guests were all seated on little raised platforms lounging on cushions and being fed wine and cheese. Three of the younger boys, Gai, Ghan and An HAD to pee, so Rotjana asked Suut (the driver and a dear, dear man) to take them. He promptly led them over the green about 10 feet from the closest guest’s platform and let them pee in the pond!
I just about killed myself laughing as one little light haired girl stood pointing, with her hand over her mouth and her eyes wide open. LOL
I love my life….
Anyway, the kids all loved to perform and who cares anyway where they pee! It was twilight anyway…LOL
The boys scampered back into their places just as Deck the Halls started. Next they lit small candles to wing Silent night as the night finally fell. We only had to put out three mini fires as the napkins around their base caught fire….and yes, Miles’ was one of them.
When we got back to the orphanage this evening, we were all lined up and handed yellow shirts for tomorrow’s celebrations. We are up at 7am for a walk (parade) between the temple in Bang Muang (our temple grounds) and the Ban Nam Kaem Memorial. Tomorrow marks the first of two days of the Tsunami memorial. Yellow is worn here for a variety of purposes. It is Monday for one, and the Monday color is yellow for the King, yellow is the color of Thailand and it is the color of memorial. We will walk in memory of all the spirits tomorrow and then in the evening we will dance to celebrate life.
Till then….
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