One Week

---

A foot from my bed a mass of ants is devouring the last carcass of fly from this evenings kill. Every night hundreds of flying things get zapped or fried by the lights on the porch or in the apartment…thankfully only a few carcasses land on my indoor flooring….but by an hour after sundown there is nothing left but a clean floor.

Voracious ants in these parts…

Well, we are back from our little break, Sang gave me a lift home and a huge deal on the room there. We paid 1000 baht for everything (motorcyc included), that’s about 30 bucks CDN.

I am so tired….I wish I could sleep in this country….I’ll be happy to curl up in my own bed in a month or so.

We have only been here a week tomorrow, but it feels like much longer…in a good way I think. There is so much learning and calculating and living I do here in a day….

A few of the kids came by tonight to greet us back home…so many smiles. We hadn’t really expected to be away last night, so they didn’t really know where we were. But it has set the pattern for weekends away if we want.

Tomorrow is an early day, so I’ll chat more then.

Ladree Sawad


Today was a hard day, a trying day and a sad day.

In the past week I have watched one culture struggle to come to terms with the ideals of another, and watch all be tested as a result.
The other volunteers leave on Friday, and after living here for five months and working daily with the staff and children to help make the orphanage better for everyone, there is a little bit of panic setting in. The volunteers know how much effort and focus it takes to work with the children here, not just because of the numbers but the traumas as well. The staff are not trained and many suffer from the same problems. An often discussed issue is the lack of qualified staff and it came to a head yesterday.



A few issues arose as a result of not having enough qualified staff on site and with punishment and appropriate discipline. Sometimes it can be taken to the extreme as a result of frustration.
Later the two social worker volunteers got wind of the events and combined with their concern of things not being managed well after they leave (a real concern if things don’t change) made a big deal about it. They were very verbal and upset at the staff, even going so far as to call Rotjhana and demand she talk to the staff about the events.

There are laws here protecting the children from abuse and hitting a child is against the law here. Rotjhana did not understand the severity of it at first.

Today Rotjhana was absent from the centre during the morning and the staff were completely disrespectful to the volunteers. They even removed one of the younger children from their care. Making a point that they were not welcome.

After some time, a few phone calls to Rotjhana and Ton, (the psychiatrist) and the volunteers (myself included) leaving for a bit to let things cool off, everyone sat down in the common area for a proper talk. The children also attended and had a turn to each say something if they needed.

The result was positive I think. The staff are frustrated at not knowing how to best deal with the children en mass and how to care for them as many are just young themselves; they are a bit defiant towards the “foreigner volunteers” who tell them how to care for their own children in their own country (true, but the volunteers are professionals brought here for that purpose); Rotjhana is feeling the strain of lack of infrastructure and more needs (staff and help) and the kids have been away from school for the week for the King’s holiday and everyone needs a break.

In the end, friends were friends again and certain rules established and the reasons understood. I pray everything went ok tonight as they all went to perform at a celebration in Ban Muang. I opted to stay back with the kids as Marrin is fighting a bit of belly troubles and threw up today. (She is fine now and ate a huge late supper)

Anyway, It’s time for some smiles as enough tears were shed today.


Many of you have asked what and how to send necessities to the orphanage.
Following is a list of things needed and an address to post packages to. If you are going to send money, it is best to send it to the Foundation headquarters in Bangkok. I will forward that address later.

Items needed:
Lice shampoo (Large bottles if possible)
Antibiotic ointment
Cream for rashes
1%!C(MISSING)ortate creams
Antifungal creams
Baby diaper rash ointment
Coloring books
Kindergarten English story books
Kindergarten and grade one workbooks for Language Arts
Baby blankets (the cotton softie ones you can buy in a pack for burping cloths)
Boys and girls underwear (sizes 4-12 child)
I have added this item as the ones they sell in this country are junk...they fall apart in a week and the kids end up going without. For the older girls especially, this is a modesty and pride issue as they cannot afford to go buy a pair or two a week as many women here do.

Items wanted:
Puzzles
Craft supplies
Kid’s scissors

I am sure there are other things and I will add them to the blog I am made aware. Any type of first aid materials are good as the cuts, scrapes and wounds here get infected and explode so quickly. Miles already has a few good spots that will scar. There is medical care here, but unless the hospital is nearby, or a nurse’s station it is inadequate and the common knowledge of first aid among many of the poor in nil. The awareness of a medicine for a rash is completely foreign.

This morning I had Miles sitting on the front stop as I was tending to a particularly bad cut on his foot and two young mothers from across the street came over with their babies in tow. One child, about a year old had a horrible infection behind her ear and on her ankle. Another older girl had a bad infection on her belly skin (likely caused by a diaper rash turned bad). Both are so easily treated in Canada and other places. I washed both wounds with iodine and saline. The older girl I gave a small dose of antibiotics to ( I sent one of the older boys from the orphanage to the “pharmacy” for a weeks worth of antibiotics, and the little one I coated her wounds with antibiotic ointment. If the healing starts I can use a low dose cortate cream on it as well. Both women I told to come back in the morning. I hope I have enough to go around.

Well, I better hope I make it into paramedic school when I get back, because I think I know my responsibility for next time I am back…basic medial attention is so desperately needed in the poor villages.

Enough for now…..
Talk to you all again soon.
s

Rotjana Phraesrithong
156/81 Ban Than Nam Jai
M. 7 Ban Pruteaw Bangnaisi
Takuapa Phang Na 82110

---

Comments

[wendy]

keep it up, white angel
you are wonderful for simply stepping up to whatever comes your way. my prayers are with you and the kids as you continue the journey.