A Little More on Life...

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Miles’ birthday elephant ride is going to have to be postponed for a bit. We need to make a passport run to Ranong for Britt’s visa first. Miles is okay with it as I agreed to throw a birthday party for him at the orphanage and have Rotjana’s okay to do so.

I explained to Miles that the day would be a bit different than his usual understanding of a birthday. First off, it’s unfair for him to receive many gifts and expecially not a big one in front of the kids. He agreed and offered that we get them all gifts too.

Britt and I chatted about it and decided that we would prepare goodie bags for all the kids and Miles would hand them out. As we are headed for Phuket tomorrow, we plan to see if we can find some easy to prepare food that we can have for the party. Something still in the spirit of a birthday party. (hot dogs maybe).

Balloons will be a big thing. All the kids love balloons. I am not sure about a cake, as finding an oven will be tough here. Ice cream is the likely choice.

Miles will get a single gift later that day for himself. He gets to choose his own at the Tesco in Phuket.

My friend Bom is expecting and she and I have a close friendship. She and I are the official “hospirtal visitors” whenever a child is sick there. Little Fie is still there with Dengue, yesterday Sau was admitted and there have been three other children admitted over the past two weeks who have mumps.

Mumps has gone around this place like wildfire. I think 12 children have contracted it since we arrived. I am thankful for the immunizations malie and Buud have as the kids here suffer terribly with it. Mae Cee has been to the orphanage a nmber of times with her blue face paint and incantations. She too contracted mumps last week.

So far none of the staff have had it, but two of the older boys suffered through quite the case of it.

Bom took me today to meet a little newborn girl named Frang. There is the possibility that she will join us here at the orphanage. Her mother is ill and if it is not diagnosed as HIV, then she will join us soon. If her mother does have HIV, baby Frang will go to Surat Thani where there is an orphanage for AIDS orphans. We do not have the qualified staff to deal with her here.

She is a beautiful, healthy baby girl. (In the picture she is one day old).

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We had a wonderfully busy Saturday. The new Singapore volunteer arrived last night and today was her first day. Kat returns home on Monday, which is one of the reasons we are traveling to Phuket. Pee K, as she will be known here is a great English teacher. The kids took all of five minutes to warm up to her. She is much older than most of the Singapore volunteers, so her status is different as well.

She loves the spicy Thai food and has settled in really well with the orphanage staff too. I think it will be good.

Rotjana came over to the orphanage today for a coupe of hours. She has had one chemo treatment and looks so weak. You can see she is struggling to stay smiling for the kids. I am so uncomfortable when I see her. I want to sit and hold her hand, but Thai culture dictates that a person who is ill deals with it themselves. Showing visible concern is not done here. A few kind words and the point of acknowledgment is all that is expected. Fawning over someone who is sick is considered rude and serves only to make the person uncomfortable in public.

Still, it is personally so hard to see the strong and willful Rotjana weak and in pain.

I have been working on the volunteer handbook. So far it is going to be 8 pages long and will consist of a section that covers a bit of history, some of the kids stories (anonymous of course) and sections on the staff, expectations and other items. I am so pleased to have been given this project! I have even been asked to use the photograph’s I took for the publication. Yay!

My other projects here are moving slowly. Without Rotjana, it has taken time to reintegrate myself into the circle of staff again, but I have been invited now to attend the meeting etc. Things will be easier now. The sponsorship project is going to take some time. Kwang attended a meeting in Khao Lak yesterday and used the powerpoint presentation we made to highlight the psycho-social affects of the Tsunami and the realities of daily life here for her presentation. The meeting was a precursor to a larger forum that we will attend in November that discusses how best to serve the kids here and address some of the issues we face.

Our family life and daily schedule is starting to get organized and feel routine-like now.
Our usual days consist of distinct parts finally, punctuated with good meals and lots of social conversation.
We get up at 7:30 ( I am still trying to push myself for a 7am start), then the kids make their bed and fold up the blankets so the bugs/mold/etc don’t get too comfy. They then line-up for powdering (talc) and get dressed. I don my sarong right out of bed and take a quick splash bath and dress while the kids are tidying their bedding. I feed them (now that I have a kitchen, I feel compelled to serve food here that isn’t instant noodles, although the kids still like cereal if they can get it.

I ship the kids off to the orphanage to say their good mornings after brushing their teeth.
When they go, I sweep out the baan, mop if needed and fold up my own bedding. I wash the dishes and head over for a morning coffee and to help Bom, Nit and Bai tidy up the orphanage. The kids leave to their schools by 8:30 at the very latest, but most are gone by 8am. A quick sweep, garbage check, bathroom rinse and wipe down is all that is necessary. I settle for my coffee with Bom and whatever other staff is there by 8:45. we chat for a half hour, eat, observe. It’s pretty laid back actually. Then I gather Miles and Marrin up for their own school.

Britt helps each morning, so Malie and Buud have one tutor a piece for their work. It’s great to have that much focus. We work until noon when the kids are sent over to the orphanage again for lunch. (Usually rice and some stewed meat).

Afternoons now consist of Malie’s dance lesson at 1pm, Buud’s karate at the same time and I disappear back to the house for an hour of LSAT study time. Arghhhhhh……!

I am registered to write it in December in Bangkok and have only one more shot in February before my application period runs out. It’s a challenge to say the least and I am seriously wondering about my ability to make the minimum score necessary.

Whatever, I’ll do what I am capable of.

After study, we usually head to the market or internet or wherever is needed for whatever is needed. By four pm we are back at the orphanage with the kids as they get back from school. Evenings are my favorite time. After two hours of general play and conversation,
The little kids head off to shower and powder. I take Malie and Buud ka baan to do the same and send them back with white faces and white thai fisherman pants to join the line of kids on the patio in front of the staff on duty. Miles hates this part, but he is slowly getting the idea. The little children sit cross legged in meditation pose until tapped to go and line up for a tin plate of food. Then they all sit down again in facing lines with their arms crossed until the very last child has been released from meditation and has taken her place in line with the food plate in front of them.

Only then is the Thai prayer recited (which both kids have learned now!) and then everyone eats.

THAI CHILDREN’S DINNER PRAYER

KAAO TOOK JAN
AH HAAN TOOK YA
YA GIN TING KWANG
BIN KO ME KAH
POOKUN OT YA
ME MAHK NAK NA
SONG SAN BAAN DA
DEK DA DUM DUM
KOR KRAP KHUN KA

The staff and older children (Dek Toe) wait until the children are sent off lang meu (to wash hands) and then brush teeth before setting out plates of rice around bowls of steaming food (two or three dishes).

After the meal, there is a “kids” meeting for a few minutes. This is the time when the daily rules are recited, news shared and questions asked. Sometimes it is an hour long, but usually 15 minutes.

The little kids go then to the teaching area for their English lesson. It is usually a half hour and tons of fun. Reciting, stickers, and lots of snuggling as little kids pick favorite laps to curl up into to copy their alphabets.

The last part of the evening can be sheer chaos until the kids are called upstairs to mediate and say their prayers. This is when the kids and I head home again.
Brushed teeth and their own meditation time before bed.

Britt and the volunteers usually come over for a while after that for talks and a drink.
It’s a good schedule and quite full despite missing 8-11 hours of “work” in the middle. I miss the 8-6 job dictated life that I have in Canada, but I relish the closeness of community I have here.

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I discovered that Britney Spears sells weight displacing underwear in this country! I swear that discovering a package with her head photo shopped onto a model selling underwear was the highlight of my day. I pissed off the vendor by whipping out my camera and snapping pics with enthusiasm without asking. Oops…

Nan grabbed my camera again, so there is another nice pic of him and us grinning for your pleasure. And…if anyone out there can identify the strange creature depicted in the sketches, can you please let me know so I can get them out of my nightmares!?

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Photos

When I have free time, I paint things...
Seriously, I started a trend i think.....

baby and Bom at the hospital
The woman holding Baby is her Yai (grandmother)

Comments

[dian mccreary]

Sounds like a very full day, good you're studying LSAT Good for you, believe you can do it and you will do it. As for the strange creature. It looks like something out of Alice in Wonderland, the mad hatter and the March Hare or something.