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Published: December 25th 2007
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Our Christmas this year will consist of a New Years Party for 53 Thai Buddhist children 41 Burmese children, 18 Indian children, 34 Thai Muslim children, 16 Nepali children and Marrin and Miles, the only two Caucasian children.
This party is the second one the people in this region have held for children here, some Tsunami survivors, some Burmese illegals, some children of vendors from India and Nepal and residents along the coast. Marrin and Miles and I are donating our last personal funds to support it, about $483.00 CDN.
The project is usually funded by a friend in Khao Lak, but a personal tragedy ate up the funds halfway through the planning of this party (it takes a lot to coordinate that many kids and adults, none of whom speak the same language!!!) So the kids and I agreed to step in and offer our help. (The bunkbeds will have to wait until the next trip…or until I can raise the money at home.)
Anyway, enough about money talk! The fun part is planning this shindig!
Rotjana is the official “planner” of the party, but she quickly enlisted myself and Loung Marc to do the grit
work. Together we have agreed to use the empty “Samsung Centre of Hope”…the one in Ban Bang Niang I complained about in my reality check blog. It will be the first time it’s been used for…well anything.
New Life to good intentions (point one). The idea will be to open the party with a representative of each group of children (Burmese, Thai Muslim, Thai Buddhist, Nepali, Indian, and…well, Marrin and Miles) Each set of representatives, one boy and one girl, will take the stage in their traditional costume and say their names and Happy New Year in their own language.
Our goal this year is sharing and inclusiveness…a better plan compared to last year’s party when …someone…..decided it best that the Burmese kids be separated out from the group, the Nepali and Indian children were cut from the guest list at the last moment and a few groups, came by ate, loaded up their “portion” of the gifts and left early….we had tourist groups show up that “heard about it” from hotels and as a result of the unexpected attendance, we ran out of food and gifts for those the party was intended for….
Positive side of
the coin: We are more careful this year and have kept the party quiet from the tourist eye. Not that we wouldn’t invite them if they wanted to join us…we just need to know in advance to provide enough…
Anyway, we also learned that buying food is too expensive (point two), so this year we have hired a few village women to cook mass pots of favorites and hired three ice cream carts for the event. The plan is to have a simple couple hours gathering involving all the kids, games, dancing and lots of music and treats. We will be giving out a “gift” to each child that has a numbered wrist band (by invitation) and are hosting it in a contained area…not Baan Sak (public) Beach.
At the end of the party, we will all gather together to sing the King’s song. Rotjana thinks this is a wonderful way to close off the party…a unifying moment if you will, for the groups living here.
The party planning is a bit of a nightmare. Sabrina (volunteer from Buddhist fellowship) and I managed to put together 155 goodie bags…okay I helped with 96 of them…then got
bored of stuffing…and with the help of Khun Allyson’s donated gifts (friend of BTN from Phuket), Khun Stephen (sponsor) and Khun Karen and Ray, we have enough gifts for every child. We have food and invited guests covered. The staff at BTN are responsible for the party games (thank goodness…) and everyone else has set up, take down and assistance duties. Pee Kwang and I are photographers (this is a self appointed job on my part…)
It is shaping up nicely!
Tonight we hit a glitch…kind of a big one. The second page of the Bangkok Post today (Wednesday December 19 2007) had a small but highlighted article about a “prediction” by a horoscope reader in Brazil. Apparently this horoscope indicates that another Tsunami is set to hit our area on December 22 or 23. Fascinatingly enough, these are two days immediately prior to the democratic election the current government doesn’t want to go on. Also interestingly enough, Phang Nga has been littered with “unsanctioned” notices about the event. In a region still recovering from the last catastrophic Tsunami, this has nearly incited mass panic.
Four hours this afternoon were dedicated to the staff and children
in fear discussing what they should do. (Yes, we are safe here…10 km inland from the coastline).
There is a significant amount of weight put on horoscopes and it was enough to have Khun Rotjana telephone from her hospital bed in Surat Thani where she will undergo Chemo in the morning. She very decisively cancelled the location for the party in Bang Ban Niang. We have moved the party to the orphanage. (Bang Ban Niang lost almost all of its infrastructure. Most of the town sits within 500 meters of the sea.) We have also changed the time to noon. The party will end at 3pm.
At 3pm, we (the staff and children) will be relocating to a temple in Surat Thani province to wait out the days supposedly pinpointed.
The mass hysteria aside, would like to now mention that as of 6:13 pm this evening, the government has effectively cancelled the election for public safety (no point in mentioning that even if one hit, only five provinces “might” be affected….but it’s enough excuse to cancel an election…eh?
We’ll see what tomorrow brings…
What a mess. Half the Andaman Coast is shutting down because someone
half way across the world decided to distribute pamphlets warning of a doomsday wave …again…on the coast here. (I am going to fee really stupid for saying that if the unthinkable happens…). We have relocated the party and changed the time…but getting a hold of groups of kids that hide out most of the time is proving a nightmare. My partner in crime, Loung Marc is having a hell of a time with getting people together now.
The Orphanage is planning on evacuating into the hillside (even though we are safe here). I am worried about what I should do. The part will go on…we just aren’t sure in what form!
Well..the party has settled itself at 9am tomorrow morning. We have over one hundred confirmed kids coming and Naa Bai has been cooking all day. It’s shaping up alright despite the slight current of nervousness. The patio is decorated with hundreds of balloons and the girls are going to dance (Malie too!) There are gifts AND goodie bags for every child (THANK YOU AGAIN SPONSORS!!!)
Children form Baan Tharn Namchai, Home Life, Grassroots, Khok Khain and ITV will be here bright and early!
It’s 2:30 pm and
we just wrapped up the party. It was a blast. Two of the groups weren’t able to make it unfortunately, but we still had over a hundred kids. We started the party by singing the King’s anthem, and then reps from each group came to the stage and offered well wishes. Khun Root from Home Life was very thankful to be invited. I am just pleased he could come!
We had all the groups show off their dance skills and the staff kept everyone hopping with games for a few hours. The goodie bags had tickets in them for treats that corresponded to a numbered gift. The kids really liked the idea of an anonymous “secret” gift. Naa Bai cooked all night to make enough food and it was wonderful. The kids ate tons and there were leftovers!
The pictures tell the story really, but a HUGE thank you for the sponsors for today’s party! Happy Holidays!
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