Rice for disabled children

Each month we supply 6000Baht's worth of rice for badly physically and mentally disabled children from the slum of Pattaya.

Because of their disabilities the children need a higher grade quality of rice than is affordable to most families. Sam who runs the rice project in Pattaya makes the deliveries on the first Saturday of every month.

http://www.slumkids.org/

                                               100 Years From Today
It will not matter how big your bank account was, the sort of house you lived in, or the kind of car you drove. But the world may be a little better because your help touched the life of one child.

UK sponsor's lunch with his student

Well, yesterday's outing proceeded as expected - a huge success.  Richard (always bright and cheerful) was his usual larger than life self and Prateep, by comparison, still tiny and somewhat in awe of him. He was, however, looking a bit better than when we last saw him.  He was wearing a black T-shirt and denim shorts and seemed to have 'scrubbedup' for his special day out. He's such a good kid.

As last year, he chose Pizza Co. for lunch.  He still avoided the chicken and the salad like the plague, but he did enjoy his pizza.

When asked if there was anything he needed he took a long time to think about it, but in the end said he needed clothes, so off we went into our favourite store to see what we could find.

As you'll see from the photo's, he had a ball.  He was quite particular - considered everything and wouldn't be talked into anything that wasn't exactly what he had in mind.  Like all the young boys of his age he proved to be a Ben 10 fan, so he'd be 'Cock of the Roost' when he got home, because in addition to clothes, he had sandals, a cap and a BIG Ben 10 water gun (and special shirt) ready for Songkran.  He was beaming like a Cheshire Cat when Richard spotted the gun, as you can imagine.

When we took him home, we hardly recognized the place it's changed so much.  There was little evidence of the old recycling business, and structures had been pulled down and new structures put up - a number of bays could be seen, and a new 'carport' erected.  There was also a lady whom we hadn't seen before, so we'll have to go over next week and see what's going on.  At least the children seem to be in the same room as before - their little concrete two roomed area is still standing - but one wonders for how long?

Anyway, I think from Richard's point of view it was a good visit and he said that perhaps next time, since his visit at this time of year falls in the school holidays, they might do something different.  It being his last day before leaving, there really wasn't enough time to go far away from 'home' this trip. 

http://www.slumkids.org/

                                                                             100 Years From Today
It will not matter how big your bank account was, the sort of house you lived in, or the kind of car you drove. But the world may be a little better because your help touched the life of one child.

Bunk beds for the kids

After paying for repairs to the slum shack where these children live we have now supplied a set of bunk beds that will free up living space for the family.

The beds were delivered today so for once in their lives the kids will not have to sleep on the floor.

http://www.slumkids.org/

                                                                                     100 Years From Today
It will not matter how big your bank account was, the sort of house you lived in, or the kind of car you drove. But the world may be a little better because your help touched the life of one child.

A child needing a sponsor for his schooling

NARUBASS  Ref. 126    DOB: 13/4/04

This student has recently lost his mother and the father has not yet been able to come to terms with this death.  Mum was only in her twenties and had died of cancer.

Dad's work is roof construction, but the work is intermittent and he has no settled income.  They have no home and have moved in with the maternal grandma, who has been given one room (on the premises) as part of her 'perks' as a cleaner in a condominium.  Father is sleeping outside on a couch.

Monthly income from grandma is 7,000 B.

The family wanted to move Narubass from his current school  to one  which would be nearer for he and his sister, but Suky has asked them to call his present  school and speak to the teacher, and ask if the free school bus could be made available to them.

The younger brother (Natapong 'New' DOB 3.8.2006) is in Kindergarten and also needs to be made a scholarship student.

This is a family who would benefit greatly from a regular food drop, at least until their situation is clearer.

http://pattayastreetkids.homestead.com/childrenneedingsponsors.html

                                               100 Years From Today
It will not matter how big your bank account was, the sort of house you lived in, or the kind of car you drove. But the world may be a little better because your help touched the life of one child.

Sponsors needed to enable children to attend school.

With the new school year starting in May we are now receiving applications for scholarships from children living in some of the poorest conditions in Pattaya.

Without sponsorship many children from the slums will never had the opportunity to go to school and they will have few prospects for a decent future. On our website we give brief details and photos of the children that we are seeking sponsors for and more children are added as new application are received. If you are interested in sponsoring a child either just for a year or on a longer term basis please take a look at this page on our website: http://pattayastreetkids.homestead.com/childrenneedingsponsors.html

       100 Years From Today
It will not matter how big your bank account was, the sort of house you lived in, or the kind of car you drove. But the world may be a little better because your help touched the life of one child.

Annual Report. April 2012

Annual Report April 2012

CHAIRMANS REPORT

To start with we would like to say a big `Thank You' to all of you who still continue to support us especially during the financial crisis which many of us are still experiencing. We are all the time getting to hear of families in desperate need of help, and with this in mind the Secretary and myself have decided to 'Adopt' a Family, a young lady with 2 children, to try and help out with the 'basics' each month.

We are delighted to report that the response to the New Year Parties was excellent. Thank you one and all.

This year our visit to Pattaya was a busy one, seeing different children and visiting one of our projects of helping to rebuild a home that was damaged by the floods. We also visited the New MERCY Home, a lovely new building which will we hope help those children living there feel they are secure and can have  a happy life.

Seeing more of their way of life has definitely left its mark on me, so the `thinking cap' is once again on for ideas of more fundraising to help these people.

It is still quite unbelievable that their way of life being so very basic yet there is always a `smile' when you meet them and the children appear happy.

Without your help we would not be able to achieve as much as we do. Thank you.

Once again a special thanks to the team in Pattaya for all their help.

Kath Hutt. Chairman

----------------------------------

Treasurer's Report

There is little doubt that this Financial Year has been somewhat challenging from both the fund-raising and how best to spend the money points of view. The continuing financial problems around the world have placed restraints on money people have been able to use for charitable donations and understandably a few sponsors have had to withdraw from the scholarship scheme. However all is not doom and gloom, we have continued to enjoy the support of the Lady Boys of Bangkok touring show here in the UK who have by organising a retiring bucket collection at the end of their shows during 2011 raised £14,720 for us from their audiences. We are delighted that not only was the show's owner Philip Gandey able to make a visit to meet the MERCY team in Pattaya and to visit the new MERCY home during a fleeting two-hour visit to the city but also that the Lady Boys of Bangkok shows will be collecting for us again this year as well as promoting us on their website. Another show-biz connection is in Jomtien, Pattaya where Ray Cornell owner of the Venue hotel and showbar also held a number of fund raising evenings on our behalf and he has personally supported the work of the Hauy Phong Children's Home. Our local Rotary clubs have also been generous in their support so we have been able to maintain the monthly food parcels that many of our students receive. 

We have taken more children onto our scholarship scheme throughout the year and there are more applications in the pipeline for the new school year which starts in May. We have been able to find individual sponsors for 95% of the children and are continuing to pay for the school costs for those children as yet not sponsored. We have not had to turn any applications away thanks to the continuing support and the generosity of so many people who have made donations throughout the year.

During my six-week visit to Pattaya during December and January I was, thanks to the amazing organisation of the MERCY team, able to meet almost of all the kids we are helping and visit many of their homes as well as the projects we are supporting. Our Chairman Kath Hutt and Secretary Joy Adams also saw much of the work during their holiday in November. It is always good to see for ourselves what is going on five-thousand miles away from home although the MERCY team do keep us well up to date with everything during the year with weekly reports and photos.

We decided to help the new MERCY Home complete the purchase of bunk-beds for all of the twenty eight children as many were sleeping on mattresses on the floor. Not only was this not particularly comfortable but it also took up a lot of space that could be better used if the kids had bunk-beds. We also helped with finance for tables and items of learning equipment for the kids at the Home.

At the Hauy Phong Children's Home we were able to purchase forty-one metal lockers for the boys' dormitories as well as sports equipment. The New Year Party for the three-hundred and fifty kids at the home and the other parties came in just a few pence over the donations specifically given for those events. Our thanks to everyone who supported the appeal for the Hauy Phong Home party, the students' party and the combined MERCY kids and slum kids' party.

We met the cost of the materials needed for rebuilding the home of one of our students that had been destroyed by the flooding in Pattaya in October and we have helped with the refurbishment and repair costs of others. As in previous years bedding has been on the list of needs for many of the children and where possible we have supplied bunk-beds which not only avoid the kids having to sleep on mats on the often damp floors but  this also frees up much needed space in what are in most cases only very small rooms.

Apart from the regular monthly food and water deliveries we have stepped in to assist where children have needed medical attention and continued to support the 'Share Love with a Friend' project that supports badly disabled children from the slums with rice, water, milk, and medical needs. The project is run by Sam a former employee of MERCY Pattaya and someone we have worked with for a few years.

Visiting sponsors have often continued to extend additional support to the kids and this has in turn released our funds to be used for other children. With rising costs it is important that we maximise every last penny and to this end we are grateful to MERCY Pattaya for carrying out the work in the field and bearing the costs of staff and transport costs from their own funds.

We hope that either from the information on our website or from our Blog: 

http://pattayakids.blogspot.co.uk/ that you can see that all of the donations are being used to help children who without support would in many cases through lack of food and nutrition suffer illnesses . We have learned that some children when the parents on any particular day do not have money for either the bus fare to school or the school snack simply do not attend. To combat this problem we have allocated funds that will be used specifically to pay for bus fares and school snacks when the need arises. The requests for assistance will be monitored by both MERCY and the schools to make sure every request for assistance is valid.

In conclusion the Trustees wish to thank everybody who has supported the charity with either general donations, sponsorship or goods in kind, all of  which have enabled us to continue to help the kids, your help has been invaluable and  your generosity quite outstanding considering the current financial climate. We hope that you will see your way clear to continue your support no matter how small, every last penny can make a difference to kids that are so less fortunate than ourselves.

Don Ford. Treasurer

100 Years From Today
It will not matter how big your bank account was, the sort of house you lived in, or the kind of car you drove. But the world may be a little better because your help touched the life of one child.

Sponsors' visit for lunch and shopping.

We've just come back from a delightful lunch and shopping trip with Steve and Dan - always a real pleasure.  They are such nice chaps, and still have that wonderful innocence of the young!

Since they had originally booked in at a hotel  close to Tukcom, and we knew it would be congested, we suggested meeting at 'Cucumber' for lunch, so they could just walk down and meet us there - which they did.  However, by the time we met them they'd already decamped over to a different hotel  (where they'd stayed before) as they couldn't get any sleep.  It seems that nothing stopped until 4.00am over that way.

So we had a welcome change from KFC or Maes Y Ruen, for which we thanked them most enthusiastically.  It's such a pleasant atmosphere in Cucumber, and quiet - so you can have a conversation comfortably.  Palm just had khao phad goong and water.  Steve offered her the dessert menu, but she didn't take him p on it.

Afterwards we went over to our favourite store where Palm chose a very feminine T-shirt and tiered multi coloured skirt, an attractive white and blue dress, a pink bag and sandals to match, and some underwear.  She was just thrilled.  She's grown so much since last year (almost as tall as Suky) and completely lost the gawkiness she had previously, just blossomed.

When asked what she'd be doing over the holidays, she said she'd be staying at home and playing with her friends and little brother.  Her favourite subject at school appears to be Health and Social Studies (the translation wasn't clear).

After she'd chosen her clothes the boys asked if she would like to take something home for the family, so we did our 'usual' shop - rice, oil, fish sauce, seasoning, canned fish, noodles, Ovaltine, jam and bread, apples and flavoured milk, plus a bag of soap powder.  When we got to the house, Mum was just thrilled and greeted us with a beaming smile.

So - I think everyone was happy, although Steve would have been even happier if we could have persuaded Palm to have a Swenson's ice cream after her shopping - but she was adamant.  I felt for him, you know what I'm like when it comes to ice cream - but we were thwarted.  Another day...

http://www.slumkids.org/

                       100 Years From Today
It will not matter how big your bank account was, the sort of house you lived in, or the kind of car you drove. But the world may be a little better because your help touched the life of one child.

Help for the MERCY Children's Home

Following our visit to the MERCY Home in January , we  agreed to help the Home by financing the purchase of bunk-beds, bedding and also items for the Early Learning Centre at a total cost of £1800. the majority of the funds will come from money raised by the audiences of the Lady boys of Bangkok touring show in the UK.

http://www.ladyboysofbangkok.co.uk/Pattaya-Street-Kids.html

100 Years From Today
It will not matter how big your bank account was, the sort of house you lived in, or the kind of car you drove. But the world may be a little better because your help touched the life of one child.

Two French sponsors visit their students

It was a joy to meet two such delightful sponsors as Dominique and Bruno.  They were just what the doctor ordered - pleasant, fun, and so caring.  They couldn't do enough for the boys - Suky really had to rein them in.  

When we asked the boys what kind of food they would enjoy, they chose Thai - which made the sponsors very happy, as they said they only eat Thai food when they come to Thailand (this is their 7th year, and they usually come twice a year).  So off we went to Maes Y Ruen, where the boys chose duck, and Khao Man Gai, iced lemon tea, and ice cream for dessert. 

In Tesco Lotus the boys, initially very shy, soon got to enjoy the freedom they had to choose several outfits (four tops and shorts), new sandals, underwear, socks and a toy each.  On the way out they were also given their choice of watches, and one chose purple and the other sea green.  They were so pleased, and Pongsakornt, who initially said he didn't want a watch, was checking the time every few seconds...

Unfortunately, although they wanted sports shoes, there just weren't any in their size, so since we weren't tied to the usual 2 hour school slot and the sponsors had  nothing but time, we took them to Naklua where they had a field day choosing new sports shoes - one green, one red.

Then, loaded down with all their shopping, Boonying took them home.

It's just so great when everything goes so well.

www.slumkids.org