The after shocks from the earthquake on May 6th seemed to have subsided as I didn't feel any yesterday during the day or last night. I am thankful for that as I was able to get a good night's sleep. Feel refreshed today. There are several districts here in the Chiang Rai province that have been declared disaster areas and the government is helping them repair buildings and roadways damaged by the quake. Seems like business as usual here in my neighborhood. The roof tiles on the house have been repaired and the children are fine. Thank you for all of your well wishes, thoughts and prayers over the past few days. We are all grateful for them.
There have been lots of changes to our operation during my furlough and since I have returned. The changes are based on a number of different factors and we believe they will be the very best for the children we are supporting here in Chiang Rai.
You may recall that when I first decided to come over here, I was planning on living here full time and spending most of my time here in Thailand. In the months since I have been here, I have changed my mind. There are a number of different reasons for this and it would take a lot of time to explain it all to you in the blog, so I will highlight just a few.
Now that I think about my decision in hindsight I am not certain why I never realized the affect this move would have on me in terms of my family. As many of you know, my family is my life blood and even though I have new members here, I simply cannot get over the ever present ache for those I left back home. I miss them all desperately. Most days when I can stay busy, the void is filled with the activities of the children and the home, but it is at night when I am alone that I feel the ache the strongest.
Even with all of my attempts to integrate into the "family" here, I am still treated as someone special. The way the Thai's are raised makes it impossible for them to treat me like one of them and they will always treat me differently. I bear no ill will towards them, it just makes it more difficult for me when they will not allow me to do things to keep me and my mind occupied. Without something to do, the ache for home rears its ugly head.
The need to have a male presence in the lives of the two young boys became more and more evident with each day. They need to have a male role model around to help them learn the proper way to behave and become productive men in Thai society. The girls need to become productive young ladies in the Thai society as well. After having conversations with our friends here in Chiang Rai who are Thai and who run a very successful home, I learned we needed to have someone with the children to help teach them the way a good Thai citizen should be. We needed a couple to raise the children so they could have both a male and female influence on them and not just the female. While we all loved Maurethai and are forever grateful for her hard work while she was with us, she could not fill the void in the boys lives.
While I was on furlough we had many discussions about the path forward for our children's home and after much thought we decided to hire a couple and move the children to a different house to live with the couple.
During the time I was back in the United States, our friend searched for a house and found one right before I returned. So the day after I got back, I headed out with him to look at the house and I loved it. It is off the busy street, has three bedrooms, one for the girls, one for the boys and one for the house parents and their two girls. It has a gated front yard with a covered drive and lots of windows with screens on them. The screens are so important because they can open the windows and not let the bugs in. It is so much cooler inside the new home than it is here at the old place. It has a balcony on the lower level leading to the yard and one off of the Master bedroom. There is an indoor and outdoor kitchen and lots of storage space in the indoor kitchen. There are two bathrooms. One upstairs and one down. There is even a bathtub in the one upstairs. The three best features of the home are: The yard where the kids can play. The quiet street around the house where they can finally get bicycles and ride around and last but not least, the community swimming pool.
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| Moving In |
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| Upstairs Balcony |
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| Indoor Kitchen |
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| Master Bedroom |
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| Cleaning the chairs in the living room |
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| Big cutting Ahmorntep's hair |
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| Cutting Tin's hair |
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| All of us- Nom is sitting to the right of Vannessa, Big is next to Nom, Fon and Yim are behind Nom |
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| Palita and Yim |
After moving them into the house, we went to get a new pick-up truck for them. We found a Mazda Freedom Cab that will work perfect for them. Big can take the kids to school and use the truck for shopping and other chores. A Freedom Cab has the two cab doors that open to the seats directly behind the driver. The kids can climb in there or ride in the back. The next project will be to get a cover for the back so the kids can ride back there in the rain and not get wet. We have a few weeks to to that.
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| Palita and Big in the new pick up |
So….. what is happening to me? I am currently in the old apartment and will stay here during the summer when I will have many visitors and volunteers coming to help out. June 2, 2014 two of my nieces arrive for a visit and while they are here, two young college aged girls will arrive. The two college girls will be staying with me until August 1, 2014 and doing lots of volunteer work. One is using this experience as an internship for her school. They have lots of fun activities planned and we will certainly put them to work on helping us make improvements to the house. It is dingy inside so we are going to add a fresh coat of paint to brighten it up. One of the girls said she loved to paint which is good since I am not so fond of it. The girls and I will stay here at the apartment during the day when the kids are in school except when we are doing work at the house and then go over every evening for dinner and spend time with the kids. They all start back to school on May 15th and will go until October. We will spend most of the time on the weekends at the house doing activities and fun things with the kids. Perhaps soon you will see a picture of me riding bicycles with them……
I have decided not to stay here full time so after the girls leave in August, I will be going back to the United States. My plan is to work part-time, go to school for non-profit management, fund raise for the project, and then travel back to Thailand three to four times a year to check in and visit with the family here. I need to take on more of a directors role and let Big and Fon be the parents and that is what I will be doing. I will have regular communication with Big and get regular updates which I will share with you. After much thought and consideration, I know this is the best for everyone. The children are Thai and they need to be raised as such. The most important thing for the group is to be there to support them financially and emotionally. We have provided them with a house, good daily food, the ability to go to school and a sense of security. That is what we need to continue for them. I ask that you all continue to support this project even when I am back in the United States because the children will still need us. It is our hope to eventually add more children to the home and at that time, the need for support will be greater than ever.
Yesterday was Nittaya's 13th birthday and we had a wonderful celebration for her. Big went out of his way to make it a special day. More on that tomorrow.
Until next time…….
God Bless,
Heather
So glad to see things are going in the direction that you wanted. I know it will be a busy summer for you and we are all so proud of you and what you have personally accomplished for the children and yourself. Love you -- take care of yourself.
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