Summer Volunteers

The two young ladies who are working with me at Promise Home arrived last Monday, June 9th. They had taken an amazing flight from the United States to China and then on to Bangkok. After their arrival, they spent several hours in the Bangkok airport trying to get some rest before their early morning flight to Chiang Rai. We picked them up at 9:30 on the 9th and I must say, I was officially stunned and amazed at the lack of luggage. Two girls staying for almost two months and all each of them had were very full backpacks and a carry on bag. My nieces who stayed for two weeks had larger suitcases, however they did take home many souvenirs. Perhaps the other girls don't plan to do that but how can they resist????????

(L-R) Sylvia and Madi in their room

Madi's things 

Sylvia's things

Sylvia Wilson- Sylvia is a 21 year old college senior at the University of Colorado Denver Campus. She is majoring International Business with a minor is Sustainability. She is using her time here in Chiang Rai and Promise Home as a summer Internship. She will help me with the book keeping and tracking finances for the home as well as working on updating the Charities Within Reach website.

Madi Fuhrman- Madi is also a 21 year college senior. She attends the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley. She is majoring in acting and she teaches Yoga.

Both girls will be helping with different projects in and around the home. In addition to that, they will help the children with their English and their Math skills. Big has created a schedule for 45 minutes each night of the children to learn new skills. He intends to take full advantage of the three of us while we are here.

In addition to teaching the children at Promise Home, the neighbors and people who attend Bible Study with Big have asked us to help them with their English too. So I am anticipating a large number of Thai's who wish to learn some basic English from us.

The girls are already a big hit with the kids. They have become the newest members of the family and the kids adore them. They are welcomed to the home as joyfully as I am. As a matter of fact, I have faded to the background a little and seem like an after thought. :)

We have had some wonderful times with everyone already and it will be a great summer with the two of them here to help out and be with the kids. So, enjoy some pictures of our time so far and look for many more to come.

Till next time.....

God Bless,
Heather

Enjoying their first Korean BB-Que

So full....... 

Sylvia on the old slide

Swinging 

Football

Sylvia against Tin... who will win

Madi and her team ready to start the attack 

Another breakout 

Madi and Sylvia relaxing after a warm, humid football game

Visitors

My nieces, Bryn and Abby arrived safely and we spent the last two weeks exploring the area around Chiang Rai and spending time with the kids. It is heartwarming to see how quickly the children connect with people who come to spend time with them and how the visitors soon become part of the family.

Even though the girls and I did a lot of touring, we spent several evenings with the kids. We would go to eat dinner and then either played with them or helped them with some of their lessons. We attended church and spent Sunday afternoon playing games. My nieces wanted to take the children swimming but three of them were feeling a little under the weather and it was raining. We are officially in the rainy season here in Chiang Rai. Some days it will rain off and on all day while it will rain one or twice on other days. Yesterday it sprinkled a little a couple of times during the day and today it has been raining off and on all morning. The rain comes down pretty hard at times. I don't mind it so much because it has helped cool the temperatures considerably. Most of the time now, I am not sweating to death from the moment I awake to the end of the day. However, if the sun comes out after a shower, the humidity is sometimes unbearable.

Please enjoy some of the many pictures we took while the girls were here for a visit.

Till next time.....

God Bless,
Heather

Pick up cover

Today we got the custom built cover installed on the back of the pick up truck. Not a minute too soon either as the rainy season is just about to begin. Actually, we have been having afternoon rains on and off for the past week. Thursday afternoon about 4:15 it began raining and rained cats and dogs for at least 20 minutes. Fortunately Big was able to get all the kids inside the cab of the truck and got them home without getting wet. With the cover, they won't have to squeeze into the cab to be protected.

The company that built the cover did an excellent job. It is sturdy and well built. Then all of the employees helped with the installation and making sure we liked the end product. Some American companies could learn a lesson or two from them.

While the boys and I were out getting the cover, the girls stayed at home hemming new uniform skirts and ironing them in addition to their uniform shirts. Yim, the youngest is now moving about freely and beginning to crawl so today I got a walker for her so she can scoot around the house and Fon won't have to keep a constant eye on her so she won't hit her head on the floor. She seems to like the walker and scooted around for some time before lunch.

Big has a good routine going here at the home. The kids come home from school and complete chores or work on any homework they might have. Then we eat dinner and after dinner we work on English, Thai and Math. I join then every evening at 4:30 for dinner and their lessons afterwards. On Saturdays, I usually arrive at 11:30 and enjoy lunch and the afternoon with them. Sunday I will meet them at church and then we come back to the house for lunch.

Monday/Wednesday/Friday is English, Tuesday/Thursday is Thai and Math. Big works with the older girls on fractions, decimals and division while I work with Nom and Tin on addition, subtraction and multiplication. Ahmorntep gets his worksheets to practice writing Thai letters, the English alphabet and then he practices saying some Thai words as well. We spend about 30 minutes each day doing this extra work to help the kids along. They are practicing regularly so look for another video from one of the other kids.

The current political situation is not affecting me or the children here in Chiang Rai. There are some roadblocks and there is a military presence around them but life goes on as usual for all of us. Two of my nieces arrive for a visit on Monday, June 2nd and then the two college aged girls who will be volunteering for two months arrive the following Monday. We will be busy with tourist stuff, activities and other fun things for the kids. Watch for more updates along the way.

I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Until next time.........


God Bless,
Heather

Photo Bomb!

Welding the seat frame 

Sanding down the rough edges

Installing the seat backs

Seats complete

Everyone in the back of the pick up

Thumbs up 

The finished look

Palita speaking English

All~

One of our goals with Promise Home is to help the children learn English. Since the children moved to the new house, we have been working for about 30 minutes each evening on learning and practicing English. I am attaching a video of Palita, the oldest girl at the home giving a short introduction of herself that she worked on for school. When she says where she comes from she is trying her very best to say Promise Home and that is the reason for the big smile.

She did a wonderful job and I am so incredibly proud of her and her accomplishment. She works hard every night trying to learn and asks me to repeat words for her over and over again. This video is a monumental step for her. Enjoy


Till next time.....

God Bless,
Heather