last day with my beautiful girls

hi all,
so today marked my last day at the girl's home. I lead the fruit smoothie activity, which went really well. A lot of fruit was consumed!! the girls picked what fruit they wanted, put it in the blender, picked yogurt, milk (or both!), blended it up and enjoyed!

All the ingredients went (1 and a half water melons, 6 yellow mangoes, 4 papayas, about 40 bananas, 16 cartons of milk and 20 yogurts).

After work we took 4 (still hungry) girls and the thai staff for ice-cream at Swensons. A lovely day to finish on. Although i will be popping in tomorrow to say bye to the girls on sick ward as i wasn't able to today.

So that's it for my 6 months away. I can't believe how quick it's gone, yet it seems ages ago even since i was in Chiang mai, almost like a separate trip. It has been an amazing trip, but my time here with CCD has been absolutely life changing. There's just not the words to describe it.

Thank you everyone who's supported me through this time away, I really appreciate it.

looking forward to seeing some of you really soon!! lots of love xxxx

ready for the morning smoothie making session:

Bow doing a great job with her smoothie:

Gail enjoying her smoothie above
green girls waiting patiently for their smoothies

Mai, Mameow and Keam making picking their fruit:

Jessie finishing off the yogurt

ice-cream at swensons!

with P-wee and P-Ae.

Fun at the Funarium!

This week there's been lots of fun things going on...
Activities wise we went on a bear hunt, which was really exciting!
Thursday we went to the funarium with spending some money raised by the coventry physio teams, the girls absolutely loved it and as you'll see by the pictures, so did we!
Friday me, Nathan and Ellie had our leaving ceremony. We weren't sure what to expect, but it was just so lovely. Firstly some of the children we knew really well were there as a surprise which was completely unexpected. We were presented with flower crowns, certificates, present, cards and a giant poster picture each with us with our favourite children and also a dvd with loads of pictures. We felt very special.
Friday night we went for dinner with some friends from nichada church who are also leaving soon.
Today we've had our last swim at the lovely nichada pool before ellie and nathan fly later today.
For me i'm working with the girls tomorrow we're making fruit smoothies, potentially quite messy! tuesday i'll be packing ready to head to the airport that evening!

Me and Bea on our bear hunt...

the bear's on the loose!

the volunteers at the Funarium (the girls enjoyed it too!)

our leaving ceremony!

hello makka bakka day!

Hi all,
today we're off work as we're celebrating makka bakka day (of course none of us know what this is!).

this week we had messy play on monday, which involved putting lots of different things in bowls such as noodles, flour, strawberry compote, cornflower and water, porridge, rice - and letting the girls make lots of mess! It was really fun. Although all the stuff was edible we tried to discourage them eating the stuff and gave out muffins which we were given from the weekend instead.

At the weekend we went away with the nichada church to cbr 3 which is one of our community projects, to re-paint after the floods last year. It was fun, though quite tiring. A huge highlight was that we had air-con in our rooms - amazing!!

We did a big swimming trip on monday with 13 of us all together. Fun and chaotic as usual! It was great to discover that Orati could swim really well and that the others could have a good attempt. Also another chance to use the swimming stuff we've been sent.

Yesterday me and Jules took Malaa, Powadee and Bow to Nichada to go swimming at Diane's. When we got there though there was a problem with the pool so instead we took the girls to the big lake at nichada to feed the huge fish. We all enjoyed it, especially watching Malaa sneakily eat the bread! after this we went back to Diane's and watched a film. It was really nice for the girls (and me and Jules) just to be able to sit and relax. then diane treated us all to lunch at a local restaurant, before we headed back to the orphanage.

Malaa playing connect 4 before lunch:

malaa, bow and me (note malaa still playing connect 4)

Tiff, Catherine, me and Emily - team pink after our painting efforts:

me and ellie at the swim trip - unfortuately there wasn't enough swimming caps to go round!

Mai, me and bea during messy play

me and sommo

so that's all for this week. ive got less than 2 weeks to go now, we've hopefully got a big trip to the funarium planned for next week. we're still waiting for permission though, please pray! xxx

Pancake day in Thailand

Hi all,
Today we had a full day of pancake making with the girls. It was really fun, we set up 3 stations - mixing, cooking and toppings. The girls all got a go at cracking an egg, pouring the milk or quite a lot of stirring. Then they watched them being cooked and got to pick which topping they wanted. There were some interesting combos, my favourite being one girl who wanted sugar, chocolate sauce, banana...and cheese!
So...first we measured the flour...

then we added the egg...

Then we poured milk...

and stirred...

flipped the pancakes...

added the topping...

and enjoyed!!

it was a really fun day and the girls loved it!

Trips wise we had a big trip to Bangkok zoo last saturday with 7 children, which they really enjoyed, though it was really tiring and most of them slept all the way back.

We've done another few trips out for ice-cream after work with some of the girls.

Next week we'll be swimming with 5 girls - so we all wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who's sent out costumes, arm bands and goggles. We're well kitted out now!!

Weather wise it's really hot now, a few people have said its as hot as april now which is Thailand's hottest month. In our fan aired house it sometimes feels like a hair dryer on you instead of a fan!

Today after work me and Ben cycled over to Nichada for a run, a swim (though i looked like i'd already had a swim after the run!) and then for dinner with a family we know there. Tomorrow its the weekend so some of us are heading to chatachak for some tourist shopping, not sure how long we'll last in the heat.

Sunday we're taking 4 of the cerebral palsy girls to church. Then we'll probably head for a swim in the lovely pool at nichada afterwards.

Then its on to the next week!! xxx





February fashion show

Hi all,
Hope all's well with everyone. The last few weeks have flown by, yet so much happens in each day.

We've been doing lots of trips with the kids for swimming, ice-cream and dinner. Some of them enjoying the swimming more than others! Last week we took 2 girls to the pool -  one put the costume on (which is one Wendy sent out -thank you!) we got to the edge of the pool but then she decided against it and wanted to change into a different new costume - she wanted to try them all out! But we didn't get any closer to the water. In the mean time our other little girl wouldn't get changed at all and was sat down eating all the snacks. After quite a while persuading them to try the pool, we ended up taking them back to our house for dinner - with Bew still in her costume as she didn't want to change! A big thank you for all those who've donated money for these trips, it's really good to get the girls out of the orphanage for a couple of hours.

Trips wise, we're taking a group of children to Bangkok zoo on saturday which should be fun and we're hoping to do a trip to a local soft play place with some of the girls in a few weeks too. Tonight we took out 3 helper girls for ice-cream and dinner. The helpers are ladys who have lived at the girl's home since being a children and now help the ward mum's on the ward. So it was lovely for us to take them out today as they have to work so hard.


Today at the girl's home we had a fashion show (morning and again in the afternoon). So we got all the clothes out and let the girls pick an outfit (or about 6 for some of them!). Put make-up on and got them strutting down our make-shift catwalk. Taking loads of pictures. It was so much fun! The girls loved it!


Since the last post we've had 2 more volunteers arrive, so there's now 8 of us in the house. We were all invited round to nichada - "little america" for dinner last friday and on sunday me and Ben went for a run round the lake there followed by breakfast on the balcony. Lovely!

So that's the lastest. The weather getting quite sweaty now, it's a bit of a joke how much we're all sweating now! You can probably tell from the pictures!

Thank you to everyone for all your support, be it by donations, sending stuff or just a lovely email. I really appreciate it and helps me to remember i'm not out here on my own.

January sweat

Time has flown by again this week! Last sunday we took 4 girls from the cerebral palsy (CP) ward to church and then lunch afterwards. It was really nice to take the girls out, though we were all tired afterwards, as trips like this take quite a lot of organising. Especially for 4 girls in wheelchairs, transport isn't as straight forward, so we were really grateful as 2 families from church offered us their drivers. The girls really enjoyed their day out.

This week's "physio" highlight came with a little girl with CP. My mum's friend sent me some pedro boots and with them on too, her walking was so much better. She lives at the girls home and was brought there last year, as her family were struggling to look after her. So our hope is that if we can get her walking better, she may be able one step closer to going home.

Last monday we took 4 girls from the girl's home swimming to a local pool (know amongst some of us as "slim-pool"). We don't think any of them had been swimming before, confirmed as when we got to the pool 2 girls stripped - twice!! Then once we got them in the children's pool one of them made a run for it to the big pool, jumping straight in - followed at high speed by Julia! We're taking more girls this week so we'll see how that goes! Thursday we took another 4 girls from the CP ward for lunch at the blind school and then Friday i took a little girl from the same ward for ice-cream after work.

A new volunteer Ben joined us last week, so there's 6 of us now, with we think another girl on her way this week. We were treated to 2 meals out last week: 1 in Bangkok with Gill who works for CCD in Australia and the second one locally, as we'd been sent money from some previous volunteers. For this we went to a lovely riverside restaurant.

So all's good here. I'm half-way through my time with CCD now and I still feel like i'm settling in! Very much enjoying it here, it's such a delight spending time with the beautiful children. I really feel like i'm making a difference to their lives.

Thank you for the huge response i have with the swimming costumes and dressings, we really appreciate it. It's really exciting waiting to see what arrives! And also a big thank you to those of you who have donated money for the trips, we're actually now planning a trip to Bangkok zoo in a couple of weeks. As always, let me know at gemanne83@hotmail.com if you think you might be able to donate or have anything to send out. Hot chocolate always goes down well!!

Lots of love to you all xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Exhaustion like never before!

Where to start? Another week or 2 has flown by since I last updated.
Firstly, an update on our charity home - I've been spending more time with one of the community girls who in my previous blog was starting to lift her head up more. This week she fed herself fruit independently, which i felt was great progress. In our "physio sessions" she's starting to use her arms more and her sitting balance is improving. I've also met with an English physio who visits here once a week. This was a great chance to have a chat about some of the kids. We're hoping to start some hydrotherapy sessions soon, when the weather gets warmer. It's too cold for thais at the moment!

I've changed my week structure a bit now to spend more time at the girl's home. We took out 3 girls for lunch last week, which was nice for them to get a bit of sunshine and a break from the ward. We'll be taking 3 different ones tomorrow and then each thursday. We've also planned trips to the swimming pool and for ice-cream. We're taking different girls each week for the next few weeks, starting next week as we have to give the government 2 weeks notice for permission. For those of you interested in getting involved, this is where money is appreciated. To take the girls out of the wards is such a wonderful thing to do.

Now as some of you know there has been a bit of a headlice incident, as in I had quite an extensive infestation. However, for now it seems under control. I only found 1 earlier which is quite acceptable compared to last week! It's not surprising as we do regular nit combing on the wards, but the alternative is the beautiful girl's heads are shaved. So for me it's totally worth, as my hair's not at risk of being shaved.

One evening after work we went to a local very western shopping centre complete with M&S! Excitement was high as we entered the food section, only to see the prices triple what they are at home. In baht that's definitely beyond what volunteers can afford. However it was good to get some air con and we even saw some other westerners which was a novelty! On saturday we went to our favourite restaurant Cabbages and Condoms, with 2 short-term volunteers who have finished now. On monday it was my birthday (the second one i've spent in Thailand funnily enough!). I had really lovely day. Our kitchen was decorated with birthday banners and some of the girls got up early to sing as i came down the stairs and then again when everyone else was up too! I was at the girl's home so got some cake for them and we did hand painting. In the evening we went to a local restaurant by the river with most of the volunteers followed by birthday dairy queen! Then when we got home our new neighbour (who works in a bakery) came round with cake they had left over! After work yesterday we went for thai massage at the local blind school, less than 3 pounds for an hour and a half of massage/pain. Next time i'll be sure to clarify soft massage!

Just wanted to thank all of you who sent me stuff (for the kids and me!) and donated money. It is so so truely appreciated and helps remind us we're not on our own out here. If anyone has anything you think might be useful let me know as it probably will be! Email me at gemanne83@hotmail.com for our address as i can't put it on here. In particular if anyone has any spare swimming costumes (girls are needed more than boys but boys still useful) that would be great. It's difficult to find good quality swim wear here. Finally, calling all medical people!! Any "spare" dressings, particularly pressure sore ones would be amazing! Pressure sores are a real problem on the wards and again supplies here at scarce. Thank you!!

So I'll leave it there for this update, hope all is well with everyone!

Lots of love Gemma xxx