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Regent’s Secondary Student Guild remains Bronze
Sponsors of Jester’s Fair
Chairperson Angela hands over
their donation to the Jesters Care for Kids
to Woody in front of the Secondary Student Guild 2007 - 2008.
Paul Crouch
Another academic year draws to an end and the Regent’s Secondary Student
Guild, ably led by Chairperson Angela and her executive team, have had a
very productive year. Every week’s meeting and agenda has been full of
proactive items that have not only been discussed and reviewed but actioned
through a very effective body of students.
The Guild has been responsible for social events at Halloween, Valentine’s
and the recent Swim Challenge. They have raised large amounts of funds to
support environmental initiatives, RS major projects and to sponsor Ban Jing
Jai students to participate in Regent’s Drama Festivals. The Student Guild
has been an avid supporter of the AIDS awareness campaign before Christmas
and the Amnesty International plastic bottle and baby milk drives. Only
recently did the Guild initiate the support and collection of food and water
for the people of Burma who have been made homeless by Cyclone Nargis and
ensured the delivery of all the goods through World Vision in Bangkok.
One community event that the Guild always likes to support is the Jester’s
Care for Kids Charity Drive that happens in Pattaya, at Diana Driving Range,
every year in September. For the 6th year in a row now, the Guild have
become Bronze Sponsors of this hugely successful event, and welcomed Woody
to attend one of their final meetings of the year to present the money.
Woody talked about the aims of the Charity Drive and how support from groups
like the Regent’s School is very important as it not only provides financial
support but also creates partnerships for interaction and learning. The
Guild are very much looking forward to running their penalty shootout stall
again this September and raising even more funds for all the projects that
the Fair supports.
Finally, this year’s Student Guild would like to thank Mrs. Brown, Mrs.
McCoy, and Mrs. Robertson for all their hard work and kind support of
Student Guild events. Their bacon butties were an especially big hit!
A week in the life
of ‘Caring For Kids’
Lewis Underwood
This week we decided to go informal and simply report about the
goings-on of a typical week in the life of caring for kids.
Urn, a stricken child: Lately we have been trying to figure out
the best way to help Urn, a diminutive 7-year old girl who suffers from
a congenital liver problem. She lives with her grandparents in a slum
near Central Pattaya; a 3-sided hovel open in the front to the elements
and a small motorcycle repair shop.
 Urn
and her granny in their hovel
Her liver condition distends her belly uncomfortably, yellows her eyes
and makes her skin itch incessantly. Had she had the opportunity to
undergo surgery when younger, the present condition probably could have
been averted. As it is now, it is simply a question of time before it
shortens her time here on this earth.
One of the few joys she has in life, besides having her granny scratch
her hard-to-reach spots, is spending time at the Fountain of Life, where
she is able to play and be around other kids.
We thought the best way to make Urn comfortable during the interim was
to find her a cleaner place to live, as in an apartment preferably close
to the Center. We found such a place we considered ideal for the granny,
mother and child, but, then things began to get difficult.
Firstly, six members of Urn’s extended family wanted to make the move
with her, which was impossible due to limited capacity at the
apartments. It became a moot point though when the family told us they
did not want to move from the area where they were now.
We then asked Urn’s family to look for an apartment on their own, closer
to where they resided, but they resisted that too. They just wanted to
stay put next to their small motorbike workshop.
So Plan C was simply offering to buy a new mattress with change of
covers for their current living situation. If they comply with this
option, we just have to hope that they won’t try to sell it.
Once again the lesson learned is reinforced: Sometimes you think
you know what is best for people, but no matter how badly you want to
help, it simply will not work if they do not want it.
Ban Jing Jai: Though we make weekly visits to BJJ on Tuesdays to
check on progress, assess their needs and offer guidance, last week was
the first Tuesday of the month, which is when we also go over the bills
for food costs from the previous month. It is also the day when we
advance them 30,000 baht to cover the food costs for the new month in
support of the 55 children and 8 staffers at this small orphanage.
Over the last 4 months we found that 30,000 baht was more than
sufficient to cover the food. When there was money left over though, we
asked them to just carry the balance over to the next month. Since this
became more the norm than the exception, we have now agreed to also
cover their monthly utilities, which was almost 10,000 baht for the 3
residences in April. After all, every little bit helps.
The Regent’s Secondary Student Guild: The secondary students have
once again become a Bronze Sponsor (10,000 baht) and last Thursday, we
visited the school for their weekly meeting to talk about the Jesters
charity drive and thank them for their kind donation. This is the 6th
consecutive year that they have made this donation. The students and
staff have always been supportive of our charity drive, not only with
cash donations, but also by helping us at the Children’s Fair selling
children’s raffle ticket books on the day and providing entertainment on
the stage.
The school also has a generous policy of inviting children from the
Fountain of Life Center, Ban Jing Jai and Mercy Center, which are also
our beneficiaries, for special events and celebrations. They have also
been involved in charitable projects in the South since the 2004 tsunami
with school lunch programs on Koh Phi Phi, where they are now
constructing a community center.
It is good for young people to get involved in charity not just by
donating funds, but also by volunteering their time to help those less
fortunate.
Potisan High School: We also visited this school of 2000 students
near Wat Po in Naklua. A math teacher invited us to come have a look and
see if we could help them. Initially she was vague about her needs,
which had us a little wary. But contrary to expectations, the teacher
had an education program on discs and needed a basic computer and
monitor to use as visual aids to improve her teaching methods for her 45
students. We were only too happy to agree to help here. It really is
nice when something this small is so straightforward with a huge benefit
for the kids.
New begging letter: We just produced our 4th corporate letter
soliciting donations from companies and individuals in the community
ahead of our rapidly approaching September events this year. If you
would like to see this latest edition and donate to our cause, please
visit our website: www.care4kids.info
Fair stalls: Bookings for stalls are already being submitted for
our annual Children’s Fair coming your way on Sunday, September 14 at
the Diana Garden Resort and Driving Range in North Pattaya. Things are
starting to move fast, so book your stall(s) now. It is easy to do
merely by visiting our website.
More news next week.
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