Our Children
HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:

Sister Supaporn - working miracles at Fountain of Life Women’s Center

Ban Pongsaket School swimming in tilapia from Y.W.C.A.

St Andrews first IBDP students celebrate 100% pass rate

Garden International School elects Student Council President

Sister Supaporn - working miracles at Fountain of Life Women’s Center

Eva Johnson

The entire three floor building is buzzing with activity when I arrive; women learning all about hairdressing, sewing, massage, computer skills, English, German, Thai; new girls who are there to register; volunteers in the kitchen preparing lunch. I am met by Mary Pierce, who has been kind enough to help a newcomer like me (four months in Pattaya doesn’t exactly qualify me as an expert on NGO’s here).

Sister Supaporn (left) and Mary Pierce (right) greet the author upon arrival at the Fountain of Life Women’s Center.

As we look for Sister Supaporn, who runs the Fountain of Life Women’s Center, I am amazed how popular these classes must be - almost every room we pass seems full until the last chair. Also, I am struck by the concentration these women put in to the learning process, worlds apart from the unruly high school class I once used to sub. This is serious business, I can tell - as well as a lot of fun.

When we finally find Sister Supaporn it turns out she has a problem with the roof and guttering that needs fixing and the contractor has just arrived. Mary rapidly suggests that we have a foot massage in the meantime.

“The women need practice and the Center is happy for the donation we give. They ask for fifty baht for half an hour of massage, I usually give them a hundred,” says Mary and within minutes we are comfortably seated getting our feet pampered with oil and tiger balm and surrounded by the friendly curious faces of the twenty or so women taking part in the class. “Anyone can come here for massage, or a haircut,” continues Mary, “and if you need some piece of clothing fixed, you can get that done here too. You don’t have to call or make an appointment or anything, you can just come.”

“One person is of more value than the whole world,” says Sister Supaporn, quoting St. Mary Euphrasia, who in 1835 founded the Sisters of Charity of the Good Shepherd, today mostly known as the Good Shepherd Sisters. “She also said: Don’t let the poor wait for you. And, the first thing one should ask is: Have you eaten? It is as simple as that.”

I get the point: essentials first. A philosophy I like.

We are sitting in the quiet of her office, the roof issue has been dealt with for the moment, and she explains, nicely but firmly, why she so often has turned down requests from reporters and television teams who want to come and visit the Center.

“My responsibility is to the women only. I would like this to be like a second home to them. I want them to feel safe, and not to be exploited here as well,” she says and underlines that many women prefer the Fountain of Life Center to the Social Welfare equivalent. “We have a trust in their own will to bring about changes in their lives.”

The Sisters of the Good Shepherd are devoted to helping marginalized people and today consist of around four thousand nuns who manage centers all over the world. Just in Thailand, there are centers located in Bangkok, Nong Khai, Phuket, Chiang Rai and Pattaya, all affiliated, but individually funded by different sponsors. The Fountain of Life Women’s Center in Pattaya was founded in 1989 (and Sister Supaporn has worked here since 1997).

“We began by helping marginalized women,” she says, “and as we worked with them we saw the need to work with children as well.”

Today the Children’s Center and the Women’s Center in Pattaya are actually one and the same organisation, with one administration team and joint staff meetings, as well as training. The only thing they do not share is the funding.

“People tend to be more prone to donate to children. It doesn’t matter how often we point out that these women also have children, whose lives are affected by how their mothers live - helping these women is helping the children too - most people won’t see it this way.”

Interestingly enough, the Center’s main sponsor is the Thai Children’s trust (former Pattaya Orphanage Fund) - so someone must have understood the logic of this.

The Center works on a drop-in basis with classes in the mornings and in the afternoons. In one single day there will be between three and four hundred women visiting. During 2009, 2282 individuals registered at the Center, of which 48% had Primary School education or lower.

The length of each course varies depending on the subject, level and prior skills of the participant. On completing the curriculum everyone will receive a certificate, which will enable them to get a job.

“We used to not do this, but people in town were selling certificates to women who had been to our classes for 3000-4000 baht, so we changed our view on this,” says the Sister and adds that most who attend massage, computer and hair dressing classes do find jobs after receiving their certificates.

“And even if someone is not a great learner and does not show much interest, she is always welcome to hang around,” she continues, pointing out that it is better if they are at the Center than doing something more destructive elsewhere. “Everyone can come here for as long as they want, if only just to talk and meet people. Many of them live in extremely small rooms, which they share with two or three others - often there will barely be floor enough for all of them to sleep side by side - so they come here to get some space.”

Suddenly a Thai voice echoes through the loudspeakers. The time is 11.15 a.m., and, like every day at this hour, it is time for prayer. Sister Supaporn turns off the light, and everyone in the house does the same.

“We do this to raise awareness of global warming and the immense amounts of energy being used,” she explains.

Silence settles throughout the building. Prayer time consists of five minutes of Buddhist practice of spreading compassion to others, followed by a minute Bible reading in Thai.

“We work with interfaith,” says the Sister once the lights are on again. “The women are Buddhist, we are Catholic, but we embrace Buddhism, just as Buddhism is open to other religions. In the end we all believe in the same creation, the same God.”

Outside the office women scurry toward the kitchen for the 20 baht lunch. Most of them, I am told, have come here from the poorest areas of Thailand in the North and North East, hoping to improve their economic situation and be able to support their families back home. Sadly, reality seldom turns out this way, and many find themselves stuck in a dire situation, without money and too ashamed to go home.

The Fountain of Life believes that empowerment and awareness is essential for these women if they are to change their present situation. They therefore invite speakers from Thai authorities, such as the Foreign Ministry, Immigration and the Thai legal system, to talk about legal rights and how to deal with different aspects of the system.

Also, they ask representatives from foreign embassies to come and inform the women about what can happen and how it might become if they decide to follow their farang partner to his country.

Moreover, the Fountain of Life organises sex education where doctors are invited to speak about everything from HIV and venereal disease, to self esteem and their rights as women.

Each week there is a talk on pro-life which includes contraception and prevention of pregnancy, and every day there are several recreational activities, such as, for example, painting, exercise groups and classes in self-defence (if one can call this recreational).

Another important aspect is that of official or unofficial counselling. Everyone is offered to speak to a counsellor, but often people like to be more spontaneous.

“That is why we train all our staff in counselling,” Sister Supaporn says, “it is more likely that it will be the cook who at the end of the day will be given the most confidence.”

So how would Sister Supaporn like to summarize the work being done at the Center?

“All in all we have a very holistic approach to the work we do,” she says. “It is our firm belief that each and every woman inherently possesses energy, power and awareness. Our task is to help them develop these skills.”

I leave the Center thinking that in the end it all amounts to one big gigantic problem of inequality; between countries, social classes and gender. These women are situated at the very lowest steps of all these ladders. Thus, my hat off (if I had one) to the Fountain of Life for working so hard for the good and well being of this so often forgotten and stigmatized group of individuals.
As was quoted earlier:
One person is of more value than the whole world.
A sentence worth digesting, slowly and meticulously.


Ban Pongsaket School swimming in tilapia from Y.W.C.A.

Students and benefactors release the tilapia into the school’s pond where they will grow and eventually be placed on the school lunch menu.

Vimolrat Singnikorn

The Y.W.C.A. Bangkok-Pattaya Center donated 3,000 young tilapia to Takhiantia’s Ban Pongsaket School so eventually students can enjoy fish for lunch.

Y.W.C.A. Chairwoman Nittaya Patimasongkroh and Praichit Jaetapai, head of the center’s environment committee, presented the fish to Principal Charat Jeankhaokam Sept. 9. The fish were donated by the Chonburi Bureau of Inland Fishery Research and Development.

Charat explained that 80 percent of Ban Pongsaket’s student body is comprised of poor and rural children whose parents work low-wage factory jobs. As such, the school needs help to feed students. The 3,000 fish, when grown, will help feed the students at the school.

The school, he added, teaches children from kindergarten through secondary school grade 3. In addition to the Ministry of Education curriculum, Ban Pongsaket teaches additional skills related to HM the King’s sufficiency economy philosophy, including mushroom cultivation, fish farming and organic vegetable growing.

In addition to the tilapia, the Y.W.C.A. also donated a mushroom cultivation house and 1,000 mushroom pieces.


St Andrews first IBDP students celebrate 100% pass rate

Some of St Andrews successful IBDP
students relax after a community service project.

Seesa ang

St Andrews International School Green Valley celebrated their first ever IB Diploma results last month. The school is thrilled to have a 100% Diploma pass rate, with 75% of their students also receiving Bilingual Diplomas. The IB Diploma program is a challenging pre-university course, used in international and state schools around the world.

Benji now keeps his lesson notes on his netbook.

Mr Wrightson, the Secondary Head, explained that the “100% pass rate clearly speaks for itself. However, we were incredibly pleased with the percentage of Bilingual Diploma’s which truly reflects the international nature of St Andrews.”

Back in 2007/8, St Andrews was accredited as an IB World School and introduced the IB Diploma Programme to allow their older students a route into universities around the world. St Andrews Head, Andrew Harrison said, “For every student to be awarded a Diploma in our first year is just incredible! The reason we have been able to achieve such a high standard is down to the strong combination of able and motivated students working alongside experienced and dedicated teachers. I’m very proud of them all.”

Beverly puts her netbook to use in her Biology lesson.

For details about the IB Diploma Programme, scholarships and the IB Boarding facilities (free boarding for new students) at St Andrews then enquiries should be made to Rob King the IBDP coordinator [email protected]

St Andrews IBDP students receive netbooks

There was even more excitement this week as all IBDP students were given personal netbooks to use during their studies.

Mr Rob King, the IBDP coordinator explained, “For our students undertaking this challenging IBDP course, it is absolutely vital that they have constant access to information and communication technology. This will enhance their ability to carry out research and have immediate access to the wealth of electronic resources that exist to support the IB programme. These netbooks will be used to enrich and extend their learning across the whole curriculum.”

The netbook programme is part of a number of initiatives that have been put in place at St Andrews this summer. The school now has additional servers, a fibre optic network, projectors in every teaching space and has started the installation of Interactive white boards.

(L to R) Kelvin a boarding student, Vanessa and James receive their netbooks from Mr King the IB Coordinator.


Garden International School elects Student Council President

Student Council candidates from left: Bhunyanutch (Noot) Kanjananon, Hyeonjun (Jun) Jang, Hanna Inthararat, Daniela Escobar, and Viraj Chokshi.

Emma Jones
GIS Geography Teacher

August 31, 2010 marked a very important day in the school calendar for Garden International School (GIS) students as it was the day that our Student Council President was elected by students from Year 5 to IB2. Students campaigned hard for a week before the election, producing posters, fliers, speeches, setting up Facebook groups, and shaking a lot of hands! Our 5 candidates for President were: Viraj Chokshi, Daniela Escobar, Hanna Inthararat, Hyeonjun (Jun) Jang, and Bhunyanutch (Noot) Kanjananon.

Daniela Escobar in IB 1 casts her vote and subsequently won President of the Student Council.

On Election Day all the candidates were feeling nervous about the prospect of talking in front of more than 230 people. As students from Year 5 to IB2 began to register to vote outside the election hall the tension was mounting, but the 5 candidates held their nerve and even managed to do some last minute campaigning.

Speeches from all the candidates were delivered with a great deal of confidence and passion, inspiring both teachers and students alike. All too soon, it was time to vote!

Students are so excited voting for their favourite candidate.

As voters filed out of the hall to cast their vote the IB1 and IB2 students provided valuable support by managing the queues and helping the younger students understand the voting form. A lot of credit must go to Year 5 and 6 from Primary who listened carefully to the speeches and then made thoughtful decisions about who to vote for. Last but not least, it was the turn of the candidates to vote as they posed for one final photograph with K.Gae, the GIS photographer.

All that was left was for the votes to be counted. The boxes were emptied and votes painstakingly processed, twice, just to make sure there were no mistakes. In the end the results were close; however, there was one clear winner.

Congratulations to Daniela Escobar in IB1 who ran a very well thought-out campaign. She had a mascot, produced some excellent leaflets and gave a positive and well rehearsed speech. She also baked some excellent cakes!

Now, the hard work will begin for Daniela and her team as she will start to form an executive committee and hold meetings with class representatives on a weekly basis. The job of the student council with Daniela at the helm will be to give students a greater voice, arrange student events and advocate to staff and school management on behalf of all students at GIS.

It’s going to be an exciting year...

Eager and attentive students are expecting more
from every speech delivered by each candidate.