Introduction
The Regent’s School Pattaya is proud to be working with
over 30 local community partners not only in the Pattaya area but also
across Thailand. This has been the strength of our Round Square programme
for the last 10 years and the core of our educational philosophy of learning
through service and community partnership.
The heart of the Round Square International Conference
hosted by the Regent’s School last month was the Round Square Pillar,
community service, and the ability of our school to be able to send out 800
delegates into the community on two different days to work and engage with
amazing individuals and groups living and working on our doorstep.
This would not have been possible if the Regent’s staff
and students did not already have these partnerships in place through their
curriculum and extra-curricular activities and the trust and respect that
make such quality learning experiences happen. Many thanks must go to both
sides of this partnership for their enthusiasm and commitment over the years
to community service work. We very much look forward to strengthening and
expanding our community partnerships in the future as this must be the
legacy of a conference of this magnitude and the responsible approach to any
education that seeks to make a difference… it is only the beginning. –
Paul Crouch, Round Square Director, Regents School, Pattaya.
Baan Jing Jai Children’s
Home
Delegates preparing for an activity at Baan Jing Jai.
Baan Jin Jai is a Children’s Home in Pattaya with, at
times, up to 60 children in their care. On the Service Days during the Round
Square Conference the delegates helped to paint the two homes and the
outside fences and walls of Baan Jing Jai.
In the afternoon some of the older girls from Baan Jing
Jai became ‘teachers’ and taught the delegates how to make bracelets like
the ones they often make to sell. It is a very time consuming art that
requires an incredible amount of skill and patience. As one delegate said,
“I will never again haggle for the price of a bracelet after all this work
it takes. I never realised how hard it could be.”
Thanks were given to Khun Piangta, the lady who runs the
great establishment and her fabulous staff and children for sharing their
days with the delegates. They worked together, they smiled together and they
learnt together. The homes now look bright and beautiful and as Piangta said
at the end of Wednesday, “The children are so proud.”
We walk together with
Baan Jing Jai Children’s Home.
Kate’s Project Trust
Kate’s Project Trust works in the slum areas of Pattaya
and since its inception in 2006 by Andrew McCarroll and Roisin Hall has
helped hundreds of children attend school and also improved living
conditions for many families.
One of
the entertaining activities at the Kate’s Project Trust sports day.
Khun Meena from the Regent’s School Physical Education
Department organized a full day of sport and activities for the children and
families that Kate’s Project works with. Round Square delegates and the
local families joined forces to compete together in the competitions and
games which ranged from the traditional musical statues and 3 legged race to
the hilarious blind folded eating and ping pong ball chop sticks race. The
families and delegates had a fun filled and action packed day which they
will remember for a long time.
One of
the children enjoying a gift from the Kate’s Project Trust.
Sunganseuhsa Piset Ket 12
- Chonburi
Sunganseuhsa Piset Ket 12 provides care for young people
with disabilities between the ages of 2 and 25. The numbers have grown
rapidly since it was opened just under a year ago from 12 to 43.
The school was visited by over 80 delegates on two
separate days and it was clear to see that everyone had a great day. The
activities involved making bricks, pendants, football goals, t-shirts and a
banner.
Many of the Special Needs children and young adults were
leading the delegates in the activities. It was evident that all had an
insightful day and a number of the delegates are now planning to raise funds
for the Center when they return back to their school.
Sunganseuhsa Piset Ket 12 group photo.
Tamar Center, Pattaya
Making
sweet and sour chicken at the Tamar Center.
The Tamar Center was opened in August 1999 by Project
L.I.F.E. Foundation, a registered Thai foundation, that is also associated
with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) Thailand. The Centre aims to “Offer hope,
healing and new life to bar girls and prostitutes in Pattaya”, training the
girls in new skills, giving them a job and a place to live, teaching them
English, and counselling them if they need it.
The Center has a hairdressing salon on Soi 6, and a
building on Third Road that holds a restaurant and bakery, a card and
jewellery making shop, computer training centre and a small nursery. They
also have an outreach programme in the north east of Thailand, in Isaan,
where they try to tackle the problem at its source.
On both Monday and Wednesday of the Conference, 30
delegates from the Round Square Schools around the world visited the Third
Road base of the Tamar Centre. There, they were divided into four groups,
each of which had a Thai speaking student from the Regent’s School to help
translate.
The main aim of the day was to have the students
interacting with the ladies from the centre. For that, each group rotated
between four different interactive activities. The Tamar Center girls taught
the delegates how to cook sweet and sour chicken and make a Thai dessert.
They also spent an hour trying to make cards like the Tamar girls do.
The most emotional activity was the question-and-answer
session with four ladies from the centre. With the help of four translators,
the girls told their stories and very openly answered all questions that the
delegates had about their lives. In exchange, the delegates also answered
questions from the Tamar ladies relating to their lives and backgrounds.
Quite a few tears were shed between the two groups, and the delegates learnt
a totally different side to prostitution and bar life. Many never realised
the kinds of stories that could be behind this life. It was an eye-opening
experience for all participants.
At the end, two schools were so moved by their
experiences that they expressed interest at establishing long-term
connections with the centre. And of course, Tamar bakery produce was
extremely popular at the end of an emotional day.
For more information on the Tamar Centre, visit
http://www.projlife.com/tamarcenter/
We walk
together at the Tamar Center.
Guranyawet Disabled Ladies
Home
Balloon
fun at the Guranyawet disabled ladies home.
The ladies home is a government run residential centre
for 400 ladies age 18 upwards. The ladies have a wide range of physical and
mental disabilities and they reside at the home due to having no family to
care for them.
The service day was organised by Victoria Wells who
visits the ladies on a regular basis and is hoping to establish a
sustainable partnership with the ladies home. The ladies rarely have
visitors and seldom leave the home. The aim of the day was to provide them
with some entertainment and to make them feel special.
The service day was fun filled with nail painting,
makeovers, karaoke and dancing. One of the ladies at the home commented,
“It’s so special to have visitors. I have had a great day.”
Father Ray Day Care Centre
and Vocational School for Disabled
One of
the many activities between
the delegates and Fountain of life children.
The Fr. Ray Day Care Center provides children living in
the poorest slum areas of Pattaya a place where they will be safe during the
day whilst their parents are at work. The Round Square delegates had great
fun playing with some of the centre’s 120 children. They made masks, played
with play dough and construction toys and then helped to feed the children
and put them to bed for their afternoon nap.
In the afternoon the delegates visited the Vocational
school for the disabled where they learnt what it is like to live as
disabled person. The school currently educates over 200 adults who all have
a physical disability. Each student was either given a blindfold, a
wheelchair or a pair of crutches. They then had to negotiate around the
centre and out onto Soi Yume to the local shop to experiences exactly how
difficult life as disabled person can be. The afternoon ended with a game of
wheel chair basketball which proved to be more difficult than first
expected!
Father
Ray Vocational Center students
and delegates playing basketball together.
We walk
together with the Father Ray Vocational Center.
