Pat with 3 Thai tsunami survivors whose small
medicinal herb business had been totally destroyed in the tsunami.
Master of Ceremonies Richard Silverberg welcomed everyone
to the regular Sunday meeting of the Pattaya City Expats Club on March 13,
2011 at Amari Resort’s Tavern by the Sea. After the usual opening
announcements, Richard called on fellow member Richard Smith to introduce
the guest speaker Pat Koester, a former US Peace Corps Volunteer in
Thailand. Before being introduced, Gary Hacker, one of the US Embassy
Wardens for Pattaya, announced that Pat is also taking on the mantle of a US
Embassy Warden.
This
week’s speaker, member Pat Koester, relates to fellow PCEC members how she
was inspired by President John Kennedy’s call to the youth of the US to
serve their country in the cause of peace. This resulted in the
establishment of the US Peace Corps.
Pat started by mentioning that some 50 years ago, US
President John F. Kennedy challenged many college students to serve their
country in the cause of peace by living and working in developing countries.
From that inspiration, the US Peace Corps was established 50 years ago
charged with the mission of helping: (1) the people of interested countries
in meeting their need for trained men and women; (2) promote a better
understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served; and (3)
promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.
Pat became a Peace Corps volunteer some 40 years ago. She
pointed out that the qualifications for a volunteer as being a US citizen at
least 18 years of age; but she mentioned that there was no upper age limit.
She also pointed out that although the Peace Corps is in effect a government
foreign aid agency, its emphasis is on people rather than money.
As a volunteer, she came to Thailand for two years to
teach English at a high school in Ayutthaya; the normal term of service for
a volunteer. Back then, Thailand did not have the transportation
infrastructure it now has; so she had to use the train to get to Ayutthaya.
Pat showed a picture of the high school pointing out that today it has a
substantially larger campus then it did when she taught there.
Pat gave a few highlights of her time teaching including
going out each morning at 8 a.m. to sing the Thai National Anthem as the
Thai flag was raised. Pat says she still remembers all the words. Although
when she started, the Peace Corps practice was to actively teach in the
school, today the emphasis is on working with the teachers to help them
improve rather than conducting classes themselves.
The
three ladies who survived the tsunami, but lost their business,
process the herbs which have been dried in their new herb dryer.
In 2004, Pat said she returned to the Peace Corps to
assist the Thai victims of the tsunami that destroyed many Thai villages
along the Andaman coast. She showed a map of Thailand pointing out the
fishing village where she was assigned to work that had been destroyed. She
showed pictures of the housing that had been constructed for the villagers
and her quarters, which were very basic. She also mentioned that as Peace
Corps volunteers, they were prohibited by the Peace Corps from driving any
motorized vehicle so they used a bicycle to get around.
Pat described her work as being related to micro-finance
- establishing revolving fund loans for individuals and groups that couldn’t
qualify for other type of financing. During this 6 month assignment, much of
her time was spent in meeting with villagers to identify folks that could
qualify for a loan and to teach them about saving money and the need to
repay their loans.
Pat also mentioned her assistance in getting a Peace Corp
grant to build a structure to dry medicinal herbs for an elderly group of
women. She explained that these women, before the tsunami, had planned to
grow and package medicinal herbs. They had already obtained plans from a
university for the drying structure, but needed the grant funds to build it.
After that, Pat served up country as a Community
Development Training Coordinator for other Peace Corps volunteers. She said
that the training emphasized the need for the volunteers to learn about
Thailand and the area where they were assigned. Also, the importance of
meeting with the people and government officials with the goal of getting
them to identify their needs and what they wanted to do. This often takes up
most of the first year of the two year assignment. After this period, the
volunteers’ objective would be to help the Thais find the resources they
needed.
Pat concluded by mentioning her other activities in
Thailand between her stints with the Peace Corps such as during the Vietnam
War, working with the USO (United Service Organizations) at U-Tapao Royal
Thai Navy Airfield, which was a large military base used by US Forces.
After Pat answered several questions, Richard Silverberg
updated everyone on upcoming events and called on “Hawaii” Bob Sutterfield
to conduct the always informative and sometimes humorous Open Forum, where
questions are asked and answered about living in Thailand, Pattaya in
particular..
Mary Kelly
(2nd right) from the Amicus Foundation and Kylie Grimmer (right) from Women With
a Mission are happy to see the new well in action.
Rosanne Diamente
The importance of water and how it can make a difference to a
village and school should never be underestimated.
Workers
build the staging needed to house the water tanks.
In November 2010, Women With a Mission (WWM) were able to
fulfill a dream of many children and their careers at the boarding house in Hway
Ka Loke (HKL) and the migrant school, Children’s Development Training Center
(CDTC). Close to 400 migrant children either board at HKL or receive an
education at CDTC on the Thai/Burma border in Mae Sot. Many are attending school
not only for the education offered, but also for the safety of a regular meal -
and now fresh water.
Water was in big demand with 266 children needing to bathe
daily, plus all the laundry that needed to be washed each day. There was no
opportunity to have a drink of water when you needed one. This dream came true
when a donation from the Amicus Foundation was made after they saw a
presentation from WWM. With their kind donation, a 250ft deep-water well was dug
and is now providing clean, fresh, drinkable water, not only to the boarding
house and school, but also to the local village. A real community project!
Finished
and ready to supply water to the village.
Clean water and plenty of it is the key to helping solve the
many problems that the children face every day. With clean water to drink and
bathe, the health and hygiene of the children have improved greatly; the
boarding house has started gardens to grow their own vegetables and the teachers
have planted trees and flowers where there was only dirt before. All of this has
raised the spirit of the children and their teachers and makes for a
better-presented and happier environment.
WWM have been working with two boarding houses and schools in
the Mae Sot, Tak Province, for three years; providing nutrition, hygiene
supplies and running costs for over 500 children. Our current funding will end
at the end of May - just a few short months away. WWM are hard at work writing
up funding proposals and planning our third annual Charity Golf Tournament for
October 2011. If you personally or your company are looking for how you can help
the less fortunate this year please visit our webpage at www.mywwm.org and
contact us at [email protected] for more information.
The Lions
Club of Naklua-Pattaya celebrated its 10th anniversary with community leaders
and other area club members.
Pratchaya Kerdthong
The Lions Club of Naklua-Pattaya celebrated its 10th
anniversary with community leaders and other area club members turning out to
offer messages of praise and good luck.
Former Tourism and Sports Minister Sonthaya Kunplome was
among the local dignitaries at the March 12 event at the J.A. Villa in North
Pattaya. Chapter President Bunyapa Watanaprom welcomed everyone, including many
Lions Club District 310 C and regions 7 and 8 members attending.
Bunyapa noted the Naklua club now has 48 members and works
year-round to hold charity events aimed at impoverished and disadvantaged
Pattaya-area residents.
Noting the members’ assistance follows Lions Club ideals of
being the “giver,” Bunyapa said, “If we are never the giver, we will never know
happiness.”
