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Regent’s student delegates attend Round Square International Conference 2012
at Brookhouse School in Kenya
Regent’s delegates with King
Constantine.
Champagne, Megan, Anita
and Zulkee (Year 10)
On the 28th of March Regent’s student delegates were
packed and ready to depart for the Round Square International Conference at
Brookhouse International School in Nairobi, Kenya. However, at the airport
we encountered a slight problem. Our flight was to be delayed by 23 hours.
Despite the rough start we finally arrived at Staraehe
Boys Centre in Nairobi where we would be staying with another Round Square
school from Canada, the Glenlyon Norfolk School, until the start of the
conference as a pre-conference project. The Starehe Boys Centre is a school
that offers poor Kenyan boys with exceptional educational talent the chance
to study and become confident leaders. More than 1,000 boys are sponsored to
go there to study.
Delegates ready to perform a
beautiful Thai dance.
The reception at Staraehe was amazing. I never imagined
that I would feel so welcome in a foreign country. The boys and the staff
there welcomed us with open arms. During our time at Staraehe there was
never a dull moment. They took us on a tour of their school; we met some of
their community partners and spent some time sight seeing.
On the fourth day, it was the adventure day and we went
to the Great Rift Valley where we did a “small” hike. However, when we got
up to the top, the view was amazing and all the hard work paid off.
Anita playing with local
children.
My highlight was definitely meeting the children at the
local primary school and getting to know everyone at Staraehe. We also got
to know the delegates from Glenlyon Norfolk School really well before the
conference started.
Before we knew it we were packing our bags again and
moving on to join the conference at Brookhouse School on the other side of
Nairobi. We were all very sad to leave Starahe as we all enjoyed our time
there very much and one day we all hope to visit them again.
The conference itself was an unforgettable week,
jam-packed with barazza sessions, service activities, keynote speakers and
of course plenty of socialising. The theme of the conference was: ‘No
existence without co-existence’. The speakers and panel really explored the
main issues facing both Kenya and Africa politically, environmentally and
socially, and we had plenty to talk about in our barazza discussion groups.
Going to the conference and meeting everyone with the
same passion was also brilliant; it was nice meeting the people of Kenya and
experiencing their culture and helping out in their communities. It is
always uplifting to see how kind, open and caring people are. The little
kids that shared their snacks with me on the service day touched me - we
knew they had so little yet they were so willing to share.
Africa… “CNN makes it sound much worse off than it is.” A
quote from a girl at the conference, and I absolutely agree with her. It
wasn’t anything like I portrayed it to be. I would definitely say it was a
new experience and what I learned from the conference will be something I
will always put to use in my life.
Although there were a few complaints about the early
starts I can confidently say that we all thoroughly enjoyed out time at the
conference. The Kenyan music and dance was especially colourful and
inspiring. I would like to encourage everyone to attend a Round Square
Conference because it is the opportunity of a lifetime.
Lastly, I would like to thank everyone on behalf of all
the other delegates who made this trip possible and to everyone who
supported us. Thank you.
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PILC makes a donation to
Kophai Kindergarten
(L to R) PILC President Ann Winfield with Pim
Seaton and Helle Rantsen, PILC welfare chairperson.
Helle Rantsen, PILC
welfare chairperson
Kophai Kindergarten is located in one of the worst slum
areas in Pattaya, close to Sukhumvit Tai. When Pim Seaton, a Pattaya
International Ladies Club (PILC) member and the chairperson of the Seaton
Foundation, visited the area six years ago she couldn’t help but notice the
terrible living conditions of many of the young children. Many children,
with no proper care, were left more or less on their own while their parents
went to work.
Pim, a woman with a huge heart and an ambition to help
underprivileged children, saw that help was needed and she organized the
creation of the Kophai kindergarten to help these children. She started the
kindergarten with only 10 children and now, six years later, this number has
grown into a total of 60.
The children, aged from 18 months to seven years, start
in the preschool program which provides them with a basic knowledge of
reading and writing both in Thai and English. They also get a daily lunch.
The children learn in safe and secure surroundings with staff that cares for
each individual child. The children leave the kindergarten at the age of
seven to enter into the Thai Primary School system. Pim is very proud of her
staff and her children as the children who leave the preschool program under
the Seaton Foundation receive the absolute best basic education to prepare
them to excel when they enter primary school. She has received much feedback
telling her how well-prepared her children are to handle school work.
The Pattaya International Ladies Club has been supporting
Kophai Kindergarten ever since it started six years ago. On the 30th of
April PILC president Ann Winfield and PILC welfare chairperson Helle Rantsen
went on a visit to the kindergarten to present the this year’s donation to
Pim and all the smiling children, wishing everybody a successful new school
year. The children were pleased to see the foreign visitors, and Pim thanked
the PILC for its generous support.
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St Andrews’ students explore their local environment
Beverly reveals her portrait
work.
Mr Martin, Art Teacher, St Andrews International
School
Graduating International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
students from St Andrews International School, Green Valley held an
exhibition on their artwork at the end of April. The exhibition represents
the culmination of two years’ work and was warmly received by around 50
parents, friends, teachers and students.
The artists; Beverly, Marie, and Maura explored a range
of themes and techniques to build comprehensive and highly original pieces
of work. Their artwork was assessed by an examiner visiting from Bangkok and
they have now completed the visual art course. Well done to them all
Maura exhibits her major
pieces of art work at the IB Exhibition.
Pattaya Sports Club passes 3 million baht
Pattaya Sports Club are proud to have been supporting
charities and promoting sports since 1979, but this last financial year was
a year to remember in more ways than one. Some good memories and others we
would prefer to forget but, perhaps, never will.
It was a good start to the year ahead when PSC were able
to celebrate donating 25 million baht during the last 12 years and ended
being able to celebrate donating 3 million baht, in the financial year
ending April 30th, going to 42 different causes. From building toilets for a
centre that houses 420 disabled ladies to supplying food/supplies to
hospitals and various centres and installing clean water supplies to
schools. Our involvement, very much to the delight of the committee, has
been wide and varied.
There were a number of new recipients on this year’s list
but, over the years, we have built up a great relationship with many friends
including Jesters, YWCA, Rotary, Camillian Centre, Baan Jing Jai to name
just a few and together we have made a big impact in the Pattaya area.
Each year we donate funds to promote sport among children
and this year is no exception with 794,000 baht being used to promote sport
in one form or another, for presented with the opportunity to determine the
skills they have, who knows, there may be a champion waiting to be
discovered. Which has happened in badminton, where an 18 year old Thai lady
has moved into the top 20 in the world rankings. Providing facilities and
equipment to enable children to hone their skills remains a priority for
PSC.
Rain made a big impact starting in September when
thousands of people were disappointed that the Jesters Fair was submerged
under a sea of torrential and persistent rain and was therefore cancelled.
The devastating floods in the rest of the country made a big impact on
everybody’s lives for many months. Hundreds of children and handicapped
arrived in Pattaya to escape from those areas and, therefore, put a big
strain on those charities that came to their aid. PSC were able to help,
providing rice and water until they could return to their homes.
Pattaya Sports Club are well known for their willingness
to help the underprivileged and handicapped and a big THANK YOU must go to
all the members who continue their support by renewing their membership.
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“Regent’s Presents… Matt Friedman”
On Wednesday 2nd May, the Regent’s School added yet
another prestigious event to its ever-growing list of attractions. The
Regent’s Presents - our free version of the famed TED talks - was
inaugurated in true style with a presentation from Mr. Matthew Friedman, the
Regional project manager for the United Nations Inter-Agency Project on
Human Trafficking (UNIAP).
Mr. Matt Friedman takes to
the Regent’s stage.
At seven o’clock a variety audience of senior students,
teachers, parents and visitors from other schools filed into the Globe
Theatre for an informative evening on the issue of human trafficking.
Despite the gruesome nature of the problem, the night was a treat; everyone
found themselves bound by Mr. Friedman’s passionate presentation and
undoubtedly affected by the stories he had to tell of his vast experience
both working with victims and campaigning for the issue across the globe.
This was evidenced by the number of questions asked at the end of the
lecture, all of which Mr. Friedman answered with the ease of a person who
really knows what he is working for.
The problem of human trafficking is very prominent around
this end of the world and the presentation was well tailored to Thailand,
informing of the appearance of the issue locally and encouraging people to
keep their eyes open. Certainly, many facts were revealed that the audience
would have found surprising; for example, as Mr. Friedman pointed out, when
people think about human trafficking they think about women and girls forced
into the sex trade, but in reality this only makes up about 20% of the
matter. Much of what is human trafficking involves a great deal of deception
and unfulfilled promises of work, causing people to follow traffickers
freely onto boats or guarded warehouses where they find themselves unable to
leave, working constantly for no pay and in fear of the enforcers that keep
them there for years at a time.
As Mr. Friedman said with resolution - human trafficking
is the process of getting these people to such places, but what it leads to
is slavery. Part of the issue is that people hide it behind technical terms
that draw no emotive response but, “If something looks and smells and tastes
like slavery, let’s call it what it is.” Indeed, many of the audience
approached him in the end, wanting to know how they can help and how to get
involved in a similar line of work.
Overall, the night was a successful premiere, with people
leaving informed, some shocked into awareness and others into action, but
surely none unaffected. According to Mr. Friedman there is a way for every
person to do their part, whether it is active campaigning, reporting any
suspicious activities and people in trouble, or simply being a responsible
consumer and making sure the products you buy aren’t being made under
dubious circumstances. As he said, we are all part of the new frontier
against this issue and it is our responsibility to make sure we aren’t
contributing to its growth. For more information on Mr. Friedman or his
cause go to www.no-trafficking.org.
The Regent’s Presents will continue to bring interesting
and accomplished individuals to the Globe stage to share their stories and
answer any questions about their work. We would like to invite anyone who is
interested to come along to future talks. A big thanks to Mr. Matthew
Friedman for a great start to this event; to the Student Guild for providing
refreshments and snacks; and to the fantastic people who came to enjoy the
presentation - we hope to see you at the next Regent’s Presents in June. If
you would like to recommend a presenter for a future Regent’s Presents
evening, please contact [email protected].
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TE Connectivity displays
corporate social responsibility
Derek Franklin
The Chinese conglomerate TE Connectivity recently visited
the Father Ray Children’s Village as part of their Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) programme.
A souvenir hat from China.
In Pattaya to attend a business conference, thirty TE
Connectivity managers, led by Tom Whelan, VP Finance Asia Pacific, spent
time working alongside the young residents of the Children’s Village.
Strong winds on previous days had resulted in damaged,
uprooted trees and bushes. The visitors spent an afternoon clearing the
gardens, digging holes, building supports and replanting the trees, all with
the help of the children.
CSR is fast becoming an important part of many local, national and
international organisations. It makes sense for a company to take a closer
look at the community they are working or doing business in. It shows local
people that a company wants to be part of that community, is interested in
their lives and not just one that employs locals and is after making a quick
profit.
Four hands are better than
two.
Tom Whelan, VP at TE
Connectivity, with one of the younger residents at the Father Ray Children’s
Village.
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