It is truly a season to be jolly as Rotarians in Pattaya and members of the Pattaya Sports Club threw a Christmas party for 55 children residing at the Anti Human Trafficking & Child Abuse Center on Dec 23.
In what was considered to be the most heartwarming and meaningful party of the year, a large number of residents and expats from neighboring communities attended the festivities for the children’s benefit. An extraordinary feast of Thai and international food was prepared by volunteers. The inimitable Dr Penguin thrilled the kids with his repertoire of magic tricks bringing laughter to their faces and filling their hearts with unbounded happiness.
Guests donated funds towards the upkeep and education of the children living in the center while a raffle was held for the kids to win a small sum of money to keep for their own use.
Jan Chris von Koss of the Rotary Club of Jomtien-Pattaya donated two laptop computers to the center to use for the children’s education. Sacha Bürgi from the Swiss Society Bangkok donated 25,000 baht, Bernard Mueller from Switzerland donated 50,000 baht and Pattaya Sports Club donated 20,000 baht.
Rolf Ruegg, Jayson and Nicole sang Christmas Carols in English and German while everyone came on stage to sing ‘We are the World” bringing tears to everyone’s eyes.
Marina, a charming Swiss lady brought shoes that her daughter didn’t wear anymore, and as if out of a scene from Cinderella, the girls tried them on and could keep the ones they liked for their very own. It was truly touching to see them walk away hugging onto their precious new shoes.
Throughout the evening adults and children bee-lined to the Ducatin Ice-cream truck to get one of the most delicious ice-creams one has ever tasted. Vikrom Malhotra, who was commissioned to supply the ice-cream for the party said he wished he had bought more as both adults and children kept coming back for seconds and thirds.
Palisorn Noja, lovingly known as Khru Ja, director of the ATCC thanked the benevolent guests for organizing the party and more especially for their donations. He again thanked all the beneficiaries for their kind donation of the school bus a few weeks ago. He said that the center is now trying to raise money to build a roof over their all-purpose sports court and every little bit of financial aid is most welcome.
Khru Ja summarized his plea for help saying, “The Anti-Human Trafficking and Child Abuse Centre was established in Pattaya in order to deal with problems of human trafficking and child sexual abuse. The main target groups are street kids and children at risk. The center’s main objectives are assisting these children in obtaining education and life skills that will enable them to return to their families and society. It is important that these children are cared for in a safe environment during this period. Please help us, so we can carry on our work to protect and keep our children safe.”
To know more about ATCC and offer your assistance please call Khru Ja at 0922324924, 0819499349. Email: [email protected]
 |
 |
 |
