It was 1972 that Father Ray Brennan came to Pattaya but nobody realised the impact that he was to have on, what was then, a sleepy fishing village. It was not long after his arrival that a Thai lady asked him to take care of her baby for her personal circumstances made it impossible for her to do so. He accepted the baby, an event that was to herald a remarkable story for the handicapped and underprivileged children of Pattaya. A story that is well known and has travelled beyond the shores of Thailand.
But from this simple act of generosity, the Pattaya Orphanage was born, a building erected and the Orphanage was granted an establishment license by the then Governor of Chonburi in 1978. It has since gone from strength to strength. 185 children are resident at the moment and cared for by Toy and her remarkable team, with ages ranging from 1 year and staying until they leave school/college/university and can support themselves financially.
As it was.
As you can imagine, they need to be able to use all the space they have. Toy showed representatives of Pattaya Sport Club a room that had not been used for many years and asked for our help to renovate the room to be used by the pre-school children (under 6 years old). It was an easy decision by the PSC Committee to agree to fund the project.
The toilets/showers could not be used and the whole room had fallen into a bad state of repair. As you can see from the photographs a big change has taken place with good natural lighting, clean, bright tiling on the floor and bright colours on the walls. The room will be used as a recreation room and will provide the children with space to be able to paint, play instruments and games and, generally enjoy themselves. The renovations were extended to include the exterior of the building.
With a separate act of generosity, Ken Berneck and his wife Wendy, members of Pattaya Sports Club, gave the children a DVR Music System which will provide the older children with the opportunity to play their favourite music and have fun with the karaoke. Everyone was delighted with the gift and Toy assured us that it will be put to good use.
Big room but needs some work.
A big improvement.
Everywhere the colours are bright.
A big, bright happy room.
Thank you PSC.
