Letters from
Mae Sai: Sissy, German volunteer (04.02.02)
I have been here in Mae Sai for three weeks now and I still am impressed by all the new experiences. Already the first day in the Childlife house began with a very cordial welcome by the children. .
like every volunteer I was given a
Thai name (Pii Ohn). Even though
most of the children were still a bit reserved some of them took my by
my hand and tugged me with them.
The painting activity
I had brought along some used clothes and toys from Germany, many were given to me by friends. The children were overjoyed and it was obvious once more how grateful they are for everything, no matter how small. The boys were especially happy about the toy cars, which by now all have 'disappeared'. The soap bubbles are extremely popular, all the children were jumping after the bubbles and wanted more and more of them. Luckily there always is washing up liquid...!
them is painting. We already had to make
copies of the painting books as they
otherwise would be full in no time . One
day Verena and me sat down with some children to do some painting.
page was left. A true painting broke out. The disappointed faces were gone as we decorated the walls with
their paintings and each child proudly signed its name on its picture. In the end the once empty walls looked
so much nicer.
When I for the first time went to the bridge , where
most of the street children spend the day or even
night, I was shocked how they have to live. Lots of
them carry their small siblings on their back, which
often are already intoxicated by drugs so that they
keep quiet and sleep! At night the older street children
often sleep in front of the supermarket and are drunk
or are intoxicated. They hardly have any chance to
make something out of their life.
to go begging, as they themselves have no documents whatsoever and therefore can't find any work in Thailand
or are too old to still be able to obtain any money from begging in the streets! One boy called 'Ajoh' for example
had been living at Childlife for quite a long time, but finally returned to life at the bridge. He would like to come
back to us, but he has to go begging for his sick mother, as she can't take care of herself anymore at all. On the
other hand Ajoh is always drawn back to the bridge as he can't always integrate himself into Childlife and
because he has problems with the limited space and independence , as we live together as a community where
one has to be considerate of each other. Unfortunately this constitutes a problem for some children, and a small
minority is always drawn back to the streets. As Ngaow at the moment simply does not have the time to take care of the children in the streets, Verena and myself recently have been visiting them a lot and took some time
to be with them and sometimes buy fruits or ice-cream for them. They are very happy when one plays with them
for some minutes and gives them some time. However each time it is extremely hard for me to go and simply
leave them to their fate. But at least Ngaow drives past the supermarket every to see whether Ajoh or some of the other children are there. Most of the times we stop and Ngaow talks to them a bit or gives them some
sweets evening.
The first trip that I could experience here as the fishing trip to a neighbours
property. As soon as it was clear that we were going to the lake all the
children were very excited and brought their buckets, bowls and nets to
the car. It was a funny picture to see all the children on only one pickup
car and motorcycle. When we arrived at the lake some men were already
fishing. And as the water had already been pumped out of the lake it was
a very muddy affair. The children enthusiastically jumped into the mud
and began to catch fish from the mud with their bare hands.
It was virtually impossible to stay clean as soon
as one had stepped into the lake as the children
found it very amusing to throw mud at us. Anyway,
it was much fun for me and I am already looking
forward to the next time. In the end we all nearly
looked like swamp monsters but were very
successful fishing so that we had to eat a lot of fish
the days after. Some of the fish we also dried or
deep froze it.
In the middle of January, Harry, who offers offroad-tours on the motorbike to tourists include the house into
his travel route. However, they also give us some Bahts as donation . He came with two German men, who
interestedly took a look at the house and let us explain the situation very detailed. For the children the new
big motorbikes naturally were a big fun and each child took turn to sit on it for a short moment!
with more tourists which certainly will
be fun for the children, as there are
going to be even more motorbikes to
admire.
The first weekend we drove with the older children once more to our neighbours property to camp ther over-night. The excitement was huge and it was a big adventure for the children in February. After we had arrived we made our beds with straw and some mats, with the straw it was even more comfortable than in the house!
while swimming which we ate as a sauce. Furthermore
the children brought a banana shrub, which they grilled
over the fire. This clearly was a completely new experience for me as I had never seen or eaten that before. It even tasted not all that bad. As it was getting
dark we made a big fire from straw and Ngaow played
group games all evening long with the.
had forgotten his problems and stress. In between Pok an Aeh came to visit us
while Ralph was staying with the younger children in the house.
As it was time for sleep and some children already had gone to sleep
Ngaow decided That it would be better
not to sleep on the field. At night it can become very cold and there
are lots of mosquitoes and even snakes. So
we tore down our camp in the pitch darkness of the night. But even that
turned out to be fun as rarely anybody
was able to find his shoes and there were not many flash lights. Verena
had no choice but to drive home without
her second shoe. We stow away everything into the pickup car and tucked
ourselves deep into the blankets.
The sky was clear and full of stars and we all sang some songs together
and so it was a very beautiful evening
after all.
What I experienced so far already
ahs impressed me deeply and I am looking forward to what might
still lay ahead ! On the other I just became fully aware of the situation after I had arrived and I hadn't
expected that it was going to be that arduous. The reorientation of food, sleeping situation,... is not
always easy. But it is a good experience to see that how privileged one is back at home and one learns
to appreciate again things that one took for granted before. Despite difficulties, that had ocurred I yet
am very happy that I made this decision and didn't regret it since.
still lay ahead ! On the other I just became fully aware of the situation after I had arrived and I hadn't
expected that it was going to be that arduous. The reorientation of food, sleeping situation,... is not
always easy. But it is a good experience to see that how privileged one is back at home and one learns
to appreciate again things that one took for granted before. Despite difficulties, that had ocurred I yet
am very happy that I made this decision and didn't regret it since.
