Priests conduct the
consecration ceremony as children join in singing hymns.
Although the skies were a little cloudy on Sunday,
February 3, the sun shone brightly in the hearts of hundreds of children and
adults who were gathered at the new building site of the Baan Jin Jai
Children’s home. Located at Nong Plalai district, the crowd was there to
attend religious ceremonies and be witness to the foundation stone laying
ceremony for the new facility.
Ban Jing Jai Foundation Director Piangta Chumnoi spoke to Pattaya Mail about
how this all came about, saying, “Since its inception in 1997, the Baan Jing
Jai Children’s Home has grown in size and now occupies three old buildings
that house over 80 orphaned and abandoned children ranging from 1 to 19
years of age. In late 2010 we decided that we needed a new home and
therefore we initiated this project to construct a purpose designed facility
to accommodate some 100 plus children of similar age ranges.”
A building committee was formed, chaired by Hans K. Nyvoll, with members
Gudmund Eiksund, Stephen and Lamyai Beard, Jim Farmer, John Haerum, Vutikorn
Kamolchote, Ponsawan Kankaew, Jan Olav Åamlid, and Rev. Surakit Kamonrat.
Together a concerted effort was launched to raise funds to build the new
facility.
Piangta Chumnoi holds the 5
million baht cheque that was presented to her by Trond Tønjum and Jesse
Linde of Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics.
The committee discovered a site along route 7 and quickly
raised the initial funds to buy the 4.2 rai of land.
Piangta said, “In October 2011, they announced plans to build a new shelter
in Nong Plalai. To reach this goal we needed at least 18 million baht in
funding.”
In the months following, many fund raising activities were held and together
with donations from the public a sum of almost 10 million baht was
collected.
“But that still left us with a shortfall and we really needed to get the
project started as soon as possible,” she added.
That little hiccup was overcome on that Sunday morning, when right after the
consecration ceremonies, much to the delight of all in attendance, Trond
Tønjum along with Jesse Linde representing staff from Wallenius Wilhelmsen
Logistics in Norway and Sweden presented a cheque of 5 million baht to
Piangta to supplement the cost of the building.
Piangta prays intensely as
the holy men are about to place the foundation stone.
Trond said, “Employees of our company are usually looking
for charity projects in different parts of the world which they can
contribute to. When we heard that this project in Pattaya was in dire need
of funds and that that were many Norwegians involved in the fund raising
activities, we decided that we too would like to contribute to help the
children get a new home.”
“This is only the beginning,” said Trond. “We will contribute the same
amount again this coming year, if not more!”
The dedication and foundation stone laying ceremonies were conducted by Rev.
Surakit Kamonrat, Rev. Jan Olav Johannesen and Rev. Peter Pattarapong
Srivorakul, who led the congregation in offering their blessings and good
wishes on this auspicious occasion.
The building committee expressed the same feelings of happiness and
gratitude and said that the new Baan Jing Jai home should be ready for the
kids to move in by the end of 2014.
“What a wonderful Christmas gift this will be for the children. We are so
close to making the dream a reality.”
Children are thrilled with
the gift of new clothing brought by their benefactors.
The benevolent benefactors
sprinkle flowers of blessing on the foundation stone.
Three staunch supporters of
Baan Jing Jai (l-r) Stephen Beard, Gudmund Eiksund and William Macy of the
Pattaya Sports Club.
The children can look forward
to living in their new home very soon.
