PCEC Treasurer Judith
presents Toy with a Certificate of Appreciation from PCEC for her work for
the Pattaya Orphanage, and for the inspiring presentation by the children.
Photos by K. Wat
In what has become an annual tradition, the Children’s Choir from the
Pattaya Orphanage performed for the Pattaya City Expats Club members and
guests at their Sunday, December 22 meeting. The children serenaded the
group with Christmas Carols and with some traditional Thai dancing.
Board member Judith Edmonds introduced Radchada (Toy) Chomjinda from the
Orphanage who said it was a privilege for the children to be back this year
to again sing for the club.
A large group of orphans sang
‘Jingle Bells’ and other Christmas Carols, accompanied by none other than
Santa Claus!
Seven young ladies took centre stage resplendent in traditional Thai
costumes of gold, blue, green, red and orange. Each wore jewellery around
her neck and waist. They performed a couple of traditional Thai dances.
Following this, the rest of the choir filed in, dressed in red and white
choir robes and Christmas hats. There were over 100 in the choir this year,
the biggest number ever. Toy explained that the numbers were boosted by the
presence of several young ladies from Sriracha who are entering the nunhood.
Toy and Nong Orm of the
Orphanage then gave a memento of PCEC support to Chairman Pat.
The choir sang several carols, including “Jingle Bells,” “Come All ye
Faithful” and “Joy to the World.” The choir finished their set with a
rousing shout of “We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!”
This was followed by the entrance of Santa Claus from behind the choir, much
to the delight of both the audience and the choir, who could see Santa Claus
on the TV monitors scattered throughout The Tavern restaurant. (While they
were singing the carols, the children could also see themselves on the
monitors, to their great amusement.)
Toys ‘Angels’ (orphans of the
Pattaya Orphanage, managed by Toy) perform traditional Thai dances for the
appreciative audience, members of Pattaya City Expats Club.
With a merry “Ho, Ho, Ho” Santa wished one and all a Merry Christmas. To the
delight of the children, he conversed with them in Thai. One of the little
boys pulled on his beard and patted his rotund middle and exclaimed
something in Thai. Jolly Ol’ Santa explained to the audience that he had
said Santa was pregnant with a baby elephant! Santa led the choir in another
rendition of “Jingle Bells” and then surprised everyone with a stirring
rendition of “Silent Night,” initially solo, but quickly joined in by the
choir and the audience. Then, Santa brought out his sack of goodies, handing
them out to very happy and smiling children.
After the carols, Santa gave
gifts from PCEC to all the children.
Toy invited everyone to participate in Christmas dinner at the Orphanage on
Christmas Day. She explained that the Orphanage would be specially decorated
in honour of its 40th anniversary. The children then left the stage, but not
before another stirring rendition of “We wish you a Merry Christmas and a
Happy New Year!”
The gifts for the children were made possible by the efforts of Club member
Judith, who solicited donations from people attending the Sunday morning
meetings and by the generosity of the many people who stuffed baht bills and
coins into the donations jar. The money raised was used to buy clothes as
well as gifts for the children at the Orphanage and the Mercy Centre - split
50/50 between them.
Students of Lovers of the
Cross of Chantaburi, accompanied by Sister Mingkwan Pholmool, joined with
the children of Pattaya Orphanage for their Christmas PCEC Concert.
To thank the club for its generosity, Toy presented Judith, PCEC Chair Pat
Koester and PCEC Past-Chair and long-time member and friend of the Orphanage
Richard Smith with figurines in the design of the Orphanage’s logo.
Toy explained how many of the children came to be at the Orphanage. She also
said that the Orphanage was very proud that four of its children had
achieved master degrees (three more are on the way) and that 20 of its
children had obtained bachelor degrees. She added that as a result of
education grants, the Orphanage was now fortunate enough to be able send its
young children to private schools where they learn English from Day 1.
After some announcements of upcoming events, Master of Ceremonies Richard
Silverberg called on Roy Albiston to conduct the Open Forum where questions
are asked and answered about expat living in Thailand, Pattaya in
particular.
For more information about the Club and its many activities, visit
www.pcecclub.org.
