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Working with our beneficiaries
By Lewis Underwood
Our slogan this year: “Build a School, Buy a
Scholarship, Brighten a Future” refers to what we are doing with our
beneficiaries in 2003.
Specifically, “Build a School” refers to one of the
two school buildings we are renovating at the Eastern Child Welfare
Protection Institute in Huay Pong, Rayong. “Buy a Scholarship,” relates
to the scholarships we provide each year to children attending the Fountain
of Life Center in North Pattaya in order to continue their education in
government schools. And “Brighten a Future” refers to the goal for all
our beneficiaries, which is to better the children’s lives through the
provision of education and vocational training. For the students at the
Pattaya Redemptorist School for the Blind in Naklua, this is especially
important as they view the education as the means of becoming qualified for
a profession, and not being a burden on society.
Overall, the Jesters ‘Care for Kids’ Charity Drive,
now in its sixth year, continues to support those institutions giving
otherwise disadvantaged children the opportunity to get an education, learn
a vocation and look forward to a brighter future.
Eastern Child Welfare Protection Institute in Huay Pong
This organization, which provides both education and
vocational training to abandoned and orphaned children under the auspices of
the Department of Social Development and Welfare, is located at the
crossroads of Maptaphut and Sukhumvit in Rayong province. The site of the
institute lies on the grounds of an old prison and for the most part still
utilizes the original 50-year-old buildings. Fortunately, the building
material used then was hardwood (teak) and it has survived well, especially
given the severities of the tropical climate. However, the rains over the
years have taken their toll mainly due to leaking roofs and lack of drainage
around the footings.
After renovating the dormitory of the youngest boys last
year, we then decided to take on the two school buildings (we will renovate
the second one next year). The one we have taken on this year was especially
in need of a new roof and support beams. Otherwise most of the wood making
up the walls, floors and railings has just needed spot replacement. We are
also installing new toilets and washbasins, new blackboards and replacing
the wooden steps with concrete ones. Drainage is also being diverted so that
rainwater does not pool under the structure. Work started in June and we
hope that this school building will be ready for use early in September.
Pattaya Redemptorist School for the Blind
The Jesters ‘Care for Kids’ Charity Drive 2003 has
just received its unprecedented 11th Platinum Sponsor (100,000 baht) from
Standard Chartered Bank. The Human Resources team for Standard Chartered in
Thailand has a “Seeing is Believing” theme this year for the benefit of
blind children. So, when our Graham Macdonald heard of this he approached
them and their donation was forthcoming.
Principal Aurora Sribuapun at the School for the Blind
was delighted when we gave her the news about the donation. (The entire
donation of the Standard Chartered Bank will go to the School for the
Blind.) When asked what she would like to do with the money, she
emphatically said, “ We need new musical instruments and a music room.”
For those of you that might not understand or have not heard the School for
the Blind Choir and Band, you will have an opportunity to do so as they will
perform at the Jester’s Children’s Fair on Sunday, September 14th at the
Diana Garden Resort and Driving Range on the soi parallel to North Pattaya
Road behind the World’s Largest Gem Store.
Fountain of Life Center
Our original target charity still gets the lion’s share
of the monies we raise and for good reason. After the governor of Chonburi
visited our Children’s Fair in 2000, he hastened the registration process
of the Fountain of Life Center, finally becoming official under the auspices
of the Good Shepherd Foundation. Suddenly, things became easier for the
Sisters at the Center, and the procedure for obtaining documentation, or
birth certificates, for kids of the slums born out of the government
hospitals became less difficult. Now the word is out amongst the poor, that
the Center is the stepping-stone for their kids to get into government
schools. As a result, kids are now flocking to the Center.
With this onslaught, and around 150 kids attending daily,
the operational expenses for the Center have increased considerably. Except
for the Center’s administrative costs, we (the Jesters ‘Care for Kids’
Charity Drive) cover all other costs that directly affect the children, such
as food, transportation, dental and medical care, as well as the ultimate
goal, scholarships. Medically, we also cover special operations, such as
that for a 6-year old girl who recently needed a heart operation, as well as
another girl of the same age, who required surgery for disjointed elbows and
deformed legs due to pediatric arthritis.
Recently dental bills have exceeded those for food,
usually the biggest monthly expense. In fact, the dental program spearheaded
by Diane Connelly, can no longer be handled solely by the Bangkok Pattaya
Hospital, and requires private clinics and government hospitals to be sought
out. The reason for the increased expense in this area is due to the Sisters
and Volunteers realizing the importance of paying more attention to the
dental problems of the older children with permanent teeth (and teaching
them regular brushing) before moving on to the government schools through
our scholarship program.
Of course, the ultimate goal for these children, besides
better health, is to continue their education in the government schools via
scholarships. Last April the Jesters ‘Care for Kids’ Charity Drive,
provided scholarships for 54 children to continue on the path of education,
and a further 48 children are near to qualifying.
We are always trying to expand our beneficiary database and continually
look for other worthy projects on the Eastern Seaboard within our means. And
though our slogan, “Build a School, Buy a Scholarship, Brighten a
Future” is specific for this year’s goals, the latter part “Brighten a
Future” is always our goal for disadvantaged children. For more
information about us, please visit our web site at www.care4kids.info, or
contact us by E-mail at JCD2003 @care4kids.info.
Thanks To Rotary and C.B. Richard Ellis, Koh Larn children have pure drinking water
Story and Photos by Peter Cummins
It was a boat-load of Rotarians of the Bangkok South
Club, joined by Rotary Clubs of Pattaya and Taksin-Pattaya that left South
Pier Pattaya, last Friday, heading for Koh Larn. It was a “mission of
mercy”, so to speak, to inaugurate a clean drinking water system for the
children at the island’s only high school.
(L to R)
C.B. Richard Ellis’ James and David, with Rotarians Wolfgang and Alex.
“Testing
the waters” - Rotary and C.B. Richard Ellis - Alex (L) and David.
The small craft, with some 60 people on board, really
“rocked and rolled” on the way across into the slight swell of a light
southerly. Too many heavyweights on the top deck, the skipper pointed out.
On the return journey, with everyone a little heavier from the school food
and a beer or three, anyone weighing 65 kg plus was ordered onto the lower
deck. That solved it. The only casualty on the outward journey was a tiny,
handsome boy who succumbed to the rolling - losing his breakfast all over
his mother who, up till them, had been immaculately dressed and groomed,
wearing a most becoming white blouse and form-fitting white slacks. So, this
lovely lady had a beer as a consolation prize!
At the inauguration ceremony, Rotary Bangkok South
President Alex Mavro handed a check for 10,000 baht to Rotary Pattaya
President Donald Maclachlan, for servicing and maintaining the system for
the next five years. Alex also presented mementos to C.B. Richard Ellis men,
David Simister and James Pichet, president of Taksin-Pattaya, and Dieter H.
Precourt, president, Rotary Club of Taksin-Pattaya.
It was in 1996 that Rotary Bangkok South observed that
most of the schools in rural Thailand had unclean, unsafe drinking water
resulting in many of the children becoming sick. Rotary then launched a
“clean drinking water project” which was adopted by Rotary International
as the “Clean Water Installation Project” (CWIP). The new one on Koh
Larn, co-sponsored by real estate developers C.B. Richard Ellis, marked more
than eighty such systems among schools in the Thai hinterland. According to
Rotarian Gary White, Rotary anticipates having 100 systems operating
country-wide by 2004.
The
excited children raced to the faucets: fresh water for the first time from a
tap. (Photo by Suchada Tupchai)
Rotarians,
sponsors and some of the schoolchildren gather for a group picture at the
school to remember the occasion.
It is a great boon to the children to have pure water
available at the school’s faucets, on an island which has to “import”
its water from Pattaya, storing it in huge holding tanks - itself not a
practice which encourages sanitization. The excited youngsters in their blue
school uniforms could not wait to try out the big machine, alongside their
new school rooms.
The driving force behind this great public work is
Rotarian Wolf Miderjahn, who has seen the somewhat cruder earlier systems
utilizing ultra-violet light or ceramic filters to kill bacteria, replaced
by the new type installed on Koh Larn, based on “reverse osmosis” (RO).
This system, widely used by the public and private sectors, including
hospitals, requires less maintenance than the old ones and guarantees safe
water - “to the last drop!” The standard system can produce up to 350
litres of water per day - enough to supply 500 students and teaching staff
at rural schools.
Rotarian Minderjahn described this new technology,
developed in Canada, as “fail-safe and fool-proof”. The reverse osmosis
membrane removes all bacteria and viruses. Another great design feature -
especially in arid areas like Koh Larn - is the incorporation of a system
which allows re-use of reject water in such areas as cleaning and toilets.
“All future systems will be of the RO type,” he said,
“financed by our own (Bangkok South) funds, matching grants and
sponsorships, such as this one here, from C.B. Richard Ellis.” In
addition, he continued, “a unique initiative of Rotary International Zones
23 and 24 (USA), to honour the only Thai to become president of Rotary
International, Bhichai Rattakul (2002/2003), has been to arrange direct
club-to-club funded systems, focusing on rural Thailand.”
Any company, association or individual who would like to help Thai
schoolchildren in this way, should contact: The Rotary Club of Bangkok
South, c/- the Pan Pacific Hotel, 952 Rama 1V Road, Bangkok 10500, Thailand;
phone: +66(0)2632-9160; fax +66(0)2632-9161; e-mail [email protected];
website www.bangkok-south.com There are three levels of sponsorship, ranging
from 40,000 to 140,000 baht.
Nursery Games to take
place next weekend
Songklod Kaewvisit
Pacific Hall, Pacific Park Sriracha will be the
battlefield for young athletes on July 19 and 20. Young kids between 3 to 6
years of age will compete in the 3rd ‘Nursery Games of the Eastern Region
2003’.
The four categories of sports are; 7 players football,
field athletics, parade marching contest, cheering group and a cheer leading
contest. Hundreds of young sportsmen from 18 schools in the eastern region
will participate in the activity.
Thanin Rathasil, sales manager of Pacific Park Sriracha
said, “The mall has been giving this opportunity for young kids to express
their talents and sports ability for many years. This activity is believed
to provide young children a chance to exercise and to have good health.”
“Competitions like this will help the kids to sow the
seeds of love towards sports and draw them away from other mischievous
conduct. More importantly it will teach them a sense of sportsmanship,”
said Thanin during the press conference last week.
“When children are encouraged to play sports while they are young they
will grow up to be good and healthy citizens of the country,” concluded
Thanin.
Baan Huay Kru School receives water filter
Oraphin
Supakhawat, Pacific Park Center Sriracha director presents a stainless steel
water container and a hi-tech water filter to Baan Huay Kru School in
Sriracha on the occasion of the 6th anniversary of Pacific Park. Thawatchai
Chuchert, school’s director received the items on behalf of the students.
HIV/AIDS sufferers now a have strong voice to help them
Father Giovanni provides insight on the situation during AIDS seminar at the Camillian Center Rayong
A group of Pattaya residents and twenty young volunteers
from France, Denmark, Canada and the USA who work with the Fountain of Life
in Pattaya, joined with Sister Joan and Sister Kanyanu to take in a seminar
about AIDS given by Father Giovanni Contarin at the Camillian Center Rayong.
Father
Giovanni said, “The only way to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS is to inform
people about the dangers and to help those who are infected with HIV to
prevent the outbreak of AIDS.”
Community-minded
people listen intently as Father Giovanni explains the dire situation.
“SARS and other diseases are nothing compared to AIDS,” he said.
Father Giovanni first explained that Rayong Province is
the area with the most AIDS cases in southeastern Thailand. The Camillian
Center in Rayong started in 1995. It operates a palliative center for those
who are terminally ill, provides education on AIDS prevention and trains
helpers in nursing, teaching and social work.
The center also provides care for HIV/AIDS infected
children. There are currently 33 children under the care of the center,
which started this program 6 years ago. Father Giovianni proudly said that
during this time only three children died. He is especially fond of one girl
who was HIV infected at birth and who came to the center in very poor
condition 6 years ago. She is now 18 years old, in good health and the
longest survivor in Asia.
Father Giovanni said he now has a networking center and
36 groups in Thailand that have joined Camillian and its efforts to provide
much needed care for this sector of the population. “Now HIV/AIDS infected
people finally have a voice and can receive medicine and help, can teach
others, and improve homecare, quality of life, income and work. Four people
are working full-time at this networking-center and all of them are
afflicted,” he said.
Father
Giovanni said 36 groups in Thailand have joined Camillian’s efforts.
“Now HIV/AIDS patients finally have a voice and can receive medicine and
help, can teach others, and improve homecare, quality of life, income and
work.”
Sister
Joan (right) and Sister Kanyanu from the Fountain of Life Center in Pattaya
- two remarkable people who are doing so much to improve the lives of the
less fortunate.
Father Giovanni gave a lecture about the cause and the
development of HIV and AIDS and provided statistics. He informed attendees
of the seminar on how individuals become infected, methods of prevention and
information on medicine and treatment which can prolong life after
infection.
So far 30 people have died in the Palliative Center,
working and helping there as long as they could before the disease finally
struck them down. But there is also hope amongst them. Some of the people
have found love at the center and were married.
Father Giovanni said, “The only way to stop the spread
of HIV/AIDS is to inform the people about it, to hold seminars to teach them
about the dangers and to help those who are infected with HIV to prevent the
outbreak of AIDS. People are talking about SARS and other diseases. I tell
you, those are nothing compared to AIDS.”
Teaching children their fundamental rights
Sopin
Thappajug, associate judge at the Juvenile and Family Court spoke with
children on rights and social protection issues at the Chonratsadorn-umrung
School in Chonburi. UNICEF and Chonburi Social Development and Compensation
Bureau organized the campaign to educate youngsters in Chonburi Province on
their fundamental rights and social protection.
Burapha University students visit ESBEC
Forty
students from the Faculty of Public Health, Burapha University recently
visited the Eastern Seaboard Environmental Complex (ESBEC) to learn about
waste management systems from Modern Sanitary Landfill.
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