by Dr. Iain
Corness
The
information that Helle Rantsen could be an interesting Local Personality
came from one of her co-workers in the many charity and welfare projects
that involve Helle. After an hour interview, it was obvious that she was
indeed a very interesting member of the Eastern Seaboard expat community.
Helle is Danish, born in Copenhagen, the elder of two
girls. Her father was an accountant, while her mother was a nurse. She
described herself as an “average” student, but the final three years
of her secondary schooling showed that she was far from “average” in
her mind.
Those three years were in a very forward-thinking and
daring school. “It was very democratically run,” said Helle. “The
students and the teachers all had one vote, and it was the students who
approved of the teachers and who would be headmaster. It gave me a lot of
skills that I have used later on.”
When she finished school she entertained ideas of being
a nurse, but during her year’s sabbatical (a common concept in Denmark,
Helle said) she changed her mind and went to university and took a law
degree. A five year course. “I liked the concept of right and wrong. You
can understand the system better if you can understand the laws,” said
Helle.
However, she found that jobs in the legal field were
not that easy to find, and the lady with a law degree returned to the
nursing concept, embarking on a four year nursing degree course. “There
was more direct contact with people in need. I liked that,” said Helle
simply.
By this stage in her life she was married, and during
the nursing course she also had her two children. I asked her how did she
manage to juggle the responsibilities of getting a nursing degree and
child rearing? “It’s all a matter of how you organize yourself,” was
the reply. Part of that organization was a husband who was prepared to
work shifts that would dovetail with hers. In fact, more than once during
the interview she acknowledged the support that her husband has given her
throughout their marriage.
This second degree was also destined to become a piece
of faded paper in the scrapbook of life, as two days after receiving her
degree she was heading to Thailand with the children, then aged three and
one, to join her husband who was transferred here. That was seven years
ago, and much has happened since then!
The first three years were involved in raising her
children, and not much else. “I didn’t have the energy to get involved
in anything. There was a small community of Danish people in Ban Chang, so
I didn’t go outside the group.” However, after both children began
their schooling, Helle began to enlarge her boundaries. “I wanted to
meet new people and do something worthwhile.”
The “new people” included the Pattaya International
Ladies Club (PILC) and the Rayong Ladies Circle (RLC). “We have a close
community,” said Helle, “we know when new people come. It’s like
family.”
It was not long before she was voted in as the welfare
chairperson for the RLC, and she is now in her fourth year in this
position. “Hardly anything had been done before in welfare, so I could
use my own ideas.” One of the first items was a medicine program for HIV
positive children at the Camillian Center. “It costs 15,000 baht each
month, so I just began by ringing people up and asking if they wanted to
be a sponsor. So far we’ve raised over 700,000 baht for them,” said
Helle with a (well deserved) degree of pride.
The next project was the Huay Pong Protection Home.
What Helle calls the “right and wrong side of me” came out. She found
that the living conditions were not good for the inmates, so she sent out
letters to various organizations and within two years had renovated six
dormitories with a budget raised of 4.5 million baht.
She explains this side of her very succinctly. “I
don’t want to change Thailand, but I want to help in certain areas.”
One of these areas was at the local welfare home where 436 boys were doing
nothing, mainly because there was nothing for them to do. Helle and her
group of ladies started an organic gardening project, hiring an
experienced gardener to teach the boys, who now do a three month course of
study in organic gardening, and even get a certificate, which might just
help them after they leave the welfare home. There is also a similar
project with the bakery at the remand centre, with which she is involved
too. “I’m not doing this alone,” she said emphatically. “I have a
wonderful bunch of women - my welfare group, and there will always be new
projects.”
If these were not enough, she has also taken over the
position as welfare chairperson for the PILC. She has also been invited to
join the organizing committee of the Jesters Care 4 Kids charity. A lady
with energy! But it does not stop there. She is still actively involved in
her children’s education at Garden International School, where she is
the chairperson of the Parent-Teacher group, where she has been at the
helm for four years as well! She also believes in the concept of
‘international’ schooling. “I am pleased that my children are with
other children from all over the world.”
By now Helle was well into her stride. “I’ve got
four or five projects on the go. It keeps me very busy,” said Helle (and
I was almost breathless by this time myself). Hesitantly I asked if she
had any hobbies, but as I imagined, she does not have room for any
hobbies. She has also no 5 year or 10 year plan. “I haven’t really had
the time to think about this,” she said.
However, Helle Rantsen is a woman who does have time to think about
others less fortunate than herself.
