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Ban Jing Jai is all smiles now
The children’s smiles say it
all!
Lewis Underwood
Things are looking cleaner, brighter and, more importantly, drier these days
at Ban Jing Jai, the little orphanage in the cul-de-sac near the end of Soi
Nern Plub Wan. Gone is the smell of mildew from leaky roofs and faulty
plumbing inside the residences; as is the standing water once recurrent in
the pantry and outside the girls’ side. Toilets have been fixed and/or built
anew, plumbing replaced and a new functional septic system is now installed.
In short, the Jesters have just recently provided nearly a half million baht
in funds for a thorough renovation, including new construction, to improve
the quality of living to the children in residence here. Europe Low Energy
Houses, who have been involved in our charity projects previously, have done
another wonderful job not only to rectify the main trouble areas, but also
in fixing all the small niggling problems that were once endemic at the
orphanage.
The following list includes the main areas of improvement:
* Constructed new structure outside for washing area, shower and toilet
* Installed 2 PVC tanks (septic), sewer lines and concrete floor
* Repaired leaking roofs and ground floor ceilings
* Replaced plumbing with PVC pipes, and bathroom floor tiles (there are now
2 functional toilets upstairs and one downstairs in the main residence)
* Removed damaged wooden floor upstairs and replaced with tiles
* Replaced bathroom doors with PVC ones (x 4)
* Repaired ceiling and paint where needed
* Fixed electrics in all residences, including replacement of fans and
lights
* Constructed new roofing over laundry/bathing area outside boys’ residence
* Installed cement covers over road gutters and put gravel stones down
Of course, even after the above problem spots were put right, a subsequent
walk through inspection revealed still other areas that were missed
initially, such as their drinking water system’s shortcomings and inadequate
washing machine facilities. But then we did not mean to imply that we were
finished here; on the contrary, this is just the beginning. The Jesters
charity work is never finished, but here at Ban Jing Jai it’s a good start
and the children’s smiles say it all!
The entrance to the cul-de-sac
off Soi Nern Plub Wan today.
The new washing area, shower
and toilet adjacent to assembly area.
PSC sponsors teachers at interschool sporting event
Bernie Tuppin (center),
PSC charity chairman and Nongyao Couch, member of the PSC charity
committee, present shirts to teachers and students.
Pattaya Sports Club has a long history of promoting
sports in local schools, each year donating equipment worth hundreds of
thousands of baht. This enables students of all ages to enjoy healthy
outdoor activities and introduces them to leisure activities that can
last a lifetime. All good clean fun for the kids.
But how about the teachers? In a lot of cases teachers have to give up
their free time to coach the children in their chosen activity.
While talking to Khru Titichai of Suttawan School, PSC charity chairman
Bernie Tuppin discovered that the schools around Pattaya are holding an
interschool sports competition for teachers. This competition runs over
many months and involves a number of sports, including soccer,
volleyball, takraw and athletics. This presented an opportunity for PSC
to recognize the contribution of the teachers in some small way, so it
was decided to sponsor Suttawan School for the coming season.
PSC have donated most of the equipment necessary for the school to
compete and in addition have supplied each of the 25 teachers with a
team shirt, a Pattaya Sports Club shirt of course.
Bernie, together with Nongyao Couch from the PSC charity committee
presented shirts and equipment worth a total of 19,000 baht. The Khru
Samphan Games commenced on August 4. Seventeen schools around Pattaya
are competing and PSC will present the winners’ trophies.
Students, teachers and
benefactors gather to commemorate the donation.
Schools line up for
Battle of the Bands
Narisa Nitikarn
Winner of the Battle of the Bands on July 28 was Pattaya School No 3,
putting on a stirring display of military brass band music and beating
some very tough competition from seven other Pattaya City schools.
 Muang
Pattaya 8 School’s marching band thrilled the spectators during the
Battle of the Bands.
The event was organized at Pattaya School No 2 by the Pattaya and
Naklua-Pattaya Lions Clubs, with Mayor Niran Watthanasartsathorn
performing the opening ceremony and deputy administrator of Chonburi
province Rewat Polluk-In attending.
Eight schools took part in the contest, with the organizing committee
setting three pieces of music, namely any traditional Thai music, the
Lion Spirit song, and any music written by His Majesty the King.
Pattaya School No 3 received 10,000 baht in prize money for winning the
competition. Runner-up was Pattaya School No 2, receiving 7,000 baht,
and Pattaya School No 7 came in third and took home 5,000 baht.
Mayor Niran said in his opening speech that the Battle of the Bands was
not intended as a fierce competition with each school fighting for the
winning place, but that it should be regarded as an opportunity for
training and presentation, and in performing for a large audience. The
prize money, he said, should be regarded as a bonus.
Muang Pattaya 2 School was
the first showing at the competition.
Pattaya School No 4 holds extended sports day
Vimolrat Singnikorn
Pattaya School No 4 held its annual sports day from July 17 to 28, an
extended event to enable all levels of the school from kindergarten
class 1 through to the final year of secondary school to take part.
 Deputy
Mayor Wutisak Rermkitkarn presents a prize to a member of Pattaya School
#4’s winning Futsal Red Team.
The school, also known as Nong Yai Temple, divided the events into four
teams, namely red, yellow, blue and green, with a total of 933 pupils
taking part.
Deputy Mayor Wutisak Rermkitkarn presided over the closing ceremony,
saying that such a large event is an encouraging sign that the school is
giving prominence to supporting sports. In addition to the joy of
exercise, said Wutisak, those taking part learn that life is all about
learning how to lose and forgive as well as win.
Cheerleaders gave a performance to open the event, and amongst the first
of the activities was a tug-o-war for the under 6s, which had the large
audience of teachers, educators, parents and children clapping and
cheering.
A yellow team child wins
the under 6 years old 30-meter race.
Kindergarteners give it
their all in the tug-of-war between the red and green teams.
Closer to nature
Assumption College
Sriracha students got right into the mud before planting a tree.
Mark Beales
Students got close to nature as they learned more about their local
environment when a class from Assumption College Sriracha visited Ang
Sila recently.
The English Programme Mathayom 1 class was taken to a muddy forest where
a guide showed them around and taught them about the different plants
and wildlife which live there.
Rather than look at books and pictures, students climbed down a ladder
to get right into the mud, and then planted a tree. The experience
helped teach students the importance of their local environment in a
practical manner.
Assumption teaches more than 4,000 students, many of whom come from
Pattaya. For more details visit www.acs.ac.th
Jesters ‘Care For Kids’ – Breaking News
Two news items as we go to press…
Erik & Robert (file
photo)
Due to the successful result of the 2006 Canadian
Jackalope Open charity golf tournament at Pattana Sports Club, the
Canadians have increased their sponsorship of this year’s Charity Drive
from Silver to Gold.
Erik Sorensen from Scandi Bar and his trainer Robert Johansson will
attempt yet another cycle marathon, this time a round trip of 417 km
from Pattaya to the Cambodian border. They plan another spectacular
return to arrive at Jameson’s the Irish Pub at the beginning of the
Jesters Pub Night on Saturday 16th September. These amazing athletes
deserve your support and you can sponsor by contacting Robert at the
Pattaya Marriott Fitness Center, Erik at the Scandi Bar, or Woody at
<[email protected]>
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