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Father Ray Foundation transforming a poor family’s life
The house in North Pattaya, if it can be called a house,
measures just three meters by three meters and is home to three young
children who live with their mother. Like many homes around Pattaya where
the very poor live, there is no clean running water, no electricity and no
proper sanitation.
 The
shack - wrapped with plastic sheets.
When it rains the water pours into the house as there is no roof, just an
old piece of plastic sheet, dirty and ripped. The nearby stream overflows
and floods the area and the children are covered in mosquito bites.
When they need to go to the toilet the children use the stream or find
somewhere in the nearby field. The children spend their days running and
playing and having a great time, they are loved by their mother, but there
is a risk of these children contracting a disease or being involved in a
fatal accident.
 Nong
Yiin’s having her nutritious meal at Fr. Ray Day Care Center.
This family was recently discovered by the Father Ray Foundation who
immediately jumped into action to try to improve the lives of these
unfortunate people.
Whilst the two older children, an eight year old boy and a five year old
girl are attending local schools, the youngest child, a little two year old
girl whose name is Yiin is now spending her days at the Fr. Ray Day Care
Center, receiving a basic education, nutritious meals, regular health checks
and by being in a safe environment she is away from the risks that can
befall a child living in these poor conditions.
 The
roof job is done, the house is almost ready for the family to move in.
Whilst the little girl is being taken care of at the Fr. Ray Day Care
Center, several volunteers from the Fr. Ray Foundation are transforming
their little plastic shack into a bricked wall with a real roof that can
protect the children from the risk of severe diseases and the toilet where
the children can have their proper sanitation. A roof is being built with
tiles that used to cover the old Fr. Ray Drop-In Center and which had been
donated by the Pattaya International Ladies Club just three years ago.
The Father Ray Foundation helps almost 850 children and disabled students
who live under the care of its various projects, and it also has a
scholarship program which assists many children who live with their families
in similar poor conditions as these little children.
You can get more information about the work of the Father Ray Foundation at
www.fr-ray.org
Redemptorist School
plans disabled games
Vimolrat Singnikorn
Pattaya’s Redemptorist School is looking for Thailand’s next
great disabled athletes.
In preparation for the July 24-25 “Redemptorist Games 2009,” top
officials and students from the school for the disabled met June 9 to
seek out new athletes to compete in the 12 sports categories.
 Lawrence
Patin (left), director of the Redemptorist Center, and Worawut Saraphan
(right), acting licensee at Redemptorist School, co-chair the organizing
meeting for the annual sports competition.
The games will include track and field, petanque, table tennis,
badminton, tennis, fencing, weightlifting, swimming, takraw, futsal,
volleyball, and wheelchair basketball. All of the activities are
recognized international sports showcased in the Southeast Asian Games
and other international championships.
Students were told that participating in the games would not only
strengthen their bodies, but serve as a stepping stone to national
competitions.
Student Affairs Deputy Director Likit Taksin said the Redemptorist
Center has fielded a number of national disabled athletes and that a
Redemptorist graduate won the 2009 Seoul International Wheelchair
Half-Marathon in South Korea.
Anti-drug group to give teens healthy dose of competition
Saksiri Uraiworn
Officials behind a national youth program hope a dose of healthy
competition will help keep Pattaya area teens off drugs.
The “To Be Number One” organization will sponsor the “Teen Aerobic &
Dancercise Championship 2009” and “Number One Teenager” contest at
Central Center in North Pattaya June 24 at noon. More than 50 teens from
Pattaya area schools began training at a June 8 preparation workshop led
by Pattaya Public Health Department Director Wannaporn Jamjumrus.
Wannaporn, who is also chairwoman of the “To Be Number One” group -
formally called the “Committee for the Prevention of Drugs and Solution
to the Problem Project” - said the organization is backed by HRH
Princess Ubolratana, who is concerned about the spread of drug-related
problems to families and schools. HRH the Princess’s goal is to get
teens to channel their energy into good pursuits and so the “Number One”
program was instituted in all the country’s schools.
At the workshop, the students received aerobics training from Uthai
Rongphet, chief aerobics instructor at the California Wow gym, and heard
from Yotsathorn Nongkhunoi, manager for Acting and Personality at the
Sanctuary of Truth.
This month’s aerobics competition and pageant, which will run until 10
p.m., are meant to help youths express themselves and put their free
time to good use, organizers said.
Students train before
attending the aerobics competition later this month.
Canadian Jackalope and Jesters work together
to help HIV/AIDS children
Lewis Underwood
The organizers of the Canadian Jackalope Open held their 10th
annual charity golf tournament last year in August. They have been
contributing to the Jesters Care for Kids Charity Drive since 2004 when
they joined as a Bronze Sponsor (10,000 baht). In 2005, they raised
their level to Silver Sponsor (25,000 baht) and in 2006-7 upped their
level of donation once again to Gold Sponsor (50,000 baht).
 Father
Giovanni lends support to Tavid.
But after their vigorous fund-raising last year they went through the
roof with not only a Platinum (100,000 baht) but also Diamond (400,000
baht). In fact, they raised a sensational total of 546,147 baht in 2008!
Well done, guys!
The Canadian Jackalope Open’s main beneficiary has been the Camillian
Social Center for the care of HIV/AIDS infected persons, so when they
asked the Jesters Care for Kids to join forces with them this past year,
we were only too glad to finally get involved with the center as well.
The Camillian Social Center headed by Father Giovanni was established in
1995 in Huay Pong, Rayong. They now oversee 7 projects in the Eastern
Seaboard in 4 different locations. The main center is concerned with
‘Palliative Care’, or lessening the effects of AIDS through
antiretroviral (ARV) medication. The goal is to suppress the AIDS virus
and bring the patients back to HIV positive. They can then maintain this
condition for the rest of their lives with continued use of ARV’s and
even able them to re-integrate into their own local communities.
 Fay
now can stand and walk with assistance.
On the same premises is the Child Care Center which is where the
Canadian Jackalope and Jesters have focused their assistance. This
center consists of kids often orphaned after both parents have died of
AIDS, or abandoned. Many of them come to the center with AIDS, but with
special care, medication and nourishment can be brought back to lead a
normal life as HIV-positive.
There are 41 children now resident at the Center; most of them are now
well enough to go to school in the neighboring area, while 16, who are
not as fortunate are schooled in- house.
 Tavid
enjoys listening to music and watching TV.
Presently, besides having provided 166,147 baht for soya milk fortified
with calcium to the HIV/AIDS kids, who often have trouble assimilating
cow’s milk, we are also supporting two handicapped HIV-infected children
on a monthly basis at 27,525 baht apiece, which covers all costs for
care-giving, medicine (ARV) and food.
Some info about these two special children:
Fay, who recently turned 6 years old, was born HIV-positive and
abandoned by her parents after birth in a Nong Kai hospital. She is
blind and mentally impaired, most likely from the HIV infection.
When she first came to the Center in 2006, she could not stand or crawl
and would get upset frequently slapping herself in the head.
 Tavid,
who is 13 years old, was born HIV-positive and due to late the
administration of ARV’s has become partially paralyzed from the
infection.
With the continued administration of ARV, physical therapy and
care-giving, her tantrums subsided, and she now can stand and walk with
assistance. Her life has improved substantially and she now displays a
demeanor of well being.
Tavid, who is 13 years old, was also born HIV-positive and due to late
the administration of ARV’s has become partially paralyzed from the
infection. He is thought to be autistic too. Tavid now enjoys listening
to music, watching TV and spending time with another autistic girl at
the center. His mother, who is deaf from her own HIV infection, also
comes to visit him regularly at the Center.
 Fay
is blind and mentally impaired, most likely from the HIV infection.
This year the Canadian Jackalope Open has already come on board as a
Double Platinum (THB 200,000 baht), which given the bleak economic
climate, is a wonderful result. This year their charity tournament will
be on Friday, August 7th at Burapa Golf Course. For more information,
please see their website: http://jackalopeopen. awardspace.com
If you would like to help HIV/AIDS children have better lives, please go
to our website www.care4kids.info. All kids are entitled to comfort and
care even when their days of living grow very short.
Royal Cliff Beach Resort hosts Assumption University Freshmen Seminar 2009
An Assumption University
freshman undergoes
the Bai Sri initiation ceremony with a teacher.
On the 6th to 7th June 2009, the Royal Cliff Beach
Resort served as the venue for the Assumption University Freshmen
Seminar, where 310 new students to the university were given their first
opportunity to meet their fellow inductees and gain an introduction to
their new institute of higher learning.
This 2 day event allowed the students to enjoy their introductory
seminars in the elegant surroundings of the Royal Cliff, enjoy lavish
meals created by the Royal Cliff’s culinary experts and undergo the
traditional Bai Sri initiation ceremony.
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