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St Andrews Year 1 students treated to turtle trip and fundraising event

All the turtle cookies were sold in 20 minutes!

Busy making cookies for the fund-raising event.

Catching the boat to Koh Mannai to see the turtles.

Cailin Terhaar, Year 1 teacher at St Andrews International School

The Year 1 students at St. Andrews International School were able to be a part of a wonderful turtle sanctuary trip and fundraising event. In April, the students went to visit the Queen’s Sea Turtle Conservation Project (also know as the Eastern Marine and Coastal Resources Research Centre) on Koh Mannai. The island has been running since 1979, and has been fundamental in sustaining Thailand’s sea turtle population and halting its rapid decline. We visited the island through a tour company called, “Undiscovered Thailand.”

The children saw firsthand how the conservatory provides a safe place for reproduction and rehabilitation. A highlight for the students was to see the baby turtles. There were many baby turtles on the island in different stages of growth. They learned about how they are cared for and why they are kept on the island after being born. The students also learned about their release into the wild after they are one year old.

After the trip, the students were inspired to learn more about the sea turtles and other ocean animals. We spent several weeks in school learning about sea animals, the ocean habitat and how to care for the ocean. It was during this last part that we began discussing the things that can harm the sea turtles such as trash in the ocean, oil spills and being hunted for their shells. We decided as a class that we wanted to help the turtles.

Students visit the Queen’s sea turtle conservation project.

The students were excited to put on a bake sale to help the turtles. All of the children pitched in to bake turtle-shaped cookies, make posters advertising our cause and work the booth during our sale. I am happy to say it was a big success! There was a large line of students waiting to buy the cookies, and we sold out in the first 20 minutes! We were able to make about 2,000 baht, which our guide from ‘Undiscovered Thailand’ will be donating on our behalf. I am very proud of the children for their dedication to the fundraiser and their desire to give back to the community.


GIS makes school history at Primary FOBISSEA Games

Garden International School students participate in the annual FOBISSEA Games.

Robert Edwards, Head of Physical Education/Sport

Students from Garden International School, Rayong returned from the Primary FOBISSEA Games hosted this year by the Regents School, Bangkok with a new medal tally. The FOBISSEA Games is an annual event for international schools from all over South East Asia.

The competition consisted of three days of sporting events. The first day started with swimming, the second day was track and field, and the third day T-ball and football competition.

On the first day of competition the venue for swimming was the new Chulalongkorn University Aquatic centre. The swimmers gave 100% effort throughout the day and finished with a total of 35 medals. Gold 22, Silver 9 and Bronze 4.

On the second day momentum continued at the athletic stadium with all athletes again rising to the occasion under the stadium floodlights as the competition went into the evening, with a further 27 medals. Gold 12, Silver 8 and Bronze 7.

With T-ball and football on the last day the students were tired from the first two days; however, all raised their game again and delivered the final push to win the Year 6 T-ball competition with a 16-15 score in the final over the Uplands School from Penang, Malaysia. In the football competition the Year 6 girls played the Kota Kinabula School from Malaysia in a thrilling final with a 2-1 win securing the gold medal. The Year 5 girl’s football competition finished with 3 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss which gave them the runners up position and the silver medal.

With a total of 65 medals Garden International School with only 14 students was a fantastic result. Well done to all of you.

I would like to thank Ms. Patsy Smith for her assistance over the 5 days and for her coaching of the swim team. Also I would like to thank the Physical Education staff at Garden for their help preparing the students for the games.

Fourteen students bring honour to Garden International School. Standing from left to right: Seren, Katrina, GG, Almond, Jakki, Anna and Tan. Sitting, from left to right: Dream, Sabrina, Oliver, Sang, Hyun, Jezabel and Lily.


Pratamnak Lions donate 30 scholarships to poor Pattaya students

Rungthip Suksrikarn, president of the Lions Club of Pattaya-Pratamnak, distributes scholarships to deserving children.

Phasakorn Channgam

The Lions Club of Pattaya-Pratamnak gave 30 poor area children a chance at a better education with donation of scholarships in cooperation with Siang Singto magazine.

Rattanachai Sutidechanai, chairman of the Pattaya City Council’s Tourism and Sports Committee, and Lions chapter president, Rungthip Suksrikarn led the May 30 ceremony at the Sunbeam Hotel in central Pattaya.

Rungthip noted that the Pratamnak Lions Club has been donating scholarships for a decade to impoverished kids with good academic records. This year it received funding for 18 scholarships from the magazine.

He said scholarships went to students from three Pattaya schools No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4, with 10 students taken from each. Each scholarship was worth 2,000 baht.


Mercy children given free holiday to Koh Chang

Twenty “at risk”, abandoned and orphaned children cared for by Mercy Center, Pattaya, enjoyed an all expenses paid holiday on the island of Koh Chang, thanks to the generous hearts of Pattaya residents Eddie & Kaow Somers and co-owners of the beachside“15 Palms” and “Paddy’s Palms” hotel, resort and hostelry.

Mercy children on White Sand Beach, Koh Chang.

Fun and feasting; swimming and playing; the Mercy children’s laughter and glee was infectious. From the youngest (2 years) to the most grown up (11 years) they were thrilled to be at the beautiful, Palms Beach Resort.

Everything was efficiently and lovingly organized, starting with a warm welcome from Eddie and Kaow who escorted the Mercy children and carers all the way from Pattaya to White Sand Beach, Koh Chang. Tony, co-owner, and the international management and staff of both 15 Palms and Paddy’s Palms, took it upon themselves to ensure that everyone made the most of their holiday.

One of the big treats of the trip was having an opportunity to feed a baby elephant in the jungle; another, the exclusive use of the Palms’ hotel spacious swimming pool … exclusive that is except for the Somers’ own children. The twins, Paddy and Daisy, aged ‘three and three-quarters’, were delighted to have so many new friends to play with. Palms Hotel guests , too, joined the Pattaya folks for a farewell lunch and pool party on the last day.

Mercy Center currently provides a home and loving care for twenty high risk children with a new facility for a further thirty almost completed. The Mercy/Pattaya Street Kids scholarship initiative provides funding to enable over 220 students to attend school and the slum support project provides basic foodstuffs and essentials for seventy families in Pattaya’s poorest areas.

Please contact: Dianne on 038 422 678 to find out how you can help support Mercy Center projects . Email: [email protected] & visit: www.mercypattaya .com You’ll be glad you did!

For more information about 15 Palms and Paddy’s Palms in Koh Chang, please email: [email protected] and/or visit paddyspalmspub.com

Beach Bar and Restaurant “15 Palms” was established 12 years ago and is the only falang owned establishment on White Sand Beach, Koh Chang. Paddy’s Palms pub and resort, opened seven years later and is the first Irish pub on the island. Eddie & Tony are planning to build a “15 Palms” hotel next year, and pledge their help to bring hope to more needy Mercy children.

Eddie’s reward for this third year of hospitality for Mercy Center is a memento created by the children and presented by one of its directors, Dianne Doell.

Mercy Center boys “line up” in the Palms Resort swimming pool.


Grace proves to have the write stuff

Beatrice, Grace,
Anita and Champagne

The winner of the Regent’s School journalism competition was announced on Friday 10th June 2011. Grace’s well written article on women’s empowerment was judged to be the best entry out of the dozens of entries that were received by Dan Dorothy, executive editor of Pattaya Mail Media Group. The Regent’s School students teamed up with Pattaya Mail to run the competition and received useful advice from the experts. Dan commented that, “All the shortlisted articles were insightful, had impact, covered all 5 Ws (who, what, when, where, why) and H (how) and were a delight to read.”

Grace Arber (right) receives her winning certificate from project coordinator and maths teacher, Mr. Andrew Chambers.

The shortlisted finalists were Beatrice (year 9), Grace (year 9), Anita (year 9) and Champagne (year 9), who all wrote about the role of women’s empowerment in reducing poverty, along with Fiona (year 8), who wrote about the Japanese earthquake, and Rubi (year 7), who wrote a piece on human rights in Burma (Myanmar).

Mr. David McCabe, English teacher for top set year 9 said, “All of the students on the shortlist have produced excellent work this year. I was disappointed there were no boys on the shortlist [however] our choice of topic was perhaps more engaging for the girls than the boys.”

The Head of English, Mr. Adam Pickles, was also delighted with the results. He commented, “It’s really encouraging for me to see that our students have taken onboard ideas from lessons on journalism and used them so effectively in their competition entries. All of the entries were of a very high quality and the entrants should be proud of themselves. I feel that Grace and the other finalists have really set a benchmark for future submissions in this competition”

The project coordinator, and maths teacher, Mr. Andrew Chambers handed over the certificate to Grace in a short prize ceremony. On receiving the news of her winning entry, Grace remarked that she was “surprised” and commented, “I liked the topic because it’s an important issue and I found it engaging.”

As well as having her article published, Grace will receive free smoothies for a week from the coffee shop on campus. We have definitely seen some of the future stars of journalism - congratulations to Grace Arber and all the other entrants for their great work. You can read Grace’s article below.

Empowering Woman
Grace Arber

You live in a world where we are not all equal; a world where one gender is regarded as being superior to the other. As women are seen by many as the inferior gender, they are forced to withstand a constant struggle against the gender norms of our society. These gender norms deny woman the chance to reach their full potential and limit their resources and opportunities for change. If these gender norms could be broken and women could be empowered, the necessary social and economic changes could happen that are essential to end poverty. According to CARE, a leading humanitarian organization, “Women’s empowerment is a tremendous resource for social change and a prerequisite in the broader fight against global poverty.”

Bella Abzug once said, “The test for whether or not you can hold a job should not be the arrangement of your chromosomes.” Unfortunately, it seems that few in the world agree, as women earn only 10% of the world’s income. Women are capable of earning far more than this, but cannot, because they are restricted to the set of low-paying, low-status jobs that have been deemed suitable for them. Although 90% of the world’s income is earned by men, men only work one-third of the world’s working hours. This leaves women to work two-thirds of the world’s working hours, which they spend doing the jobs that sustain life (growing food, fetching water, cooking, looking after the house, caring for the elderly, raising children etc.) It doesn’t seem fair that women do 66% of the work and yet only receive 10% of the credit, does it?

If we rid the world of the social stigmas that currently prevent women from working in high-status positions, we could get a wider range of opinions from the people that make up our population. Currently, 81% of the world’s parliamentary seats are held by men. Currently, 1.3 billion people are living in absolute poverty. Clearly, there’s a problem! It appears to me, that if we broke this gender norm and equaled the gender imbalance amongst the voices behind the nations of our world, we could solve many of these problems. The unheard insight of women would be very valuable and would finally voice the opinions and ideas of the other gender making up our population.

“Women’s empowerment is intertwined with respect for human rights,” - Mahnaz Afkhami. It seems I am not only the one who believes the empowerment of women is important; gender equity (women’s empowerment) is Goal 3 of the 8 Millennium Development Goals made by the United Nations. These goals are considered as the targets we must achieve in order to end poverty. Essentially, without gender equity and the empowerment of women we will not be able to make any progress towards ending poverty. As Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro said, “Achieving gender equality and empowering women is not only a goal in itself, it is also a condition for building healthier, better educated, more peaceful and prosperous societies.”


HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]

St Andrews Year 1 students treated to turtle trip and fundraising event

GIS makes school history at Primary FOBISSEA Games

Pratamnak Lions donate 30 scholarships to poor Pattaya students

Mercy children given free holiday to Koh Chang

Grace proves to have the write stuff

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