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All TEP Children have been sponsored!
All Orphan Children have been sponsored!
Contact Information
539/1 M.24 T
Ronwiang. A.Muang
Chiang Rai 57000
thailand@ihfonline.org
IHF Thailand
The International Humanity Foundation Thailand branch works with the hilltribes, the indigenous people living in the tumultuous borderlands between Thailand, Myanmar (Burma), and Laos, and extending as far as into China and Vietnam. The two tribes at our Children's Home are Lahu and Akha. The hilltribes in Northern Thailand face many challenges, and it is our mission to arm our children with the skills, attitudes and character that they will need to have equal opportunities for their future, like other Thai citizens.
Our home has 29 children. At home, they speak Lahu and Akha to their tribesmen and Thai when speaking across tribes. Most of our children are Christian, with several Buddhist exceptions, both religions being accepted.
Education: Our children range from Anuban (basically kindergarten) to Matayom four (12th grade) and go to three different schools. Each night we have one hour of homework time, during which we encourage the older children to help the younger children practice their Thai language skills. Also, we are looking for a volunteer to teach English skills during this hour, and play with and help look after the kids.
Our Home: Situated on the outskirts of Chiang Rai town, our home enjoys the quiet of being at the end of the road, but is still close to town. We back up to a forest where the children like to play. Our neighbors are friendly, and own a candy store that our children often visit. We have boys and a girls dorms, joined by a common area, where we eat our meals, and the children do their homework.
Staff: Volunteers are always needed and so very welcome to come and stay with us. We have various volunteers coming and going, staying around 1-3 months. The volunteers help out in the home; drive the children to school, help with home work, do some administrative work and make sure it all runs smoothly. Even more important is just playing with the children, helping them practise their English and make sure they are happy.
We have two house mothers, both Lahu, Nabee and Mali. They are both single mothers, with daughters living at the home and receiving an education. Nabee often sings with the kids and helps them retain their Lahu heritage. She also does the sewing for the children. Mali does traditional Lahu weaving and always has a positive attitude.
Please visit often and read our news, and if you're ever in Northern Thailand, you're welcome to stop by and play with the kids for a while. They would love to meet you!
Directions from Bus station
Exit the bus station towards the main road (night bazaar, shopping, wiang inn, etc.) go left on the main road. Pass the Wiang Inn hotel and go right at your first light after hotel. Go up to hospital and make left at light. Then continue straight till you come to an end (old airport, field, park, etc.) go right here and follow the road to a 4 way crossing (little market area on you left corner. Go left here. Follow the road around 2 fairly sharp corners (on the second one there is a fitness center/ public pool building) continue on and take your 3rd or 4th rt on to soi 1 (Wuttichompoo rd) follow the long driveway all the way to the end. We are the last house on the left. This should be no more than a 15 minute ride by tuk-tuk. We will be happy to see you. You can't miss all the children!
Caty Dioguardi, Co-Director's phone number: 0801248640
Center Reports
Sunday 3rd, August 2008
This was a great week. We had Pimpa's birthday and had a bit of a party. We got a couple of new wonderful volunteers and went to the park with the kids. Natalie taught English classes after school and we had lots of rain as we do in August. We had lots of fun in the rain. A great week!
Monday 21st, July 2008
Somchai had her birthday this week and we had a fun celebration. Jordan, our new volunteer arrived. We had a couple kids home sick through the week but everyone is better now! otherwise nothing too eventful... overall a good week
Sunday 20th, July 2008
The kids had Thursday and Friday off of school so all went back to the villages for 2 days. The children were happy to be in the country and play with old friends during that time! We also celebrated Pongs' birthday on Wednesday and had a little party. Everyone is healthy and happy!
Monday 14th, July 2008
This week has been busy - the most exciting things are the many birthdays!! We had Nupol on the 7th, Somyout on the 9th, and Sukanya today. They all had little birthday parties and were given gifts, and had a great time. We also got bunk beds this week!!! So exciting!! Most of the kids love them, some are not sure how to respond as it is such a new concept, but no real complaints. They look great and are much better space wise, not to mention much cleaner. we would like to get rid of all the old mattresses since they are old, dirty and smelly. We had to get the leaks in the boys rooms fixed again, but I think it is for good this time. The water pump was broken and we had to get it fixed. The plumber said the pipes are leaking and eventually we will have to get a new one, but since they are under concrete hopefully we can hold out a bit. Yesterday we took some of the kids bowling because they loved it so much last winter! It was so much fun, and all of the volunteers pitched in. We now have Nabbee's bags for sale in the internet shop and the man who sold us the beds saw them at home and is talking to his friend about selling them in his stores in the c.r. nigh bazzar and the c.m. night bazar! I opened a savings account for Pern's college and emergency medical needs for the kids. All is well here and the kids are smiling and happy!
Sunday 29th, June 2008
This was a mellow week. We got the boys rooms fixed that were leaking. Katy started making IHF signs. We had many many big c trips and market trips for underwear, bras, school stuff so the children are all very equipped now with clothes, etc. I have also had many many clothes donated which I gave out and they were all very happy to have! All the volunteers are doing great, many hours, at least four hours but often more on their own time. It's been very wet, so a lot of time spent at home.
Monday 23rd, June 2008
This has been a busy but great week. It was the French boys last week so they spent a lot of time fixing last minute things around the house. They fixed Nabees roof in her sewing area so it doesn't leak, and they fixed her sewing machine. I put up a wall of images of each child and their names and also organized the office and the storage area. We went swimming with the children, but unfortunately found out they raised the rate to 20 baht per child instead of 10, so Buason will talk to them to see if they will give us a deal, otherwise we will only get to go every other week instead of every week. We are getting closer and closer to finding beds. As a last night special thing the boys took everyone out to a BBQ last night and because the truck is still broken we shuttled everyone on the motorbikes. After the first group left it started pouring with rain and made for an interesting evening. This made me think how badly we need the truck fixed - not to say it didn't have it's charm to be riding around in the rain. hahaha Also Martin and Danni combined forces to sponsor Chiyapong and all involved are very very happy. They bought him a bike which he is of course sharing with all the kids and is very generous about it. We had a little problem with some of the boys playing video games during the week with their allowance but we are going to take the allowance away for a week and see if they can learn from it. Everything else is great.
Sunday 15th, June 2008
This week the French boys continued to work on fixing things around the house and Katy bought all the kids new tooth brushes. I was meant to go to India but ended up staying here and working on finance stuff with Buason as well as looking into getting beds and getting random things fixed, and organized. Donna left this week too, which is also sad but she will of course be back in a few months. The kids are all healthy with the exception of Somchai but he is keeping his knee clean and his craziness to a minimum to help it heal. A fairly mellow week. we went swimming a few times at the public pool, which is always fun and great exercise too.
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