Grant Giving.
The trip this year took place a month earlier than usual: partly to try to avoid student missing their grant giving because of exams, partly to take advantage of (slightly) cooler weather in Thailand. Jean & I took with us, in addition to a small amount of personal luggage, an autoclave (see later) - about the size and weight of a large domestic microwave oven - the usual supply of pens and pencils from Lafarge Cement in Waterhouses and Leek Soroptomists, plus a bag full of soft toys from the latter.

The party consisted of Trustees PM Laow, Suraphee Simpson, Ladawan Wilson, Ngnamnij Kittisara and Jean & Wilson Young, Committee members Carol Isaacs and Kevin Thorn, ATF Admin. Assistant Link, guests Ian & Maureen Dewar (sponsors from Edinburgh) and Kevin's partner Faa who herself comes from a NE Thailand village background.

The usual work attending to the students' bankbooks was this year nowhere near as frantic, thanks to the valuable preparatory work done by Link: this, plus arriving in Sisaket a few days earlier, enabled some of us to visit more children at home - an essential aspect of the annual visit that is becoming more time consuming as the Foundation grows. Clearly, we can't get to see everybody, but visiting a selection of our students helps enormously in evaluating local needs and assessing how our grants help individuals.

An unusual aspect of the Grant Giving ceremonies was that Miss Thailand Universe (daughter of Trustee Ngnamnij Kittisara) paid a visit on the first day.

Word had evidently got round to schools, and there was a higher than usual state of excitement: after the ceremony both children and teachers queued up for autographs - often in their Anglo-Thai exercise books.

Other than this, the grant givings followed their usual pattern that has been described elsewhere, and as there are other more newsworthy items to include, we will leave it at that.

Village boy gets his computer.
One of our sponsors had sent us money with a request that we buy a computer for their student Jittakorn. I went to the local computer shop, where the 'special offer of the week' included a free desk and chair.

Normally I am very suspicious of such offers, but this seemed like the line of least resistance, getting round the language barrier rather neatly.

As it turned out it was a good deal, as when we got to Jittakorn's home it was a typical village house - with no conventional western furniture! Ajahn Surapong, & Link set it all up for him, while I went off to photograph some scenes of village life.

Once the computer was up and working, I think village life ground to a halt for the rest of the day.

Help for Ban Nong Rang village
Trustees Suraphee, Ladawan, Ngnamnij, Jean & Wilson attended a function at Ban Nong Rang village (PM Laow being there in his capacity as village monk) to present a cheque to the village headman in order to enable them to complete the construction of the new sala, as reported on the Projects' page of the website.

A New Eye for Kanjana
You may remember reading, either in Sawasdee or on the website, about Kanjana, the girl who is blind in one eye. On the Saturday morning before we left Esarn we took Kanjana to the eye clinic in Buriram.
She has had this defect since birth and while nothing can be done for her sight, the doctor recommended a simple cosmetic treatment which involves going to the eye hospital in Bangkok to be fitted with an artificial eye.

There and then Link made an appointment over the telephone and we took her straight to the railway station to book her a ticket to Bangkok for her first of four visits to the hospital. Kanjana was like the proverbial dog with two tails: I'm not sure whether this was the prospect of trips to Bangkok or the prospect of not having to cover her face up for the first time in fourteen years.

By the time this edition is printed and distributed she should have completed her treatment and will be walking proudly around her village of Lumplymass with her hair combed back.

The treatment was simple, and it didn't cost her sponsor a fortune by western standards, but by Esarn standards it will have been beyond Kanjana's wildest dreams that within 12 months the heartfelt plea in her letter has been answered: yet another way in which the Foundation is helping to give kids in Esarn a better chance in life.

Surin Province
We were taken on a tour of part of Surin that borders onto Sisaket Province by our contact who has offered to co-ordinate any work we may do there. Chairlady Suraphee, who has been with the ATF for many years, remarked that much of what we saw and had described to us was precisely the same as was found Sisaket in the early days of the Foundation.

Much of Sisaket is still desperately poor, but the Foundation has made a difference: students can now afford to go to college, the poorest do look better dressed and fed, and most importantly, there is hope for the future. We trust we will be able to do the same in Surin.

We were taken to a couple of schools, and met some of their most needy children.

Some were disabled, some were orphans, but all of them had that haunted expression in their eyes that make a lot of people in the west turn away in embarrasment when they see such faces on charity appeals on the TV.

According to their teacher, they couldn't concentrate on their schoolwork because they were hungry. Hunger can't wait for 12 months, so we decided to leave behind funds to allocate grants to 11 of the most needy, and we have brought with us details of another 10 who will be recommended for grants next year. A number of our supporters have already offered to sponsor some of these children in Surin, but if you would particularly like to sponsor one yourself, please visit the website where more detailed information about this and other sponsorship opportunities will appear soon.
We have also received applications from Surin for school improvement/building projects, which will be considered at our next meeting.

Meeting with the Thai Red Cross

Trustee Wannee J had arranged for us to visit the headquarters of the Thai Red Cross Association to present them with a cheque for money collected thus far, and the autoclave that we had lugged half way round the world. Everybody was able to attend, with the exception of the Dewars, whose flight left the day before.

We were received by M.R. Priyangsri Watanakun, Asst. Secretary General of the TRC and a great-granddaughter of the King of Siam. Grateful thanks were offered, and we were assured that all our contribution would be sent directly to Phuket, where there was, and still is, much relief work to be done to assist those hit by the Tsunami.

Committee member Carol Isaacs wrote:

"This was my second grant-giving and another welcome opportunity to see how the children and their villages were faring, both officially and unofficially.

Dropping in for an unofficial visit to a village in Silalat, where the boy I have been sponsoring for 4 years Sakdina Sangwan lives, his mother came dashing in from the fields to tell us that he was now doing technical studies at Mahanakorn University in Bangkok, the best news I could have possibly hoped for.

Another visit saw us in a much poorer group of villages near Surin where a young woman called Ning, one of the ATF graduates, comes from . She is now doing her Masters at Khon Khaen University .

We had a look at some local schools where the neediest children were presented to us. Some had physical handicaps: one girl of 13 had only one arm but the most engaging smile, eager to catch our eye and apparently one of the brightest children in the school. A small boy with twisted, crippled legs, unable to walk unaided: another shy little girl who didn't know how old she was. There were orphans too, victims of AIDs and some with only one parent surviving and then some whose parents were away working in the bigger towns and cities .

I got the feeling that there were just as many hopes and ambitions waiting to be given voice here too.

We visited five schools in five districts, four in Sisaket and one in Buriram. At each of the five presentations 3-4 sponsored children from 10-15 local schools attended. I was surprised by the formality of each ceremony and I think that this helped the children realise the significance of the opportunity being given to them. This was contrasted by shows of local dances put on by children for our entertainment.

Each presentation started with a religious ceremony lighting candles on a shrine followed by speeches from local officials, teachers and trustees and committee members of the foundation. At three of the presentations I was asked to say a few words in Thai to the children.

talked about the students sponsored by the Foundation who have gone on to graduate as Lawyers, Nurses and Teachers as an example of what children like them could achieve with hard work and belief. It is credit to the work of the Foundation that over 50 children are progressing to higher education this year.
After the speeches there was the grant giving where each student was presented with their passbook with their funds deposited together with a rucksack, exercise books and pens and pencils. Wilson then took pictures of each child (which sponsors will shortly receive).

The children then gave gifts to the foundation ranging from cushions that they had made, cloth and food items such as rice onions and garlic. I found it amazing that people with so little would give what they had to reciprocate the good the Foundation is doing. The food items were given to the next school on our programme.

One of the older children then gave a vote of thanks which again was very moving. The main theme was to thank us for the opportunity we are giving the students, that the children could never reciprocate the donations we were making and that each student promised to study hard to ensure that they were successful in their studies. I believe that the promise to study diligently is all the reciprocation any of the Foundation's supporters need.

I noticed during the presentation in Buriram a young girl who has just received her passbook with her grant in. I noticed that she was wearing only flip-flops and had a torn uniform on whereas most of the other students were well dressed. I then noticed in her passbook that this was the first entry in her book and that she unlike most of the others had not previously been sponsored.

I was able to speak to one of the students my partner and I sponsor and she listed what the funds we provide will buy which is everything you could imagine a student would need. She also stated her ambition of going to college to study Business Studies and after graduation going to work for a company in Buriram.

It is also worth mentioning the commitment of the Thai trustees, teachers and Link, our employee, who I met for the first time. Their commitment and time to organise grant giving and to keep in contact with the sponsored children cannot be underestimated.

The experience left me feeling humbled and wanting to do more to help. If anyone thought the work of the Foundation was not having an impact, I can assure them that the opposite was true. The proof is in the achievements of the past students and the number now entering further education. I was left
feeling proud of the work the Foundation does and of the change it affords to 320 young people but also very aware that there are thousands of other children who would also benefit."

It was just like going to visit a friend at home-but after taking some photographs it was soon time to leave-I am sure we will visit there again, although we are not sure if we could retrace our journey!
As well as attending grant givings we were fortunate to be able to visit several other schools, hear of their needs and ambitions, and meet so many children who need the help of the ATF.
We moved on to Buriram where we were able to attend another grant giving, this time at the school of the girl we sponsor (Wiphaporn). This time we were able to meet her at her school and after the grant giving we gave her a lift home in the minibus (some of her school friends looked alarmed as she drove of with us!) and we met her father and neighbours who were very welcoming.
Our time in Esarn ended with a last night 'banquet' in the night market in Buriram.
It was a privilege and a great pleasure to travel with the ATF party-we were made so welcome and everyone involved works so hard!
It was also very special to see at first hand the schools which the sponsored children attend, as for meeting the children we sponsor-I can't actually find words to describe the experience-we will meet them again and keep in touch with them-of this I am sure.

SOME THAI PROVERBS AND THEIR ENGLISH EQUIVALENT

Carol sent me these for the printed version of the newsletter in order to fill space.
This isn't a problem with the web edition, but they are still worth a read.

Som ja-ra-kay hai wai-nam To teach a crocodile to swim, or:
Teach your grandmother to suck eggs

Kee chang jup dtuk-ga-dtaen To ride and elephant to catch a grasshopper, or:
To use a sledgehammer to crack a nut

Nee sua ba ja-ra-kay Escape from the tiger to meet the crocodile, or:
Out of the frying pan into the fire

Ngom kem nai maha-samut Dive for a needle in the ocean, or:
Look for a needle in a haystack

Website News

Once I get this edition of Sawasdee put to bed I will turn attention back to the website. I am building up a photo album section, with photographs of grant givings, projects, functions etc. that will complement the images found on other pages. This section should appear on the website soon, so watch out for it. (you do have the ATF site bookmarked don't you?). Photographs will be available to download, so if you have any ATF photographs you would like to share with others, please email them to wilson@anglo-thai.org along with a brief description.

If you would like to receive email news about forthcoming ATF functions, why not subscribe to our Information Group? Go to the Contact Page , and sign up to the Yahoo Group. I promise you won't be deluged with junk mail.
We are also looking at developing a complete ATF website in Thai. It will have the same address, but you will be able to go into a self-contained Thai language site. Watch this space.

The Tsunami Appeal.
The earthquake and ensuing tsunami prompted us to produce the special edition of Sawasdee, and to get a mention in our local newspaper: these generated a tremendous response, both internationally and locally.

We were overwhelmed by the generosity of Sawasdee readers: donations came in from far and wide, many from those who already support us either by donation or sponsorship, an example of the way in which this tragedy had touched hearts all over the world.

Locally, it started with a small paragraph in the Stoke Sentinel. From there we were interviewed by BBC Radio Stoke, and then by Midlands Today, all of which gave rise to further donations. We spent a hectic New Year's Eve collecting in our village pub, people knocked on the door with money and the village school raised money.

The total collected so far is about £4000, including on-line donations from the website. Money is still coming in, and as we are able to claim Gift Aid on many of the donations, this figure will increase.

And then there was stuff - mainly bedding and clothing. We hadn't really anticipated this, but thanks to the help of Josie in Stoke and Nick in Newcastle-Under-Lyne we ended up with an artic. trailer full of boxes plus £1000 worth of antibiotics and 5 boxes of disposable syringes . A local haulage contractor has kindly moved it to the shipping depot for us, and it is now well on its way to the stricken areas.

We would like to say a big thank you to all those who have contributed: regular readers of Sawasdee, plus the many new friends who contacted us locally with offers of donations and help.

We discovered that none of our present children were orphaned by the tsunami, in spite of the fact that the majority of hotel workers in the south come from Esarn.

In the long term we are looking at trying to find (correction: we will find) a number of children who lost both parents in this disaster, and we will make arrangements to fund the remainder of their education. A special fund has been set aside for this purpose.

A family in London who lost (British) relatives in Phuket contacted us: they are planning a series of Memorial Concerts, proceeds from which will go into this fund.

The first concert was on 20th March, and here's a photo of the lovely
Rose Ensemble who performed in aid of the Anglo-Thai Foundation.

And finally, some more Thai/English Proverbs

Ao maphrao hao bai kai suan To take coconuts to sell in the orchard, or:
To carry coals to Newcastle

Bai hen nam reng dtut gra-bok To cut the bamboo stem before you see the water, or:
To count one's chickens before they are hatched

See sor hai kwai fang To play the violin for the water buffalo to listen to, or:
Cast pearls before swine

Yah dtee dton bpai gorn kai Don't worry yourself about the fever before it arrives, or:
Cross the bridge when you come to it

Acknowledgements:
Thanks to Cath at Lafarge Cement in Waterhouses for helping with the printing,
to Linda for collating and stuffing envelopes,
to Carol, Kevin & Ian for providing copy for this bumper edition,
to Carol for the Thai proverbs............

And not least: thanks to you, the readers, for being our supporters.