Hoay Maw

This weekend Powerpack Thailand (aka us) had the privilege of taking an international Powerpack Team to Hoay Maw to run two days of children's leaders training, children's workshops, celebration, and finally, Sunday church service.

A more complete report will follow later once we have recovered!

A brief video below shows the children enjoying the new Powerpack "More & More!" Thai audio CD we released in January. The Thai songs are based on the English Powerpack "More!" album (plus songs from other Powerpack albums).

The video starts with the team performing a number of the songs on the church's balcony.

The international Powerpack team included Thais, Americans, Canadians, Norwegians and British - (sorry - no Irish involvement...).

Although the British contingent were experienced "Powerpackers", this was only the 1st or 2nd time the others had been involved in a Powerpack event - this did not hinder them entering fully.

We were especially proud of the three young Thai team members from COC House Of Praise who were a wonderful role model to the children - it was a privilege for all of us to work along side them!

Well done and thank you everybody!

We look forward to planning the next Powerpack Thailand outing!

We made our Christmas visit on the 28th December. The team consisted of four families and Jenny's friend Agnes and her children Marissa and Ben from Singapore.

"Walking Tall"

Agnes had brought some nice quality bed quilts which we gave as presents for the staff as well as other small gifts such as coffee (Pastor Joseph's favourite) and toiletries. There was food for a special meal which we had the privilege of sharing with the children.

The Norwegian charity, Open Hands, had supplied money for warm jumpers for each of the children and staff. Marit and Karine organised a craft activity. Snorre and the guys organised outdoor games. They took up various sports equipment and had made some stilts and skis! Agnes had helped organise some party games including a tombola.

Skiing in Thailand!

Wise men still seek Him

We also did a drama workshop where we taught the children “The Grumpy Innkeeper”. A group of younger children did it with costumes. An older group used puppets. It worked really well using the pre-recorded sound track.

Mary & Joseph

Saying "I Love You Lord"

We had prepared “Blessings in a Bag” for the children which contained hygiene supplies, school supplies, snack and treats and a T-shirt. After giving out the bags, each of the children were prayed for. We had a short time of worship and God's presence was powerfully there. Thank you to everyone who contributed to making Christmas special for the children and staff at Hoay Maw.

Day 1 - Learning - Mandarin video MP2 format - 164MB

Day 2 - Living - Mandarin video MP2 format - 174MB

Day 3 - Working - Mandarin video MP2 format - 173MB

Christmas is Coming!

As in previous years, we want to help to bring some blessings to the children and staff at the Hoay Maw children's home as they celebrate Christmas this year.

Warm Jumpers

The Norwegian charity Open Hands will be providing warm jumpers for each of the children which will be a great blessing as the weather gets quite cold up in the mountains. There can even be frost and if you have no windows in your bedroom (they only have screens and shutters) that is very cold.

Blessings in a Bag

We would like to bless each of the children with a bag of goodies (like a Christmas stocking), this will include: School supplies e.g. exercise books, pencils, coloured pencils. Hygiene items e.g. soap, shampoo, talc. Some treats e.g. candy and cookies. An age appropriate gift.

A New Outfit

Last year we were able to give each of the children a T-shirt and a pair of shorts. We would like to do this again as it has been lovely to see the children wearing their own new clothes during the year. As we will be providing the new storage for the children's clothes through the Spring Harvest offering, it will be especially nice that they have some new clothes to keep nicely.

Let's Party

We plan to visit at Christmas time and do some games, craft and activities with the children and also to provide a special meal.

Sports Equipment

We would like to be able to provide some sports equipment for the children to use at the home. This could include equipment for table tennis, volleyball, badminton, football and basketball.

Vehicle Fund

At present, the only vehicle available for use by the home is Pastor Joseph's own truck. This is not always available when he is travelling and so it is difficult for Paul and Rattanaporn to collect food from the market or take goods to the market to sell. A vehicle would also make it more feasible to take groups of children out of the environment of the home (which rarely happens). Paul and Rattaporn feel that a vehicle would greatly help them in generating income from selling goods and that this would contribute significantly to the running costs. It would also be used to transport older children who will be graduating to high school next year. Any remaining money from Christmas donations will be allocated to the vehicle fund.

You Can Help!

We would like to invite friends of Hoay Maw to join us to help provide Christmas Blessings for the children. Payment Details here... You can also make a donation in lieu of a gift to a friend or relative. After making your donation: Download gift certificate here...

At the end of Oct we visited Hoay Maw with Tore from the Norwegian Charity Open Hands. We were joined by our friends from Mae Sai, Thomas and Esther. Esther helped us translate.

House Parents

During the month we had heard that the couple who have been working as house parents had decided to move. We were concerned that Paul and Rattanaporn would be overburdened just at a time when they have a new baby. We found that they were coping well. We discussed finding new staff.

We have found in another children's home that we are involved with, that it is very difficult to appoint staff to the role of house-parents. We have come to feel that the best Mother and Father figures for the children are in fact the family who started and run the home. In that respect, Pastor Joseph and his wife, his son Paul and daughter-in-law Rattanaporn provide a good "family role model" for the children and also have a true "Mother" and "Father" heart for the children. We have therefore recommended that they don't necessarily look for another married couple. The priority will also be to have a heart for God and a heart to care for the children rather than Bible School qualifications. We have also recommended that new staff are taken on a trial basis first. We are praying for the right people.

Fish Pond

It was great to see that the fish are growing fast and the children are already eating some. They have constructed a shade to protect the fish from the strong direct sun.

Wheels

Tore from Open Hands had the opportunity to ask about the needs at the home. We discussed that next year, about 10 of the children will be moving on to High School and will need transport to another village. The only vehicle that they have access to is Pastor Joseph's own truck. He is often away and so it becomes difficult to transport food from the market or eggs and mushrooms to the market to sell. We realised that whereas in the past, purchasing a vehicle would have been out of reach in terms of funds, that for the first time, we do have access to some funds for capital investment. A 10 year old, 2 door pick-up with a cover and bench seats in the back would cost about £4,000. Tore voiced the question, "If Open Hands were to raise half of the money, could you raise the other half?". That was exactly our thought. Having a vehicle would help them be more effective in transporting goods to sell at the market and that increased business would contribute towards the maintenance and running costs.

Christmas is Coming

Tore also asked about a suitable Christmas present for the children. Paul and Rattanaporn suggested warm hoodies for the winter. We will soon be giving more information about how you can get involved at Christmas.

We received an amazing £8,075 from the Spring Harvest Charitable Trust and the money is already making a difference in the lives of the children at Hoay Maw.

Approximately £3,000 has already been used for the following covering the months May - Oct 2009:

Learning:

£800 Annual school registration fee for all the children (£10 per child) securing the children's continued education for the school year.

Living:

£1250 Supplement nutrition, e.g. cooking oil, protein, vegetables, needed in addition to the food that is grown and raised themselves. This works out at ~8p per child per day and ensures that the children get a healthy diet. £220 Hygiene supplies e.g. soap, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes, sanitary products and cleaning products for the home. £160 Home items e.g. stainless steel spoons and forks (the children also have new cups and plates), new large rice cooking pot (old one had hole in), large spoon and cooking slice. The broken plates have also been replaced.

The children help to cook

Working:

Mushroom farm

£360 Repair of mushroom shed, small trial of shitake mushrooms and then fully stock with 1,500 shitake mushroom gro-bags. £250 Supplement chicken food during low season of egg production enabling the children to eat fresh eggs every day. £30 Seeds for new vegetable crops.

Planned areas for remaining £5,000 (Nov - Apr)

Learning:

School uniform including PE kit, underwear and shoes.

Living:

Storage for children's clothes. Improve décor of bedrooms. Sports equipment, e.g. for table tennis, volleybal, badminton, football. Continue supplement children's nutrition. Continue supplement for health and hygiene supplies. Large metal bowls for washing clothes Medical assessment of children. Medical training for staff.

Working:

Egg farm

Continue supplement chicken farm. Evaluate and develop new self-sufficiency project ideas e.g. chicken meat or ducks.

We were delighted to hear the news that Paul and Rattanaporn have a new baby daughter. Our Thai co-worker Niti was truly honoured to be asked to give the baby a Thai name. He chose the name Napouayphorn, which means "count your blessings". We feel that this gift of a new life, a new family member and the meaning of her name couldn't be more appropriate for the children's home.

We travelled up in anticipation of meeting our new niece.

We took an orchid flower and a gifts for the baby. A Norwegian family who had been visiting Thailand with their family and their own young baby, very kindly gave some baby clothes and a buggy. Paul and Rattanaporn were delighted.

The mushroom pods had begun to produce fungus and within a couple more weeks should begin to produce mushrooms. The shitake mushrooms should fetch a good price at the market. They can also be preserved for times when there is less money for food.

The concrete fish pond had been given an extra outer wall and the gap filled with concrete to provide extra support. We took photos of the structure and Niti will liaise with a structural engineer friend to make sure that the structure is sufficient. Two sections of the pond had been stocked with fingerling catfish that were already thriving. One of the boys has been given the responsibility of feeding these fish.

The chickens are doing well but we would like to investigate whether it would be possible to make our own chicken feed or find a cheaper source. Three of the boys have responsibility for the egg farm.

Tea nursery

Tea seeds

World Vision are setting up a tea plant nursery on the children's home land. It is hoped that the children will have the opportunity to learn the process of raising the tea plants.

The children had come home from school early because the high school were having tests that week. The children said that the tests were hard and that they didn't know if they would pass. I said that I hoped they would pass. They also said that they it had been fun doing the activity on our previous visit.

Let's not forget to "count our blessings!"

Niti, Julia, Jenny & Adrian

This was our first visit back to the North since returning from our time in the UK. Our friend Julia was visiting and so it was a good opportunity to take her to visit. It had been some time since we had visited the Hope for Life Centre in Mae Sai and so we went there first.

Julia had prepared a craft activity for the children at Mae Sai and at Hoay Maw.

The children looked very cute as they returned from school in their scout and guide uniforms.

Julia explained how to do the craft. As usual, the children loved it and spent ages being very creative. Niti found a new vocation drawing cartoon figures to add to the children's creations. The time came for the children to eat their evening meal but they kept wanting to continue.

We had intended to teach and new song and have some worship and teaching but unfortunately we ran out of time.

The next day we went to the market first to buy some flowers for the ladies and some fruit for the children before driving on to Hoay Maw.

We had the opportunity to have an update with Paul and Rattanaporn who manage the home. They were amazed and delighted that the Spring Harvest children's offering focus has raised £8,000 along with other gifts from holiday clubs who have also used the videos. We discussed that we would need to plan and work together to use the money wisely and to invest in areas that will produce long term benefits.

• The shitake mushroom pods had been purchased and were being stored in the dark for a period to allow the fungus to begin to develop from the spores.
• The natural fish pond had been stocked with baby fish.
• The concrete pond had some structural problems which need to be addressed but was due to be stocked in the near future.
• There was a new trellis for growing beans. Seed stocks had been used up and so they needed some small funding for more vegetable seeds.
• Sadly, some very small piglets had been drowned in a rainy seaon flash-flood. The good news was that 3 female pigs were expecting. Two of the females had been bred from the first littes at Hoay Maw.
• The chickens were happier as the weather had settled and were now producing bigger, better and more eggs.

As it has been very wet, they have asked if we can supply some gas for cooking. The children usually collect wood for cooking but the wood

is very wet at the moment and difficult to use.

School registration fees haven't been paid yet as the school hasn't yet specified the amount, but these will be due in the near future. There was also a requirement for school supplies e.g. exercise books, pencils, etc as well as further school uniform including extra white shirts, socks and underwear.

We are looking for a suitable storage solution for the children to keep their clothes tidy.

At Hoay Maw, Julia led the activity with the children. It was more of a challenge because there were all the children from the village who had come up for Chinese School as well as the children from the home. There weren't nearly enough scissors and so we have decided to get some scissors for them to keep for activities like this.

Rattanaporn was due to have her baby the following week! ...

Nation Shakers Everywhere! Following the showing of the Hoay Maw videos at Spring Harvest in April, there have been further requests to present the videos as the mission focus for other groups. We edited the videos slightly to address "Nation Shakers" everywhere! Powerpack Holiday Club, Headington Baptist Church, Oxford Nick Jackson who headed up Powerpack at Spring Harvest, week 3, Skegness, presented the videos at a holiday club that he led at his home church, Headington Baptist. The children raised £170 to help children in a similar situation to Hoay Maw.

Holiday Club at the Lighthouse, Ely

Jackie and Peter Smith, regular Powerpack team members, showed the videos at their church holiday club.

Jackie writes: "We had 114 children aged 5-11 at our club which ran for one week. We gave out the collecting boxes on day 2 and showed three parts of the D.V.D. on seperate days. We prayed for you all each day and then collected the boxes back in on the last day. This raised £105. Then on the Sunday, we showed the whole D.V.D. and gave out the remaining boxes to our church folk. The next week we collected them back in and this raised our total to over £500.

Many of the children and adults wept as they saw the conditions that the Hoay Maw children live with, as many have never really been abroad to poorer countries. All were moved and were glad to be able to help out."

St Peter's C of E School and Church

We had felt that the videos would be quite educational and suitable for use in a school setting. An English friend, Jill Bird, also based in Thailand, had the opportunity to show the videos at St Peter's C of E, Earley. The children and staff responded to the videos so that there is now the opportunity to set up a link between the primary school and Hoay Maw. We are also tremendously encouraged that St Peter's church will also be supporting the link. We especially value their prayers.

"At Home"

During the summer, we were able to make a visit home to England for 1 month. At our home church (Arun Community Church), we were invited by some of the home groups to share about Hoay Maw as well as other areas that we are involved with in Thailand.

Through the Hoay Maw videos, people were able to see the progress that has been made and the potential for further development. Several individuals blessed us with gifts, prayers and encouragement for the work at Hoay Maw as well as for our family personally.

Powerpack at Kingdom Faith As a family, we were all on team with Powerpack at Kingdom Faith in Peterborough. Each day the children were encouraged to become "Nation Shakers". On one of days we showed the Hoay Maw videos and the children were interested to see the very different life at Hoay Maw. During the last week of August there were about 1,200 downloads of the videos from the web-site. We are so encouraged that the videos can continue to be used to engage children in mission and are so blessed by the response to support the children and Hoay Maw. Thank you Nation Shakers!