New arrivals

Much of our time since we have been involved at Hoay Maw we have been focusing on organisational and financial issues to address the practical needs of the children. We have felt that it is time to extend our focus to building relationships with the children and developing opportunities to input into their lives emotionally and spiritually as well. Most of the children at Hoay Maw have traumatic backgrounds – some in the extreme. Their need for love and inner healing is often apparent for example in the faces of Krok and Eeau when they first came to Hoay Maw quite recently. Krok arrived in Thailand on his own. He has no parents. Eeau's father died of malaria and his mother died in a land mine explosion. Eeau also crossed the border alone. When we visit, we take every opportunity to reach out to the children.

On this visit, we had prepared a Christmas craft activity. We were asked if the village children could join in as they had come to the home for Chinese School. We adapted to include them and had a wonderful creative and fun time together.

Having fun

Afterwards, the village children went into Chinese school and we took the children from the home into the church. We introduced Dave and explained that it was Rosie's 4th and last visit. Rosie spoke to the children encouraging them and then gave out Christmas presents. Rosie and her Mum, Monica, had bought each of the children a T-shirt, a toothbrush and some sweets! We were going to finish when we seemed to be led to share about God's plan and love for the children. We invited them to come forward if they would like to know God's love in a special way. A few came forward straight away. The rest gradually followed until the last child joined in kneeling at the front to receive. We prayed for each child individually and sang over them in Thai “Holy Spirit come and fill me with the Father's love”. After that, we invited the children to have a hug – OK, so it's not very British but it was a very special time!

Projects

Paul is to get three quotes to select a local contractor to commence work on the fish pond in January. They will begin eating the home grown piglets at Christmas! The egg chicken farm is progressing well. Paul has visited a meat chicken farm in Chiang Mai to learn the process.

Hoay Maw Christmas Special

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We have received donations from Open Hands, Lights On at Wickbourne, a Bring & Buy in Cirencester and other individuals towards the Christmas fund. Rosie and her Mum have given T-shirts. Jenny's Mum, Jillian, is giving shorts. A heartfelt thank you to all who have already contributed to make Christmas special for the children. We will go ahead with the "Blessings in a Bag" to include school and hygiene items as well as some treats. We plan to visit on the 2nd-3rd Jan to do further activities, a party meal and share the gifts. We have also been offered the use of a video projector and the Thai version of the film “The Nativity” so we will have a film night. There is still time to get involved and even small contributions make a big difference - click here

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We have finally done it! We have joined the Thai vehicle super-sizing club

No - the above were not us...

We needed to get some 88 blankets up to the children at Hoay Maw childrens Home as quickly as possible due to the arrival of the cold weather. And not wanting to be defeated by a minor space issue, we followed the Thai technique...now if we were really Thai, we could have got another 100 blankets onboard, and Jenny, Rosie and Niti would have travelled on the top...maybe another time... As it was, Jenny and Rosie were pretty squashed...

Needless to say, the children were delighted!

Thank You!

Thank you Tore and Open Hands!

On Sun 26th October the Olivers visited Hoay Maw with Tore of the Norwegian charity Open Hands. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Tore and Open Hands. Without their ongoing support to help with food and half the staff wages, circumstances would be a lot bleaker at Hoay Maw. It is not so long ago that the children were eating just rice for weeks on end. The children now enjoy regular vegetables and occasional protein in their diet. Without this support for staff (along with another individual supporter from the UK) it would not have been possible to even begin to take the steps to develop self-sufficiency projects or to establish any degree of consistent quality of care. Our friends from Mae Sai kindly brought doughnuts for each of the children made in their bakery.

Fish Project

Some unused land has been acquired and it is proposed that this might be a better site for the fish pond project. An advantage would be that unlike the other site, it is not on a slope. It also is in watery land and so would probably not need to be concrete lined. It is a little less convenient for access but they felt that they would still be able to attend to the fish. It is alongside the tea and therefore it could be a good thing if they are actively caring for projects in this location. Money has been received from Links International to cover 30% of the project costs (thank you!). The final processing of the project by World Vision is currently in progress. World Vision will then provide the remaining 70% of funds required. We want to ensure that World Vision approve the new site prior to commencement.

New Land

Pigs or Chickens? - That is the Question

Some locals have expressed disapproval of the pig project being in the vicinity of their dwellings. For the time being the pigs have been moved back into the old concrete pen alongside Pastor Joseph's own pigs. On the surface of things this seemed a disappointing setback.

Ready for Christmas!

With regard to the pig project, it has been a long slow process to establish this, however, at this stage, some piglets are nearly ready to be eaten. The children have had the chance to gain vocational skills and lessons have been learned about taking care of the project. However, we have found that without nutrient food, the piglets grow quite slowly and the nutrient food is expensive. It is therefore questionable as to the profitability of developing the pig project further as compared to say chickens. This is why we wanted to test things on a small scale before expanding. At this point, we feel that we will let the pig project run on but without significant further investment or expansion.

We were already considering a trial of chickens (and/or ducks) which friends in the S.E.E.D. Project (something to Eat Every Day) have used to good effect for both eggs and meat. Chickens can be raised using the same organic method as the pigs using a natural floor and fermented liquid feed. It would therefore be a suitable use of the organic pen at this stage. We will do some further research into the feasibility and costs.

Medical

When we last visited, one of the younger boys had a badly infected scalp. His head had recovered following advice from our GP friend but his little friend had become infected. This reinforced the need for basic training and medical supplies.

Better

Finances

Tore kindly offered an additional 10,000 baht from Open Hands for the market bill for October. At present there is no provision for food for Nov-Dec but if further money is available next quarter then hopefully they will only be at the usual position of owing 20,000 baht at start of quarter. The current change in exchange rate has hit quite hard both in terms of Hoay Maw support and in terms of any money that comes over from the UK.

Christmas is Coming

Last Christmas, it was a privilege to be able to bless each of the children with a special bag of gifts. The joy was evident on the children's faces.

We were also able to give the children warm hats, gloves and socks to protect them in the mountain winter frosts.

Thanks to the generosity of Arun Community Church, Links International, Open Hands and kind individuals, there was also money remaining from the Christmas fund to help secure the children's school registration for the up-coming school year.

Joy to - "A child"

Christmas Delight!

We would love to be able to make Christmas special for the children at Hoay Maw. Please consider if you, as an individual, church, business or group can bring a blessing this Christmas.

Please see how to get involved.

On Thurs 25th – Fri 26th September we went to Mae Sai and Hoay Maw. We took Rosie on the trip. Rosie is from our home church, Arun Community Church, and is staying with us until mid-December.

Mae Sai

We spent time with the children at the Hope for Life children's home to share in worship and activities. The children made photo frames and we took their photo as well. We talked about how we are special to God and that He made us and loves us. We taught the Powerpack song “Shine” which we have translated into Thai with the help of the Ban San Faan children and staff.

I'm Special

Hoay Maw

This was the first time that we have visited Hoay Maw without a translator. We delivered some chicken, groceries and hygiene supplies and then had lunch with Joseph and family.

Tentative Good News

Three years ago there was a project to set up a tea plantation at Hoay Maw. This project offered what seemed like significant potential for income generation. Unfortunately due to a number of factors, the tea didn't thrive. Subsequently there was a fire which destroyed one area of planting.

"T" for Tore

When we first came out 2 years ago our intention was to try and develop this further but with the various problems, we had basically given up any thought of this bearing any fruit. Apparently not everyone had given up because Marit Hyttedalen has now told us that she has prayed for the tea from time to time including just before this visit.

We were surprised and pleased to hear that when Paul went out to look at the tea in the main area of planting, about 2/3 of the plants are now thriving. We will continue to monitor the progress and if it is possible to harvest some tea then it will be sold directly to Joseph's contact who owns a tea company.

Rosie's Basics

Having helped shop for the basic hygiene supplies, Rosie, an 18 yr old, had been impacted by the contrast between the basic requirements of the children at Hoay Maw and the quantity, quality and availability of toiletries and cosmetics taken for granted by young people in the West.

Rosie has taken this to heart and wants to take up this project for herself and make a difference. Rosie is praying about how to take this forward but would like to communicate with the youth (and possibly children's) groups at home as well as with her previous employers. We would also like to feature Rosie's appeal via our web-site ...

We talked with Rattanaporn in order to make a detailed list of the basic requirements. We found that the monthly supplies that we've been taking are close to what is required but we cannot sustain that ourselves in the longer term and at present Hoay Maw has zero budget in this area. We are not talking about cosmetics but rather basic supplies e.g. soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, needed to promote the health and hygiene of the children.

Essentials not cosmetics

Medical

We took some Paracetamol for the home and were aware that they have no provision for basic medical supplies. This was brought home because there was a small boy with open sores all over his head which had become infected. We were able to arrange for a Thai speaking Doctor friend to phone back the next day to give advice.

House-Mother tries to clean sores

It is our hope to address the following:

• Support for basic medical supplies
• Support for a small medical fund particularly for children who don't have Thai ID and would not be eligible for Thai assisted medical care
• Written First-aid advice for the staff in Thai language
• A First-aid training opportunity for the staff
• Ongoing annual refresher for staff and training for new staff
• An initial medical check and evaluation for the children
• Ongoing annual medical check and review for the children

Finances

According to the pattern of the past 9 months, they were 2 months in debt at the market. They have continued to limit monthly spending on groceries at or below 10,000 baht (NOK 1,330 = £160 = $320). We have been praying for support to cover the 30,000 baht market costs per quarter. This quarter we were 17,500 baht short however we are so grateful that indiduals have provided an unexpected 7,500 baht. This will enable the market debt from the previous quarter to be paid off but means that we are still commencing this quarter with none of the 30,000 baht required for food. This highlights that they are very vulnerable to fall into debt and that they are under-resourced to meet the very basic level of subsistence.

Whilst we will continue to strive towards increased self-ownership of responsibility and self-sufficiency, we are also looking to raise the level of regular support to a stable minimum level.

We continue to pray that God will lead us together with partners who share a heart and vision for this work.

Care

As good progress has continued to be made with respect to managing the home, accounts, staff and projects, the area of developing the staff's ability to provide quality care for children comes into the spotlight. We spoke to Rattanaporn and the House-mother about teaching the children in the area of personal hygiene and keeping their clothes clean so that the children don't smell. We will be praying about the best way to provide training ideally in partnership with individuals or an organisation with the appropriate language and skills.

Computers

We delivered the other 2 computers donated by Grace International School. The first computer of the 3 will be used by Paul and Rattanaporn to support the management of the home. Adrian spent further time trying to get the internet to work using Paul's mobile phone. It worked using another staff member's phone but not with Paul's and so we may need to get a different phone for Paul.

Adrian sets up computer

The other 2 computers and Paul's previous computer were put in the “computer room”. This is in a building that Joseph built quite recently with the left-over materials from the work on the boys dorm. They had been given some computer desks which the children worked on constructing, with assistance for Rosie.

We also took a set of 8 Thai-English visual dictionary CDs. I had bought them from a yard sale to help myself learn Thai but as they work equally well from Thai-to-English, we donated them to the children which will help them learn a little English. Unfortunately, we found that the audio drivers weren't installed and so they couldn't use them immediately. We will address that next visit.

The children, in particular the older ones, will now have the opportunity to learn basic computer skills e.g. word processing, spreadsheet, powerpoint, etc. We hope that the Singapore team will be able to give some basic instruction when they visit in Dec.

Joseph was present and he couldn't have been more pleased with the new “computer facility”. The children enjoyed watching themselves on our video, “A Day in the Life of Hoay Maw”.

Computer Facility

Summary & Future

• It was a milestone that we managed to communicate ourselves without an interpreter.
• “Computer Facility” coming on-line
• Continue development of self-sufficiency projects
• Forward money to enable commencement of fish pond
• Develop accurate, overall budget and encourage basic minimum level of regular support.
• “Rosie's Basics” project to provide basic hygiene needs.
• Address medical supplies and staff training.
• Address staff training needs to further develop quality of care.
• Develop policies for care and management at the home.

Apologies that this update is delayed but we wanted to report on the visit of some young "Powerpackers" to Thailand.

When we were involved with Powerpack at Kingdom Faith during the Summer, we shared about the needs of the children at Hoay Maw.

We were approached by a family who were due to visit Thailand in the following weeks and we arranged to meet up and to take them to visit Hoay Maw for themselves.

Nathan (who had been in Powerpack), with sister Chloe, Mum Patsy and Aunt Jeanette, joined us on our trip.

Jeanette and Patsy had been brought up in Nepal where Jeanette and her husband now work, so the family had a background in mission.

We set off on Tues 26th August in a borrowed minibus first stop the Charin Garden Restaurant, a.k.a. "The Pie Shop". This is a favourite half-way stopping point where we especially like to take guests. They serve very nice Thai food as well as delicious pies in a very pretty and peaceful setting beside a flowing river.

We continued on to Mae Sai taking a slight detour to stop at a view point in the Golden Triangle where the borders of three countries, Burma, Thailand and Laos, meet.

Jeanette, Nathan, Adrian, Niti, Patsy & Chloe at the Pie Shop

"Golden Triangle"

We received a phone call from Esther at Hope for Life to say that the children were home from school so went on directly to do an activity and worship time with the children.

The children were all specially dressed in their traditional Akha costumes and looked very beautiful.

As usual the children thoroughly enjoyed our simple activity which was to use coloured tissue paper to make a creation picture. First we went through the 7 days of creation and gave them some ideas for their pictures. Nathan and Chloe did a brilliant job joining in with the children and demonstrating different "tissue-techniques".

Eventually we had to persuade the children to finish and to put their wonderful pictures together in a gallery.

Then we had a worship time where they wanted to sing some songs that we had taught them previously. Their main language is Akha but they go to Thai school and speak thai quite well. We have translated some simple songs into Thai and so we sang the Thai versions of "Father God created the world" by Ishmael, "Lord Jesus, I'm here to Worship You" by Jenny, and "Holy Spirit Come" a Powerpack song.

Chloe and Nathan did a great job of leading the actions.

Creation gallery

"Praabidaa Songsang Jakawan" "Father God Created the World"

After that, the children blessed us by singing one of their songs which we tried our best to join in with (mainly the actions).

That evening we enjoyed a lovely meal at our favourite Thai restaurant situated in a garage compound. Chloe and Nathan practised their chop-stick technique (not really Thai - more Chinese) as well as having an impromptu Thai language lesson benefiting from the expertise of Ajaarn Alien (aka Adrian).

Chloe Gin Khao Chloe eats rice

Nathan khit aroy khrap! Nathan thinks it's delicious!

The next morning Adrian, Jenny and Patsy got up early to go to the market to buy provisions for Hoay Maw.

Patsy with the Dragon fruit

Leaving the resort

We arrived at Hoay Maw late morning and delivered the supplies. We were able to see the mosquito nets that had been installed on each of the children's beds.

Kitchen inspection	broken plates
bathroom	bedroom

At lunchtime we enjoyed the food and hospitality of Joseph's family. Nathan and Chloe asked Joeseph some questions about the children.

After lunch we were able to see the significant progress that they had made with the agricultural projects.

Nathan and Chloe particularly enjoyed inspecting the pigs.

Little Piggies

and mushrooms

We stayed long enough for the children to return from home and so Chloe and Nathan were able to meet them and kindly gave them their football to keep.

Next summer at Powerpack at Kingdom Faith, we will be able report about how the £260 raised at Powerpack has helped the Hoay Maw children to attend school. If Nathan is in Powerpack again then it will be great if he can give a personal report of his Powerpacker visit to Hoay Maw.

On Wednesday 27th August the Olivers and Niti made our first visit to Hoay Maw following the Summer break.

As we neared Hoay Maw, I wondered how we would find things.

I felt a whispered reassurance - “You don't have to worry about a thing.”

On arrival it was good to be greeted by Paul and Rattanapon as well as Pastor Joseph and his wife. We had brought hygiene and grocery supplies and so delivered them to the home. They welcomed these as food supplies were short. We also took used clothes donated by friends at Grace International School. Paul began to show us around.

Mosquito Nets:

Money had been raised to supply each child with an individual mosquito nets. Contributions came from St Margaret's School year 3 and from a coffee morning in Cirencester. Malaria and Dengue are real threats in the region and so it is excellent that the nets have been purchased and installed successfully.

Fish Pond Plan:

Proposed location for pond

Having taken Paul to visit the fish farm near Chiang Mai, we had heard that he was eager to move forward with plans to establish a fish pond at Hoay Maw. We were pleased that Paul had been able to approach World Vision for help. A site has been identified and a budget drawn up. The total cost will be ~£1300/$2600, 70% of which will be funded by World Vision. This equates to the building of the pond. A further 30% (~£400/$800) needs to be raised which equates to the stocking and 4 months feeding to raise a batch of 30,000 fish.

In the future there is potential to sell some of the fish (~1/3) in order to cover costs for raising the next batch. The primary value will be in providing regular nutritious food for the children as well as some income generation potential.

Crops & Vegetables:

Paul then led us on to see developments with crops and vegetables. They had been able to receive advice and training from a retired, Taiwanese agriculturalist. The agricultural area now has a screen boundary for shade and protection from animals.

Brush made from Japanese plant

A trial crop of a Japanese plant is being tested. If successful then they may be able to grow more for export to Japan. They would also invite local villagers to come to the centre to learn how to grow the crop in order to pass on vocational skills to the community as well as increase volumes co-operatively.

Long beans

Cucumbers

They have planted new crops of long beans and cucumbers that are producing well. They also have further planting of sweet potatoes. The pigs eat the over-ground foliage and the children eat the root vegetables. The mushrooms are still producing. Old mushroom compost and pig-pen litter is being used as fertilizer. The children have also been given training and are participating in the agricultural projects.

Pigs:

Nathan and Chloe (from Powerpack) check out the 6 new piglets

The small mother pig has produced a litter of 6 new piglets. Paul has arranged for the iron frame to be made and installed for the large mother pig. The large mother has not yet become pregnant again and they are going to try giving her hormones. The original piglets are continuing to grow. We are providing money for nutrient food from Links Christmas Gifts.

Finances:

Rattanapon has continued to maintain excellent accounts which have been audited to date by Niti. We have been blessed that Open Hands have been able to provide ~30,000 baht per quarter in addition to the cover of half of the staff wages. This approximately covers the market bill although with the money arriving at the end of the quarter, they tend to be 2 months in arrears at that point. If we could inject 20,000 baht (~£320/$640), this would enable them to avoid any period of arrears. Bottom line is that it is an excellent achievement that finances are being controlled and not sliding indefinitely.

The other half of the staff wages comes from an individual supporter. We thank God for this provision which enables funding of the staff. Without this, none of the development of projects or child care at Hoay Maw would have been possible.

Family Groups:

Paul reported that he is very pleased with the family groups and that they continue to be an avenue for delivering more personal care to the children as well as for equipping the older teenagers with leadership/parenting skills.

Computers:

We are very grateful to have received 3 computers for Hoay Maw that have been 'retired' from Grace International School. The intention is that these will be used for educational support for the older children. One of the computers may be used for administration on the site of the children's home.

The computers will be kept in the recently built extension to the dining area. Adrian will support the installation and set-up of these computers. Adrian is also working on enabling internet access for Paul via mobile phone so that we can email between Paul and Niti. We have liaised with the Singapore team who will be visiting Hoay Maw in December from Living Spring Fellowship and they have agreed that they can do some basic computer training at that time.

Summary:

We are extremely encouraged by the level of progress that has been made. We thank God and we thank all who have prayed, encouraged, and contributed in any way.

Future:

It was true. There was no need to worry about a thing. Hoay Maw is in safe hands. Those of a loving Father God, and of His capable servants - Paul and Rattanapon and their staff.

With the major improvements made in areas of organisation, accountability, initiative and care, we feel that it is now appropriate to encourage some further support at the same time as continuing with the emphasis on self-responsibility.

Some people have expressed a desire to support costs on a per child basis e.g. £15/$30 per month. We are also considering encouraging individuals, church, youth, children's, cell or school groups to consider supporting educational, hygiene or project costs.

We value the opportunity to build connections where people have a heart to get involved.

I lift my eyes up to the mountains, Where does my help come from? My help comes from You, Maker of heaven and earth. (View on the way home)

During our Summer UK visit we were able to share with the two year 3 classes and a year 5 class at St Margaret's C. of E. Primary school . The children at St Margaret's noticed many differences between their own lives and those of the children at Hoay Maw.

A particular need that we highlighted was to provide mosquito nets to cover the bed of each child.

It was a blessing that the year 3 teachers and children wanted to help in some way and decided to contribute money towards the mosquito nets instead of the customary end of year gifts.

£65 was donated and together with £50 raised at a coffee morning by some friends and supporters in Cirencester, every child now has their own mosquito net over their bed.

This is extremely important for the children as Malaria and Dengue warnings have been issued in the region. These are serious illnesses transmitted by mosquitoes. When the children are asleep, they are very vulnerable to being bitten.

On Weds 27th Aug, the Olivers visited Hoay Maw and were able to see the newly installed colourful mosquito nets.

Thank you St Margaret's year 3 and our friends in Cirencester for this gift to the children at Hoay Maw.

On Mon 3rd June, Adrian, Jenny and Niti visited Hoay Maw returning on Tues 4th. This was to be our last visit before returning to England. We wanted to check the status of the home and also gather information, photos and video. We wanted to portray a day in the life of a child at Hoay Maw. By staying overnight on the site of the home, we had an opportunity to see and experience many aspects of the day.

On the way up, we shopped for hygiene and food provisions for the home.

School Uniforms:

Soon after our arrival at about 3pm, the children began to arrive home from school. We wanted to get some photos of the uniforms to be able to report back to supporters, in this case: Links Christmas Gifts and remaining money from ACC Blessings in a Bag and other individual donations. The money that we have been able to pass on to them them has provided 1 shirt and 1 skirt/shorts per child plus the annual school fees and some basic stationery items. It would be ideal for the children to be able to have a 2nd shirt, socks and some replacement shoes. Even so, it is a great step for the children to be able to attend school and it was a joy to see the young students wearing their uniforms with pride.

“A Day In the Life of a Child at Hoay Maw”:

5.30am	wake up and get dressed
6:00am	prayers and worship in church led by house-parents
6:15am	Chores – sweeping, litter picking, make beds, tidy shoes
6:40am	Breakfast of rice with some chillies and egg mixed in
7:00am	Line up and walk to school – more chores at school
8:00am	School starts
12noon	Eat packed lunch at school (rice from breakfast)
3:30pm	Home from school
4:00pm	Chinese school for 2 hours
6:00pm	Play and Meal
7:00pm	Time in church
8:00pm	Homework (or “family group” time on Fridays)
9-10pm	Bed-time

The children have a very long hard day compared to that which most children are used to. It was however a joy to capture fun moments as the children are developing relational and recreational skills in their “family groups”.

Fellowship:

We felt that Joseph and the family were pleased that we were staying over. We enjoyed an evening meal together and were pleased to see that Joseph is at last looking in better health following the bout of Dengue fever.

Wa Bible:

We discussed the Wa Bible. Joseph reported that the modification phase has been completed. Now Joseph's brother Solomon is preparing the changes in an electronic form for us to incorporate into the sources and re-format. We have emailed Dr Paul in order to check that the recording of changes is being done correctly. We are willing to visit Mae Sai to assist Solomon if required.

Children:

There are 8 new children who are refugees from Burma. They are in the process of trying to get papers for them so that they will be eligible to attend Thai school. Of course at the moment they don't yet speak Thai but Burmese and Chinese. They are attending the Chinese school.

We wanted to be able to communicate something of the backgrounds of the children. We decided to focus initially on children from Burma as there are a significant number and Burma is in the news at the moment. We took some video of some children whilst Paul explained their background. The story of the children from Burma is generally that their families had to flee from their villages when raided by soldiers. Their parents were shot and killed. The children, some only 6 years old, manage to escape through the jungle and over the Thai border. There, they hang around the streets in the border area where they are extremely vulnerable to unscrupulous people wishing to exploit children in the drugs and sex industry. The Thai soldiers know of Hoay Maw as a place of safety for these children and so bring them there.

Paul said that he was reluctant to take the children knowing of our advice to limit the number of children but that he felt that he could not send them away. I'm afraid that we have to support this decision.

Paul said that he will try very hard to keep the total number of children below the max of 80. The significant change is that the children at Hoay Maw are now all 'true orphans'. This is in contrast to many other homes. Some, called “hostels”, are like boarding schools and enable children to receive an education – a valid goal. The proliferation of this type of home in Indonesia has recently been featured by the BBC (Reality behind Aceh's 'orphans'). Whilst we feel that these “hostels” meet the important need of enabling children to receive an education, we personally feel that there are issues of undermining the family unit and community. We also feel that it is essential that supporters are clearly aware of the purpose of the home that they are contributing towards. We can now clearly state that the focus of Hoay Maw is on the care of 'true orphans'.

Chinese School:

We were pleased to hear that Dr Paul (Taiwanese) has managed to secure sponsorship for the Chinese school of 20,000 baht per month (~£300 / $600). This is covering the expenses of the school including the teachers. The school is certainly an asset to the children in the home as well as in the community. It is a positive development that there is now a clear separation between the finances of the Chinese School and the home.

Pigs:

The pig pen and pigs are in good condition. The piglets are quite small because they have only had natural food. We are now able to provide money for nutrient food to give the piglets a boost. The money is from the Links Christmas Gifts this year.

Staff:

Paul and Ratanaporn have been on a 3 week course on child-care in Taiwan. They found it beneficial. It was good to see that they are taking the management of the staff and home very seriously.

The old man, Wan, who feeds the pigs became seriously ill with a brain cancer. He went to his daughter's house. His daughter rang to say that he had no pulse. They took him to the hospital and prayed. At the hospital he revived!

Somchai is a very good worker. He is the cook for the home and is currently feeding the pigs as well.

Kitisak, the boys care leader has had to leave to care for his sick mother. Another male care worker has come from Burma. He has experience and is turning out to be a real asset. He interacts well with the children and is a good role model. He also leads worship for the children.

Finances:

Niti audited and signed the accounts. They still have 10,000 baht (£165/$330) outstanding at the market for Apr. They have spent further money this month of May (probably a similar amount). This is a relatively low amount required to provide a basic diet for the children. However, if there is no regular support then it is inevitable that debt will increase and become a serious problem. It is still our desire to try and set up a basic level of regular support but we would like to seek input as to how that might be done. Our feeling is that it is not big money. We also set an even higher priority on the relational aspect of being able to partner with people of all ages who would have an interest and heart for these children.

Obviously there are more costs involved than the food from the market, e.g. clothes, school, gas, electricity, staff and maintenance. We don't know the exact figures but have a fairly confident inclination that an amount of £15 per child per month (i.e. one take-away meal for a family in the West or equivalent to the pocket money that many youngsters receive in a month) would make it possible for the home to run at a basic level.

Rough estimate of monthly costs:

20,000 baht	staff (currently covered by an individual supporter and Open Hands)
10,000 baht	food market
10,000 baht	hygiene and other misc
5,000 baht	gas / electricity
5,000 baht	pig food and project
5,000 baht	home maintenance
5,000 baht	medical expenses
10,000 baht	school uniforms, fees and materials
70,000 baht	Total per month

£15 per month, per child, for 77 children = 71,610 baht / £1155 / $2310

Update:

We are grateful to be able to report at this point that Open Hands have indicated that they will be able to provide increased support over the coming months. This should make it possible for Hoay Maw to subsist without going into debt at the market.

Other needs:

It has been decided that rather than repair the mosquito screens, that it would be cost effective and straight forward to buy mosquito nets for each of the children to have over their beds. There have been Malaria and Dengue warnings in the area and obviously Joseph himself has contracted Dengue. The total cost of the nets would be 10,000 baht (£170 / $340). We have decided to forward the money for this from our project account in order to avoid further delay.

We have used remaining money donated from a coffee morning in Cirencester towards reusable plastic boxes so that the children can take a box of rice to school for lunch. The cook prepares enough rice at breakfast time for the children to take for lunch as well.

Care Policy:

We have been pleased to be in touch with Sarah Armitage, the children's projects co-ordinator for Partners World. She has kindly agreed to allow us to use their care guideline document as a basis for our own.

It is our intention to also liaise with the Haven Foundation based at our church here in order to develop a policy for Hoay Maw and potentially for wider use. It would also be used for the new children's home in Laos.

Home Visit:

We will be in the UK from 20th June - 8th Aug. We will be doing a mission focus on Hoay Maw at Powerpack, Kingdom Faith.

On Friday 19th April the Olivers and Niti visited Hoay Maw. After buying fresh meat, fruit and vegetables from the market, we headed on to Hoay Maw.

'Fresh Meat?'

'Red Hot Chilli Peppers!'

We also took some hygiene supplies and quite a lot of used clothes. One of the main aims of this visit was to reinforce to Paul that he must advise the “families“ that their children could not stay unless they covered the expenses for their children. We felt that this was a very bold step that would require support to carry out.

'Loading up'

'Unloading'

When we arrived we delivered the supplies and then enjoyed lunch with Joseph and Paul. Joseph is still suffering from after effects of dengue fever and has lost a lot of weight and is still quite tired. After lunch we spent some time talking with Paul and Rattanaporn.

Children:

We were very pleased and impressed to find that Paul had already informed the families at the end of term that their children could not return unless they paid. The expectation is that those children will not return after the break. There are now 55 children in the main orphanage home. There are a further 7 children who live in Joseph's house. These 7 children have limited communication only speaking Wa and not speaking either Chinese or Thai.

When we first started helping at Hoay Maw there were 184 children. At that time we wanted to explore the feasibility of sending children back to their villages where possible. It was satisfying to see this being fulfilled, although also very sobering that most of these children will now receive little or no education due to the pitiful or non-existent provision of education in remote villages. The family backgrounds of these children also embrace a range of challenges including severe poverty, abusive step-parents, parents with HIV or AIDS, in prison, or with addictions to drugs or alchohol. - However - As much as we would love to see care and education provided for all of these children, Hoay Maw do not have anywhere near the adequate resources for this provision at this time.

The remaining children have nowhere to go and no one to care for them and the care of these children will now become the main focus of this home. It is positive that all of these children either have Thai ID or have the documentation required to become eligible for this at age 15. This means that all of these children are entitled to attend the local Thai school.

The Home:

The children were given a meal while we were there. Although the food was simple and economical, it was nicely cooked and nutritious (with vegetables and morsels of meat). The whole home was very tidy and well kept (on a previous visit, Malee from Ban San Faan commented that she was impressed by this). We later saw the children airing their mattresses and sweeping the rooms.

The mosquito screens need repair and Paul is going to arrange for the materials to be ordered. Paul and the staff will carry out the repairs themselves - N.B. No need for expensive tradesman!

'Lunch Line-up'

'Airing the beds'

School:

The new school year commences in the coming weeks. In order to attend school, each of the 62 children will require some new school uniform (~£5/$10 per child) and will also be required to pay an annual school fee of ~£5/$10 (elementary) - £10/$20 (high school) per child. We are grateful for contributions via Links International Christmas Gifts for "school uniforms" that will help towards this. We are also hoping to be able to use remaining money from the Christmas "Blessings in a Bag" project which was sponsored by Arun Community Church, Open Hands, Living Word Church as well as other individuals. Thank you all for your care and for partnering with us for the benefit of the children at Hoay Maw.

'Sweet Potatoes'

Vegetables:

It was disappointing that the mushrooms and the morning glory were not thriving well at this time because of the current very hot season. It was however encouraging that the vegetables behind the girls' dorm (it used to be the boys') are doing very well as waste water (not sewage!) flows down onto them. A new planting of sweet potatoes adjacent to the pig pen is also doing well.

Pig project:

The pig pen was in a very good condition. The plumbing had been repaired. The 3 piglets of the large mother are significantly larger than the other piglets even though they are a month younger and started off tiny. This confirms the decision to keep the large mother. The 12 piglets are all progressing well. We plan to get nutrient food in order to accelerate the growth of the piglets. Paul is arranging to have an iron frame made to prevent the large mother from squashing the newborn piglets. We plan to use money from the Links International Christmas Gifts for "piglets" towards this. Thank you again for all who contributed to this.

'Younger but Bigger'

'Grub's Up!'

Vision:

Paul and Ratanaporn agreed that at this point they have a simple and well defined vision:

• To provide a home and care to bring up the children who are “true orphans”.
• To develop the quality of care to address the physical, social, educational and spiritual needs of the children.
• To limit the number of children in order to control finances and to not compromise the quality of care.
• To manage and develop the staff team.
• To endeavour where possible to develop projects that can contribute towards the running of the home in a move towards increased self-sufficiency and decreased dependency.

Finances:

Niti audited and signed the accounts. Having cleared the debts at the market from Jan-Mar, they have now spent about a further 10,000 baht (£165/330) this month (Apr). We have been concerned to avoid debt however, the home has no regular support for food and therefore it is inevitable that debt will be a progressive problem unless they receive some supplementary income.

Our principal has always been to encourage them towards increased self-sufficiency. In the past we have been reluctant to consider encouraging outside support because of inadequate management and accountability and also to first build relationship and define a common vision as a pre-requisite for further support.

We actually believe that significant strides have been made including:

• Clear recording and accountability of finances.
• Willingness to take radical steps to control financial output and an understating that expenditure can not be initiated without prior agreement.
• A mind set that is not looking for hand-outs but where there is willingness to take responsibility for their own lives.
• A simple, well-defined vision.
• Management that is teachable and willing to work as a team and also competent to oversee staff, projects and child care at the home.
• A staff team that have the ability to provide care for the children and development of projects.

Future:

We have come to a point where we would like to be able to explore a way of establishing a level of regular support for the home in order to provide a stable basic income. We would value your prayers that we would have wisdom regarding the best way to achieve this.

'Sawatdii Khrap!'

'Jim meets Paul & Rattanaporn'

Jim Reynolds:

Jim Reynolds is a teacher at GIS who has expressed an interest in Hoay Maw. We were very pleased to be able to give Jim Reynolds an opportunity to asses the situation at Hoay Maw. We believe that he was positively impressed by Paul and Rattanaporn as well as by the progress that has been made in the management of the home.

Last weekend, we invited Paul and Rattanaporn to visit us in Chiang Mai. We particularly wanted them to see Ban San Faan, the children's home that we visit each week.

We had a medley of amusing telephone calls as I (Jenny) tried to make the arrangements over the phone. We kept thinking of different possible problems of mis-communication. Had we made it clear that they were to make their own way to Chiang Mai, or were they expecting us to collect them? To start with there was no signal up at Hoay Maw. Then I could only speak to Paul's mother who has a more rural accent which was hard for me to follow. Eventually I was able to speak to Rattanaporn and to confirm that they would drive down. I told her that we would put money in the account for petrol and food for the trip. She said that they would leave at 8.30am and arrive at noon. We arranged to meet at the Highway Hotel where I knew Paul had been before for a Wa Bible meeting.

Then I started to worry had they booked a hotel? I rang back and spoke to Rattanaporn again telling her not to book a hotel but that they could stay at Ban San Faan. We arranged that they would ring when they were near the Highway Hotel.

On the Friday, Paul rang and said they were on the way and would arrive at 4pm. We managed to meet at the Hotel and made our way to Ban San Faan.

Ban San Faan has a beautiful, purpose built home and so we were careful to prepare Paul and Rattanaporn not to just look at the facilities, but to look at the love and care.

Ban San Faan Dedication

Ban San Faan means house of fulfilled dreams. It was named because when the children arrived, they were asked what was their dream. They replied that their dream was to be part of a family, and that dream has come true because we would not call Ban San Faan an 'orphanage' but a 'family'.

When we arrived, Paul and Rattanaporn met the children and staff and were shown around the home. We shared a lovely meal of Khao Soy cooked by Pee Dto. After eating we chatted awhile before Adrian arrived with Jessica and her friend Sarah.

We asked house-father to lead worship that evening so that it would be in Thai. He did a great job accompanied one of the older girls on the guitar. He is teaching several of the children to play. Then Paul shared a little about the home at Hoay Maw. The children's jaws dropped when they heard that the children get up at 5.30am to do exercises. After Paul had shared, we all gathered around Paul and Rattanaporn to pray for them and for the children at Hoay Maw. House-father and one of the children prayed. We felt that Paul and Rattanaporn were blessed and encouraged.

Paul and Rattanaporn share

Prayer for Hoay Maw

Afterwards we played games with the children and chatted with the staff. It was good for Paul and Rattanaporn to see the staff playing together with the children as this is unusual in their culture but beneficial to develop family type relationships and quality time together.

We left them at Ban San Faan for the night and arranged to meet the next morning on the way to a fish farm project in Mae Taeng. Malee came with them. We met at a garage and then drove on to the farm. It was very interesting to see the fish at various stages of development from egg through to full-grown. Paul and Rattanaporn were interested in setting up a fish farm at Hoay Maw and were told that they could be helped to do that.

Interested	Eggs
Tiddlers	Jenny & Rattanaporn
Nets	Aeration

During lunch we discussed the situation at Hoay Maw. We had been able to allocate some money through Open Hands, the Hyttedalens and our own project fund, to cover the market bill for Jan-Mar.

We stressed though that this would not be regular support. Paul agreed that he would speak to the "families" about contributing towards food and schooling costs.

We were able to allocate money from the Links Christmas gifts towards the pig project. Paul is going to order a cage for the big mother to protect the piglets from being squashed. This will cost 4,000 baht (£60). We have also allocated 500 baht (£7.50) for repairing the existing water nipple feeds and for extending the water supply to the remaining 2 pens. A further 500 baht (£7.50) will be used to buy nutrient food for when the mother pigs are pregnant (the small mother is already pregnant again).

We talked about the mosquito protection at Hoay Maw and the concern for the children as there are Dengue mosquitoes in the area. Pastor Joseph himself has recently had Dengue fever and is still recovering. We said that the children had damaged the screens that had been provided by the TAG children at Arun Community Church. Paul said that the children had not been taught to take care of things but that now he was going to teach them. We asked if the staff could do the repairs themselves and he said yes. We felt that was promising and so we told him to get a quote and let us know the cost of the netting but not to buy anything without agreement.

Damaged mosquito Screens

Resourceful

Paul told us about how they are very resourceful in trying to use money for food wisely. In season, the children go into the surrounding jungle and collect bamboo shoots. These are preserved using the water from washing the rice and can be kept for up to a year. They also collect bananas from the jungle and sometimes cook them.

After lunch we went on to another children's home where they have a sewing project. This home was quite similar to Hoay Maw although they are supported. We saw the sewing room but they were not sewing on that day. Malee knows another lady who does sewing training at a home in Mae Ka Chan which is nearer to Hoay Maw. Malee is going to arrange for us to make contact with the lady, Pastor Lawan, when we next visit Hoay Maw. We hope that we will be able to arrange training for the teenagers at Hoay Maw to learn to make clothes. This will be a good vocational skill and will also enable them to make their own clothes including school uniforms.

Sewing machines

House of Blessing

It was great to have Malee to help us talk to Paul and Rattanaporn and to help us build contacts to explore new projects. Paul and Rattanaporn needed to get back to Hoay Maw that evening and so they headed home from there.

We felt that it was an encouraging and beneficial time for them.

We have now spoken further with the manager of the Mae Taeng fish farm who lives very near us and whose wife teaches at Grace. We will arrange to meet up and also meet with another contact based further North who could help. The other person is Dave Summers who is already known to us through Links and who we were already planning to meet - so we look forward to that opportunity.