Take Care Kids

Here I am as promised, to tell you about our Christmas….the one we celebrated with the slum children. When I first thought about this Christmas, I wanted to bring together the inhabitants of the three major slums we work in, but since they were too many and it was impossible to bring them all in one place, we decided to break Christmas in half. It was a great party as usual…..lots of joy from and for the kids and their mothers. As soon as I got off the car, the kids looked at me suspiciously…my beard scared some of them off but many were also curious. They weren’t sure whether it was the real Santa under that beard or Khun Gio. The bigger ones came closer, while the smaller ones were keeping an eye on me from a safe distance, possibly from their mother’s arms. Their faces were showing mixed emotions: some were worried, some were scared, some were smiling. Then when all of Santa’s helpers (Oi, Gift, Maria, Lehn, Mario and Carmen – who I thank from the bottom of my heart, sorry if I forgot someone) started distributing presents all their faces changed to huge smiles. Then we handed out small thoughts we prepared for everyone and there were, candies, chocolates and all kinds of sweets. Some of the children, smart and quick as they are, tried to get in line twice in order to receive doubles, but it didn’t work….It was a great party…a moment of gathering……to get to know each other better…all in all, it turned out very well and we applauded all those who read this diary and who have helped us all the way. A tribute to all those who made this Christmas possible and unforgettable to many people.

Before Christmas, I went with Khun Oi in a town near Pattaya to make a deal for the rice we will buy, as we had planned. We managed to book 10 tons of rice (10,000 Kg) at a really good price. The rice will be shared by the orphanage, the Rayong Center for Kids with Aids, and the kids living in the slums. It will be handed out on January the 6th and of course we will be there to report this in our next part of the journal. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from me, but most of all from many, many children who will sleep hugging their presents tonight, thanks to all of you……goodbye!