Take Care Kids

...dear friends...so many things happened after Christmas...let’s start from the positive ones, the ones which give you strength to fight each day with total determination....this year, just like last year, we managed to deliver 10 tons of rice to three different centers. A very good Thai friend of ours helped us this time…her name is Khun Oy…she really worked hard to get a great price from a local wholesaler…..the rice reached its destinations on Tuesday the 5th of January. Three tons went to Mercy Center and they will be feeding over 200 people (85 of them are children) in the Pattaya slums….2 tons went to the Pattaya Orphanage to feed over 180 children for quite a few months….and last but not least, 5 tons went to the Camillian Center in Rayong, this center houses 85 children affected by Aids, who will be eating your rice all year, and I repeat your rice….you might not realize this, but you have donated life….rejoice with us for this….

In the meantime, one of our volunteers and associate from Verona has come to help us, her name is Giorgia Zanoncello. She started working right away, and let me tell you, she’s handling the situation really well....even though this is her first experience here. Last week, we went with her and other TCK friends who live here, Piero, Maria and Ines to the swimming pool, and took 80 kids from the orphanage for a day of fun and games. It was truly a blast, but also very tiring.....I realize that I’m getting old hahaha...though my heart is still the heart of a child....

Sadly though the things we saw and experienced were not only good….for example, while I was visiting some public hospitals in the area, I came across a very desperate case, as the doctors told me.....in the Chonburi provincial hospital a baby by the name of Tan, was born with a very serious problem. His mother, who is just 15 years old, gave birth and the problem was evident from the start...the baby’s head was bigger than normal. These “problems” can be seen during the pregnancy, but as in many other cases, preliminary exams are too expensive for some people and the mother who gave birth to Tan lives in dire economic conditions. She lives with her grandmother and the father of her son (16 years old) in a very poor house. They called us to see if we could buy powdered milk which the hospital could not provide. So of course we bought it right away. Unfortunately, this child, as I said earlier, will not have a very long life….the doctors say he has a life expectancy of maximum two years. Of course, we will be there for this child, helping in any way we can…..

In the meantime, Giorgia delivered another load of kids’ clothes in the slums, and next Monday we will take the deaf children living in the Pattaya Orphanage out for lunch. You will read about this outing in our next part of the diary…..