Travel journal 2010/11

Travel journal 2010/11 - 1. part

Let's go back to where we left off. In April I went to Koh Chang to relax for a few days and I had met some Cambodian children studying in a small school in the forest. These children, with their families (those who had them) live on the brink of survival. They stay in huts with no assistance whatsoever except for the support from one Thai man, who built a hut made of hay and wood and called it ...

Travel journal 2010/11 - 2. part

As I promised in the last part of the journal, I am going to tell you about the kids we help in Pattaya. First of all we will bring you up to date on the slum kids. We got a newborn in one of the slums, his name is Nat and even though he is slightly underweight, he's full of energy like all newborns. His mother lives in one of the huts with two older children (one boy and a girl) and her companion.In order to survive, the mother ...

Travel journal 2010/11 - 3. part

Dear friends I'm in a real hurry this time, because I have lots to tell.....the first story is an act of love and a demonstration of the fact that charity and solidarity work when all the people involved come together and coordinate perfectly. On Nov. 10th, I received a call from a friend in another foundation in order to help 145 children. These people live in Pai in the Province of Mae Hong Son and they are all ethnic minorities like Karen and ...

Travel journal 2010/11 - 4. part

When you decide to visit a public hospital in Thailand, the one where the poor people go, you will face the most incredible and heartbreaking situations.....you will see a reality that no tourist will ever see. So we decided to spend a few hours there and give the children some toys we had formerly collected in Italy. We met Tip, a 12 year old girl who tried to commit suicide (for the fourth time) because her uncle has been raping her for years and she is ashamed. We met Am, who was born with a rare brain disorder, but who ...

Travel journal 2010/11 - 5. part

I have been a volunteer for many years now as a sponsor in the Pattaya Orphanage, and each time a child leaves the orphanage to be adopted, I don't wanna be there. Let me explain this a little better. Many of you have asked me during the years, how I feel when a child finally finds parents and a real home. The first feeling is definitely happiness. Life in the orphanage has a very thight schedule.....similar to a military school....

Travel journal 2010/11 - 6. part

As they say, the song remains the same....whenever I approach the small school in Koh Chang and I hear all the kids yelling and playing....my heart expands.....it's always been this way, ever since I started volunteering at the orphanage in Pattaya. I know many people, mostly guys, have a hard time dealing with kids' yelling...but I actually enjoy it...it's almost relaxing to me....(I've always known I'm a little odd) so each time I reach the school all the kids gather around the bamboo fence to see who's ...

Travel journal 2010/11 - 7. part

...let's start from where we left off...so.....as we said, we had to fix the aluminum parts of a hut.....so I got in the car and went to buy it......I bought 10 brand new sheets.....buying the second hand stuff would have meant having problems again the next rainy season.....as I always tell all the volunteers who come here to help, you cannot stop at appearances, you need to listen to those who are more experienced, but then you have to try things out by yourself......living in a ...

Travel journal 2010/11 - Special Sommer

I never wrote the travel journal during the Summer (which I generally spend in Italy). But this year I was specifically asked to do so, and here I am. You all know that I spend Summers in Italy to raise the necessary funds for our project, but not only for that. I never believed my experiences in Asia had to have an economic return, even though we need the money to carry out our projects, that is not the main objective I work for when I am here in our beloved but shaky Italy. Meeting many people, explaining what we ...