Circus skills and fun!!!

This week Childlife and the children at San Khong school were treated to a skills workshop and performance by Laughing for Life circus.

During the day the they visited the the school and did some face painting for the kids, balloon animals, and mask making, and playful workshops in various circus skills. They returned to the shelter in the evening to do an amazing performance with some break-dance, fire dance (with poi, candles, fans , staff and hula hoop) , acro-balance, juggling, stilt-walking and more...

The crew from Laughing for Life consisted of performers from all around the globe as well as local Thai performers that travel to bring some fun and joy to children's lives who otherwise ordinarily would not have the opportunity.

To check out more about what they do check out this website http://www.dokbua.org/
The kids all had a great time with their eyes glued to the performance and smiles from ear to ear.

We say a huge thanks to Andrea and all the performers with Laughing for Life for bringing such a fun and joyous day for the children! Sanuk Mak Mak!!!

Eyes to Japanese TV Screens

Back in July we had a TV crew visit Childlife to film part of a documentary about Childrens organisations.

Childlife will appear in a TV show about different shelters for children across the globe. Shelters from Indonesia, Mongolia and Mexico will also be featured in the show. Childlife was chosen to be a feature in this TV show due to the role of the Children's Council at Childlife. The crew spent their time learning about how the Children's Council run and manage many of the activities and operations at the shelter.

The programme will be screened on Japanese TV on the evening of the 31st January. Please let any of your friends in Japan know to keep an eye out for the programme on that night.

Leelong update!

After spending the past few months back in his village, Leelong has returned for a visit to Childlife for the next few weeks.

During our last visit to his village to monitor his progress he told us he wanted to come back to visit Baan Nana.

Leelong is happy to be back at Childlife and enjoys spending time with the children at the shelter.

Whilst he is here he will have a doctors check up to ensure his medication is working effectively.

Christmas and New Year celebrations

The kids had a fun and exciting time when they celebrated Christmas and new year at the shelter with a big party!!!

We were also joined by some of the families of the children making it a very special occasion!

The night was filled with lots of fun with dancing, music, plays, lots of food and of course presents (which the kids loved!)

When it came to opening presents the children were all very excited about receiving some gifts. Thanks to all the people who donated items for our children!

For New Years we held a small party with some visitors from Bangkok providing some food, gifts and running activities. We had big count down to welcome in 2008 with some fireworks!

Catch of the day

The last few days the big lake at Baan Nana has been emptied to catch fish and also clean the lake.

The draining took over 2 days and saw some very big fish caught!

This was also a good opportunity for the bottom of the lake to be cleaned of the various bits of stuff that is usually hidden under the water!

Christmas Day at Baan Nana

Christmas Day at Childlife was celebrated with a beautiful meal and special food.

As Christmas isn't an official holiday in Thailand most of the children spent the day at school. In the evening they were treated to a great meal of fried basil and rice with a fried egg. The kids also made some doughnuts and had some special treats like prawn crackers, wafer biscuits and oranges.

In the lead up to all the Christmas festivities which will be held on Saturday 29th, we made 2 Christmas trees and decorated them with the kids creativity!

Stay tuned for our article about Christmas celebrations later this week.

Seeing organic

On the weekend, 25 children and some staff and volunteers headed for a trip to Ban Thaton to visit our friends at the Mae Kok River Village Resort to see their organic farm project they have been running since 2002.

During the visit we learnt about the effects of chemical farming and the benefits of organic farming. We also took a tour of their extensive organic farm which has a huge varieties of fruits, vegetables and animals.

After the tour we were treated to a beautiful lunch (using vegetables from the garden we had just been through) over looking the river.

The trip allowed us to form a great contact with the teacher and coordinator of the organic farm and we look forward to working with them in the future to help our children gain more skills and improve our agriculture programme at the shelter.