Doing it for the kids

Well, today was a relaxed day. In the morning, we tried our hand at bracelet weaving in the school's weaving room (weaving clothes is a skill that could earn some of the kids money later in life)...it's more tiring than it looks and takes forever! Well, for us novices, anyway. In the afternoon we settled down with the kids in the assembly hall to watch 'Slumdog Millionaire'. It was in English, without subtitles, but the kids sat riveted nonetheless. Although the triplets were more interested in examining each others' hair for lice (as Claire, our project leader, forgot to mention, most of the kids have lice, a fact which the Canadians appeared to be disgusted by and the Brits couldn't care less about!)

This is probably a great opportunity to talk more about the kids themselves. Although they appear perfectly happy on the outside, always smiling and playing and desperate for attention, their early childhoods have been anything but happy. As Claire told us the stories of how the children ended up at Moo Baan Dek, we realised how much they have had (and still have) to overcome.

Lunchtime

Toto

Children at Moo Baan Dek range in age from 3 years old to 6th grade level, although many of the older kids stay on to help out, grateful for the opportunity MBD has given them. 18 year old Toto is one example. When we visited, he'd just been offered a place at university but was staying around to help out at the project over the summer. He tried to scare us volunteers with stories of ghosts haunting our house, so there was no love lost between us and him!

Cheeky triplet

This is one of the seriously mischevious triplets, Mei, Tam and Muay (no, I never could tell them apart, especially since they shared clothes). They lost their home when their mother remarried: their step father didn't want to care for some other man's kids, so the triplets were sent to Moo Baan Dek. Apparently it is common in Thailand for single mothers to have to choose between their children and a new husband, and it is often the husbands who win that battle.

Jop

Jop became attached to Steve while we were visiting, and Steve treated him like a little brother. Jop has cataracts in both eyes and there's a good chance that he will some day (sooner, rather than later) go completely blind. While we were there, he was having treatment, but who knows if it will be successful.

Sleepy Mei

This is Mei: she may look like a little angel but her friendship with the Trouble Triplets means she's become just as mischevious as they are. She was given away by her mother, who did not want her. It's incomprehensible to many of us but for the poorest families, an extra mouth to feed is just not welcome.

Other heartbreaking stories of the children at Moo Baan Dek include:
- one of the older boys came to the school after his father was murdered in front of him by his mother. When he first arrived, he refused to speak, but has gradually recovered from his childhood ordeal and made many friends. He joined in to play football against us volunteers.
-a little boy, infamous at Moo Baan Dek for having tortured one of the kittens that live at the school, certainly has reason to be volatile. He was abandoned in the jungle as a baby, forced to fend for himself until he was found by a monk. However, the monk could not cope with his behaviour and sent him away to Moo Baan Dek. We hope that one day he will be able to put his past behind him and become the boy he should have been.
-another musically gifted boy had the odds stacked against him from the very start: his mother attempted a DIY abortion which resulted in him being born disfigured and missing a leg. Nonetheless, he is one of the most positive and friendly people at Moo Baan Dek and entertains everyone with his musical performances.

Although these stories are heartbreaking, seeing the children now is truly inspiring: despite the odds, they're making the most of everything they have been given at Moo Baan Dek, and live every day to the full. We were warned that the children would be distrustful of adults as a result of their ordeals, but we found them welcoming, loving and positive. They will never stop inspiring me.

More pics of the kids: