September - October 2007

 

Sawadee and many greetings to all supporters and friends of Yaowawit School!

 

This is Yaowawit Newsletter for the months September and October 2007. For this past rainy season here in Kapong town, we've been having some refreshing rain alternating with beautiful sunny days. We are grateful for both our environment and the opportunity to enjoy and share it with you, our friends.

So, we thought it would be nice to start introducing you to our Kapong, "Town in the mist", little by little starting from this issue.

 

Kapong Facts

 

 

Kapong is one of the 8 districts of Phang Nga province in southern Thailand. It is a safe and quiet town with the population of 13,275 residents living in 5 subdistricts. With the temperature between 20-32 degree celcius throughout the year, people grow rubber, oil palm, mangosteen, rambutan, durian, and some other local fruits. (the right picture above is Yaowawit School from a neighboring mountain)

 

Tourist Attractions: Hot Spring

 

The hotspring is located approximately 8 Kilometres from Kapong town. It has a combination of fresh water from the wild creek and the hot mineral water from the mineral spot, which has the average temperature at 65 degree celcius.

Local people believe that it incredibly helps heal the body of pain and some skin problem such as mosquito bites. But one thing for sure is, it makes you sweat and you absolutely feel very fresh afterward as if you've been jogging for a while!

 

This is not it for Kapong's tourist attraction. Please follow our next issues for more!

 

Activities:

 

The Donohue Family:

Our long time friends and supporters, Roger and Chris Donohue, kindly opened their house in Patong, Phuket, and welcomed 15 of us to stay overnight on the 8th of September. The children had such a great time! Thank you so much, and also to Kit, Wayu, Mimi, and Picachay for your sweet hospitality.

 

 

Dr.Sunya and the Kids in Krabi:

Dr.Sunya (or we call him Dr.Ton - our psychiatrist from the Tsunami Children Foundation), who's been working closely with our 15 highschool children, took all of them to Krabi province on the 27th of September. This is a good way to create a closer relationship and more open communication among each other. Thank you very much, Dr.Ton and Daa, as well as the great volunteers - Andrea, Kate and Graham .

 

 

School Break:

After the children finished all their exams, we had a fun party on our last night before the school break.

 

That night, our volunteers, Richard and Jenny Cross, introduced the children to this game called "Pinata", which the children loved so much. A great night had by all.

 

The next day we had our parent meeting to share ideas and opinions about the children and inform them about the future plans for the school.

 

 

Visits and Support:

 

The Personnel Management Club of Phuket:

On the 15th of September, it was our first time in this year receiving as many as 100 guests at once to our school. The Personnel Management Club of Phuket came to visit the children and provided many games for the children to participate and have fun. They also made donations and brought so much needed supplies for the school. Kob Koon Ka! Thank you so much.

 

 

Amanpuri Hotel:

We got a chance to welcome generous staff of Amanpuri Hotel, Phuket on the 30th of September when they brought us donations and a nice surprise to the children - the magic and the fancy balloons show! We had such a great time.

 

 

Praew and Her Upcoming Eye Surgery:

The Bangkok Hospital Phuket kindly gave us the donation on the 3rd of October. They also provided a complete eye checkup for Praew - our 5 year old little girl- who has a problem with her lazy eye, which prevents her from seeing clearly.

Praew was then scheduled to have her surgery in November, and we are very fortunate that the Bangkok Hospital Phuket will help find sponsors to support all her surgery expenses. We are very excited for Praew and are eternally grateful for the ongoing support and love demonstrated by everyone at Bangkok Hospital Phuket. We know she will receive the best care available.

 

Student Achievement:

 

Naa from grade 2 won 2nd prize in the recent athletics event held for juniors in Phang Nga. She is originally from Payam Island in Ranong province, where she loves to run around bare foot.

Congratulations to Naa and all our other students who represented Yaowawit School. We are all very proud of their achievements.

 

 

Feature on Health:

 

Sports:

The children love sports very much and they do different kinds such as soccer, volleyball, swimming, running, and even yoga, which our volunteer yoga master, Kaz, taught to the children. We are regularly going out and participating in most of the local sports competitions.

 

 

 

Hygiene:

We have been trying hard to take care of chldren's health and hygiene. However, the problem is not very easy to deal with when there are many children living together. As a result, everyday brings something new. We have now implemented a programme of de-licing not only the children but their bedding and toys as well.

Here our high school students are helping out with the programme. An important factor of our policy is for all students to help and support each other.

 

 

Nutrition:

The Bangkok Hospital Phuket has provided nutritional consultation to Yaowawit School. Therefore, with our limited budget, we are endeavouring to provide the children with a balanced heathly diet, including many fruits and vegetables which we grow at the school. It's important to provide the best care available, and this would not be possible without the generous assistance and information offered by Bangkok Hospital Phuket.

 

Hotel

 

We were very fortunate to receive a visit from Florent, the Chief Operating Officer of the Swiss Education Group for the second time in four months. As we previously mentioned, they are supporting Yaowawit School both financially and with much information which will allow us to open and provide a unique experience for our future guests.

Pictured below is Florent with Khun Man, our school director, together with our headmaster, Khun Wit. They are exploring Khao Sok National Park, located just 40 minutes north of Yaowawit School. Khao Sok is one of the oldest national parks in Thailand and will be one of the many destinations our guests can enjoy during their stay.

 

During his visit, Florent was able to visit the local attractions Kapong has to offer. His ideas and support is proving invaluable to the school, as well as the staff. We look forward to his next visit which will hopefully coincide with the opening of the hotel in January.

 

We have also appointed one of our long term thai volunteers, Jain (pictured above with Florent) in the position of Guest Relations Manager. He brings with him many skills including a strong understanding of our culture and beliefs. This will be an integral part of the "Yaowawit Guest" experience.

 

Here’s How You Could Help Us:

 

1. Make a donation

 

You can make a donation through our bank accounts:

* Account in Thailand: Siam Commercial Bank

Branch: Yanyao

Acc.Name: Yaowawit School

Acc.No.: 533-2-34492-6

Swift code: SICOTHBK

 

* Account in Germany: Commerzbank AG Essen

Acc.Name: Stifterverband/Children's World Academy

Acc.No.: 122232203

IBAN: DE43360400390122232203

BIC/SWIFT: COBADEFFXXX

Reason for payment: Yaowawit School

 

* Account in Australia: ANZ BYRON BAY (BSB 012554)

Acc.Name: Yaowawit School

Acc.No.: 489438891

 

All donations go directly to the operation costs of the school and all its activities.

 

2. Give a scholarship to a child

 

We do have a scholarship program for those of you who are interested in having a long-term support for a child:

• € 30, - per month to secure covering the costs for food, clothes, medical

care and qualified personnel to take care of them

• € 50, - per month to secure a first-class education by covering the costs

for teachers, school materials and teaching devices

• € 80, - per month, with a very generous donation of € 80 per month, you

would cover the costs for everything we need to educate and raise your

child

 

3. Donate materials

 

We also do appreciate any materials such as stationery, books, clothes,shoes, personal hygiene products, or anything that is necessary for the childrens' living and education.

 

4. Visit and stay in our guest rooms

 

We offer cozy and comfortable rooms for you should you wish to stay and enjoy the beautiful mountain scenery as well as many tourist attractions close by. We also encourage you to observe our activities and participate in certain activities such as cooking classes.

The room fee will be in the form of a minimum donation. Of course, we will be delighted if you generously choose to pay more than this amount. Again, these donations will be used directly for the school operation expenses.

 

*Guest rooms will be ready for use by the beginning of next year*

 

What’s In Our Next Issue?:

 

• Special Events:

- King Bhumibol's 80th birthday/ Father's Day

- Christmas and New Year's Eve Celebration

- Teacher of the Month

- Through the eyes of our children

• Yaowawit Lodge:

- Update on progress and proposed grand opening!!!!!

- Range of accomodation available with prices and activities.

- Best time to visit Yawoawit School and Lodge

 

 

Thank you very much and see you next year!

 

Sawadee!

From the Yaowawit Crew