The new school year has begun and all is pretty much going well so far. First of all I would like to inform you that Mix, the young lady that I have written about before will not be going to University this year. I heard from her about 1 month before she would need to take the entry exam and she was going to Bangkok to work in a bakery. When I asked her about school she said she was not sure if she wanted to go now. I tried to contact her by email, phone and Facebook but there was no answer from her. I finally heard through one of her friends that she was staying in Bangkok and would maybe want to goto University next year but I still have not heard from her. As they say here….”up to you”. I wish her all the best and if there is a way to help her sometime then maybe we can.
We paid the 3 boys (Tamasak, Surasit and Tanakorn) tuition for their first semester of school and it all seems to be going well for them. They each have 1 more class then last year so I hope it is not too much for them. I am very excited to see how they do, I know they can do it.
As for me and the kids at the Wat Don Chan, all is just fine. I am teaching 4 English classes per week. 2 of which are first year students and I am loving those classes so much. There are 3 boys in one of my classes that do not even speak Thai. They come from a very remote Karen village and only speak Karen, this could be tough but I will do my best with them. Some of the kids come from refuge camps and they must have had foreign volunteers because they can speak, read and write some English. At the moment we have no plans for cooking classes here, this semester but at the Wat Doi Saket we have monthly classes in the works with my friend Dave’s charity, Atma Seva. I will keep you posted.
Well I am now 40 years old and this year for my birthday people donated to Stu and the Kids, it was such a surprise and so awesome. The total was $350 USD and that can do a lot for these kids in University, I am so grateful. This money will be used toward the new kids that will go to university this next coming school year. We have a way to go but this is an amazing start. We also got a lot of things donated from Anne Smith from Australia. She sent a full piece of luggage here whit her friend and it was full of cameras, thumb drives, teddy bears, under ware, pens, pencils, books, an air pump for footballs or well soccer balls and volleyballs. She could not fit them so Anne generously sent the money for me to buy them.
If you are coming here to Chiang Mai or know someone coming here and there is some extra space in their suitcase to bring donated items it would be greatly appreciated. At the Wat Don Chan there are 650 kids half boys and half girls from the ages of 3-24, all things are welcome. So if you have friends with kids with clothes they have out grown or old toys, old lap-top computers, teddy bears, cameras, etc. send them our way. Also it would be great to take you there to meet these beautiful children. Thank you all so much for all of the love and support…….-Stu
