It was a party with the Burmese children in Pakayor

The hearts of the more than sixty children of Karen (Burmese) refugees in Pakayor beat with anticipation.

Nearly forty Dutch people, members of the Dutch Association of Hua Hin and Cha Am and some Thai members of the local Lions Club had announced that they would festively inaugurate the new kitchen building for the children. And it became a party, both for the children and for the visitors, who had come to Pakayor with nine four-wheel drive vehicles.

The renovated kitchen and dining building marked the end of the second phase of assistance to these children, a stone's throw from the border with Burma. The first phase consisted of renovating the school building for children up to about seven years old. You can read the accountability on this blog. The most important contributions came from the Lions Club in IJsselmonde and the readers of this blog.

During one of the last visits to this refugee village, which can only be reached after crossing a river three times, it turned out that the kitchen and dining building for the children was in a deplorable state. Initiator Hans Goudriaan still had some cash in hand and in the meantime the Freemasons lodge La Complaisance from Heerlen had also transferred an amount of 750 euros. We bought the building materials, a stainless steel countertop, a cooking unit and tarpaulin for the floor. The Burmese men and women chopped bamboo for the walls and tables.

I must say: the building now looks slick, and now even has a door! The 38 visiting guests also did not come empty-handed. Bales of rice, canned fish, clothes and whatnot, were handed over to Aom, the Thai kindergarten teacher on site. As a thank you, the many children in traditional costumes sang and danced for us.

The renovation of the kitchen has cost a total of 40.000 THB. In addition, we provided the children with 300 kilos of rice and 300 cans of fish worth 12.000 THB. Johan Wiekel and his wife Sue had brought fried rice and chicken for 240 people; costs 12.000 THB. It is tasty eaten on the spot by the Burmese children, their parents and the guests. We then distributed 80 lunch boxes with contents to the children, worth 2400 THB. 7000 THB was spent on miscellaneous. We estimate the donations in kind by the members of the Dutch Association Hua Hin and Cha Am at THB 26.600. In total, the second phase of the assistance cost 100.000 THb, which is about 2500 euros. Little money for so many happy faces…

The next phase for Pakayor involves setting up a medical care unit. It is scheduled for February next year. The children of the village usually do not have papers and therefore cannot receive regular medical care in Hua Hin. We will try to give Kindergarten teacher Aom a First Aid course and provide the village with the necessary medicines in case of acute problems. We hope that the readers of Thailandblog will provide us with their generous contributions. As has been reported here before: nothing sticks to the bow. Each donor receives an overview of the money spent.

In the Netherlands you can transfer donations to the bank account of the Lions club IJsselmonde, ING 66.91.23.714 stating Karen Hua Hin. Hans Goudriaan is a member of the audit committee and therefore has a good overview of income and expenditure.
In Thailand your contribution to: Siam Commercial Bank Hua Hin account 402-318813-2 in the name of mr Johannes Goudriaan (local ภาษาไทย bath account).

Donors are requested to mail their transfer to Hans Goudriaan ([email protected]) and to which account, after which (immediately after money has been credited) he will confirm your deposit. Unfortunately, it is not possible to register under the name of Lions Thailand to open an account.

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