Bamboo Lakeside with Dutch help from the ground

Hans Goudriaan and Cat.

Do you remember when we asked you for a small contribution to complete Bamboo Lake Side? Only a few walls of this structure, a stone's throw from the Burmese border, were still standing, covered with corrugated iron. I can assure you first hand that your money, that of many supporters and the Lions Club IJsselmonde, has been extremely well spent. The building was opened on Sunday in Ban – Ti Say Yok, about 70 kilometers from Kanchanaburi. Although some Thai authorities had agreed to attend the meeting, they did not show up.

The Bamboo School is the place where refugee (Karen) children from Burma are taken care of and supervised until they are 18 years old. The background of these children is usually traumatic. Parents are often missing, raped or murdered. Many children have simply been left behind in the Burmese jungle. The stories of the children can hardly be reproduced in their cruelty and desolation.

Over the years, Catherine (Cat) has delivered dozens of well-educated children, with Dr. Mowae, who works at the Dutch general practitioner Be Well in Hua Hin, as their great example. At the time, he was received and supervised here as a child refugee. Mowae can often be found in the Bamboo School, his home.

Many years ago, a New Zealand nurse/helicopter pilot Catherine (now 73) took their fate to heart, herself abandoned by her New Zealand husband. Since then, with the help of the necessary (foreign) authorities, friends and relations, she has built a home for the children that can withstand the test of criticism. Lionsclub IJsselmonde (near Rotterdam), led by Hans Goudriaan, has put most of the construction and furnishing on the table, helped by the Dutch Association Hua Hin/Cha am and readers of Thailandblog. https://bambooschoolthailand.com/

De Child Care Foundation-BWCCF led by the Rotterdam retired general practitioner Gerard Smit is responsible for any complicated medical procedures. For example, a toddler born with one eye will soon be provided with a glass one.

The land under Bamboo Lake Side was donated by a Canadian woman, whose husband died in the great tsunami in Phuket at the time. It was a hilly piece of jungle and took years to reach its current state. At that time there was a lot of malaria in this area. The mosquitoes found a nice breeding ground in (almost) empty PET bottles. These were collected, glued together and used as 'building blocks' for the collective building for the approximately 80 children that the Bamboo School usually has. The result is beautiful and is most reminiscent of the books in a library. The bottles are filled with plastic bags, crammed into them with great patience by the children. They also helped with the construction in other ways, in order to save costs as much as possible. The building is even equipped with a toilet group and some solar panels to provide some light in the darkness in case of emergency. A vegetable garden provides the necessary vitamins. The program now includes an extensive chicken coop and a small fish farm. All this to be able to meet your own needs as much as possible.

The Thai government would like to see Burmese refugees, including children, leave as soon as possible. A new rule makes it impossible to get children into a local school after June 1 without a Thai birth certificate. But Cat (as usual) always manages to find a loophole in the legislation. She is pleased that some of the children are taking nursing courses and five boys want to become engineers. Former students are now working on setting up two new schools.

After the opening, all children (at 40 degrees Celsius) received an ice cream…

The kitchenette in the new Bamboo School building.

Child refugees are also strong together.

With Burma in the background a stone's throw away.

The walls are made of plastic-filled PET bottles.

The solar collectors are connected to a few batteries.

The inside of the building in Ban-Ti.