I've been at the Orphanage for about three weeks now. To call it an orphanage isn't entirely accurate, but it's close.
The boys that live here are Burmese refugees. Many of their parents are still alive, but they are in Burma, or in camps, or just don't live very close to a good school. There are eight boys that live here and attend school close by. Before living here, they lived at the school up the street which also serves as an orphanage, but the conditions there are very poor.
The goal of the orphanage is to give the boys hospitality skills that they can take and use after they graduate from high school, as hospitality is the number one industry in Thailand. The giant building in the picture is eventually (hopefully by next summer) going to be a hotel, and the boys will help run the hotel. As time goes on, more kids will come live here. The boys were chosen by their teachers as boys who have excelled in school, and have also been great role models.
It's been a lot of fun to be here, and interact with all the boys. They really are incredible role models, and I've never met teenage boys that work as hard at they do! They wake up early to do their own chores before school, they attend school, and then they work on taking care of the orphanage and learning English in the evening. This is a picture of us after painting a wall up at the school one afternoon after school.
The setting here is pretty rural, and it's been a fantastic place to get some good mileage in running. These pictures were all taken from a bridge about 500 m down the road from the orphanage. It's even more beautiful in person.
The boys that live here are Burmese refugees. Many of their parents are still alive, but they are in Burma, or in camps, or just don't live very close to a good school. There are eight boys that live here and attend school close by. Before living here, they lived at the school up the street which also serves as an orphanage, but the conditions there are very poor.
The goal of the orphanage is to give the boys hospitality skills that they can take and use after they graduate from high school, as hospitality is the number one industry in Thailand. The giant building in the picture is eventually (hopefully by next summer) going to be a hotel, and the boys will help run the hotel. As time goes on, more kids will come live here. The boys were chosen by their teachers as boys who have excelled in school, and have also been great role models.
It's been a lot of fun to be here, and interact with all the boys. They really are incredible role models, and I've never met teenage boys that work as hard at they do! They wake up early to do their own chores before school, they attend school, and then they work on taking care of the orphanage and learning English in the evening. This is a picture of us after painting a wall up at the school one afternoon after school.
The setting here is pretty rural, and it's been a fantastic place to get some good mileage in running. These pictures were all taken from a bridge about 500 m down the road from the orphanage. It's even more beautiful in person.
No comments:
Post a Comment