Sarnelli House has had much joy in recent years with the education achievements of some of the older teenagers, with university places acquired and graduations celebrated. We have also seen young adults qualify as chefs, waiters and housekeepers from Pimali Hospitality Center and, as a result, secure high paying positions in five-star hotels in Bangkok and Phuket. The education program has become more a little smarter, identifying talented kids earlier and allowing them opportunities to fulfil their potential.
Learning starts at a young age however and Sarnelli House is determined that the little ones in its care get off to the best start we can provide them. With this in mind, the Thai Teacher project is well into its third year and has been a great success. Our two teachers spend mornings at the House of Hope nursery, doing very basic but vitally important work with toddlers and kindergarten students. The teachers help to develop each child's basic Thai literacy and numeracy, motor skills, hand-to-eye coordination and task completion. The children learn to sit patiently, to do things in order and benefits greatly from the one-to-one nature of the activities. Once the school term starts in May, the teachers will also do evening work with the grade school kids, helping with homework, revising that day's classes and ensuring the children are not confused by any new math or science lesson. A new teacher will be added next month to ensure all grade school kids have some access to this kind of support. Thai schools don't always provide extra help to children who struggle and as devoted as our house mothers are, they are not all qualified to help with homework. Not everyone will go to university, but we are keen to allow our charges to get as far as they can.
And now, we have a new reading room. Located in Pai Si Tong village, adjacent to the three houses for our youngest children, it was opened this month as part of a project overseen by Kate Introna. It is well stocked with beanbags, bright artwork, and, of course, a hundred books to be read to the children. Three or four times a week, two of our teenagers read to small groups of children. The readers use rhyme, stress, funny voices and their very best dramatic talents to keep the kids entertained. The children are asked questions and allowed to imagine their own outcomes. It has only been open a few weeks and is already a huge success. In time, we hope that some of the kids will be able to borrow books from the new library and read them alone or with a friend. During the school term, we hope that our teachers will be able to use the reading room during evenings and weekends to further stimulate the children. The room was funded by Mercy Center USA and we are very grateful to them. It is named after Bernie Introna, Kate's mother, who passed last year. Bernie was a longtime supporter of Sarnelli House and a great champion of children reading. We have also bought over a dozen books, from comics to romantic novels for the girls at Our Lady of Refuge.
