Last week saw the arrival of our latest batch of German volunteers. Three young adults, having completed high school, have chosen to spend ten months of their gap year at Sarnelli House. They will live at the children's houses and support the staff in looking after the kids. The children see them as bigger siblings and will benefit from the play-time and encouragement they will receive from the new guests. Our staff are busy (and a little weary), so these three dynamic young adults will play with and entertain the children as best they can.
Two - a boy and a girl - arrive from the Redemptorist Volunteer Mission in Bonn, while the third young man comes from Stuttgart and is here as part of our partnership with APO in Oberhausen. We have been extremely lucky with our volunteers over the years and they all bring something unique, from artistic talents to sports skills to maturity and empathy. They enhance the children's lives with their patience and energy and the children all love having a volunteer at their own house.
With the school holidays having already started, the three volunteers, and another guest from Germany, have thrown themselves into activities with the children. A ton of badminton has been played, there are daily games of soccer, Uno remains a big hit and Kate's magic bag of games, jigsaws, puzzles, coloring books and building blocks comes out every day to provide a variety of entertainment and stimulation.
It is not an easy adjustment for the volunteers, as everything here is so very different from their lives at home. They can struggle with the heat and humidity, the food, Thai culture and the proliferation of geckos and other insects. Most of all, the language can be a big hurdle. So it is very impressive that our new trio have already begun Thai language classes in an effort to communicate better with the kids and staff. Ten months away from home can be a long time and they show great courage in coming this far to give of themselves. Over the years, the quality of young people passing through here would give hope about the future!
