July saw the rice planting completed on Jomp’s
Farm and the other rice paddies ahead of time with the help of the 2 rice
planting machines. To the great delight of the teenage girls all the weekends in
July were not spent out in the mud and the running complaints about the sun
ruining their complexions and the mud ruining their nails and their sore backs were
silenced. But the disappointment of the
smaller kids was evident as they lost out on weekends of roaming in the open
spaces with lots of mud to play in and the endless opportunity to annoy all those older than them,
and to do some rice planting now and then. Ms Peh and Ms Jit were the driving forces out
in the fields, and they spent many a day in the heat and rain during the week
overseeing and doing the work to get the rice planted.
The boys from St Patrick’s and the Jan and Oscar House and the girls from Nazareth House and Our Lady of Refuge Home for Girls had some extra education last month. A team from Srinagarin Hospital in Khon Kaen came for 3 weekends to educate the teenagers on the dangers of smoking and using drugs. There has been an ongoing campaign by the housemothers to get some of the older boys to stop smoking, and as there is easy access to marijuana and harder drugs in the villages it was time to call in the professionals. Particularly for the kids with HIV/AIDS there is a higher incidence of cancer and heart disease in this group so education is vital to prevent the kids starting to smoke and to educate them about a healthy lifestyle.
Fr Bird and Br Keng are holding the fort here while Fr Ole is in the USA with Fr Shea. The teenage girls are giving them lots of work as the girls discover boys and the Viengkhuk nightlife and the night watchmen is on double guard duty to keep some of the girls in at night. Thai Social Services have given a 14 year old girl called Mint into the care of Our Lady of Refuge Home. She has been relentlessly sexually abused by her father and was placed in Udon Girls Home to keep her safe, but she proved too difficult to manage there. Hopefully with a lot of patience and love she will settle into life at Viengkhuk like the other girls who have come here in the same situation.
On the 12 August it is the Queen’s Birthday and Mother’s Day is celebrated in Thailand on this day. The children at Rosario School will have a big ceremony on Friday and it will be poignant for many of the kids who have lost their mothers from HIV/AIDS or who have been abandoned by them. The House Mothers from the different houses will step up and represent the kids at the ceremony so the kids will have someone to be their mother on this special day.
The kids are hanging out for Fr Shea’s return and they continually ask when he is coming back?? However, they continue with their routine of early rises, school, homework, play and bed and enjoy the weekends when they can relax and catch up on homework for the older teenagers and do extra classes with Khun Auey at Pi Si Tong.
We wish Fr Ole and Fr Shea a speedy return home and thank you all for your support and love.
Kate Introna
