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July 2015

Dear all friends of Sarnelli House, 

Greeting from the grey sky in Nongkhai! 

I write an update a bit late this month because I want to see how the rain looks like and let you know. Finally the monsoon has come in the middle of this month. It was supposed to come two months earlier. Some places of Thailand are facing drought. The forecast said that we would have thunderstorms this week and the rain will cover 40 – 60% of Nongkhai. We hope that we will be lucky enough to be in the area of rainfall so that we can grow rice this year. (Forecast site http://www.tmd.go.th/en/province.php?id=16) 

We have four pieces of land for planting rice, three small places and a huge 27-acres Jomps Farm. Right now we are planting one on of the three small lands, where the Irish Redemptorists helped us dig a pond and fence the property. Staff were recruited and changed their routine of work in the paddy fields in the past week, they are very skillful. They complained about not having a toilet at the field site, and had to run into the bush. We will fix their wish later on. This weekend we will let the older boys and girls help out and I must warn them about the toilet situation before they go. We plan to do rice transplanting at two small places where the pond has enough water which will enable us to keep them alive until harvest time. If the rain has not continued, we have to sow the rice seeds in two other places and let them grow naturally. This way, we will get less rice this year. We are planning week by week. Rice is very crucial for us!

On July 19, 2015, the Cebo Ride will be held in Wisconsin, USA. It is our biggest annual fundraiser event for the children’s medication. We have heard from Fr Mike that there are only 13 riders this year including a couple from Iowa. I will say mass with the kids and pray for their safety and that they enjoy a pleasant ride. Thank you to both the riders and sponsors for supporting the children!

The children are fine, except the little girls are fighting lice. I don’t know the feeling of having lice in my hair but the girl’s faces tell me it is very unpleasant. The rain season is dengue fever season too. We make sure that we use mosquito spray before bed time and get rid of the places where the mosquitos can grow. Kate will closely supervise this task. Thanks Kate!

Our 3 first-year university girls are getting ready to start their studies. Thai Universities have changed their semester time. One girl will do Public Heath in Sakon Nakorn, one Marketing in Udon Thani and the other girl will study Psychology in Pathum Thani. There are two girls for first-year University in Outreach Program too. We are proud of them and wish them the best. I will mention this at mass with the children so that they can look them up as roll model.  Beginning of this month I took 18 children who had good marks from past semester to Water Park and shopping at Tesco Lotus with ice cream as rewards. I hope this will motivate them to keep their good performance and the others to study harder too. 

We are looking forward to Fr Mike’s return from the USA. He promised to come back in the middle of August. We pray for the success in his fundraising and health check-up. 

There are many things going on at Sarnelli House. If you want to follow up on Sarnelli, please visit our Facebook Page too. The link is www.facebook.com/sarnellihousenongkhai

Thank you very much for your interest, support and love for our children! We do not have anything in return except our prayers, good wishes, and joy in seeing our children grow and living secured lives. May the Lord bless you all always and all ways! 

Gratefully, 

Fr Ole

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