October was an exciting month for the children of Sarnelli. First of all, the floodwaters of the Mekong River subsided, giving Rosario school the opportunity to flush out the filthy waters around and in the school and church. The students were then able to take their end of semester exams and then enjoy their school break. Since we now have four young German volunteers and also new, young Thai on the staff, sports, swimming, and excursions took up the children’s time and kept them busy and focused. The second semester opened October 28.
Wee children and babies continue to trickle in and our population of little people is growing. Since we don’t have many older kids, we have a problem with the upcoming harvest of rice. We planted a lot of rice this year, and with steady rains and sunlight, we will have a bumper crop. What we won’t have are enough older kids to help with the harvest. So I decided to hire a combine this year. A guy I know who dug our fishponds has bought a combine, and will give us a special price, 800 baht a rai (half acre). When he is finished, I will compare the price of the combine to the price of doing the job with our old thresher. In the meantime, our pig population has grown to nearly 60 pigs. We have to begin butchering the older pigs, fast. The “execution chamber” has been made safer and has been extended. A pair of what looks like earmuffs will be attached to the pig, and it will be painlessly zapped. A huge step up from the old method of dispatching a pig.
Our team of construction guys, two adults and three of our young lads, are busy making repairs, laying tiles, installing new toilets and other repairs. I still have to get painters in to paint the older houses and outer walls and fences. We are blessed to have a huge donation from a company in the U.S. to help with this work. Our foundation in Holland sent money to install solar cell pumps, water towers and tanks for the dry season so we can plant grains and grasses to feed our livestock and not depend on the feed stores.
A young Australian lady has joined our assistant therapist Ben and his wife Angelique in their work with disabled and brain damaged little children and babies at our Sharon House, and children in surrounding villages. Hannah is a specialist in working with these unfortunate little ones and has already overseen quite an improvement in the daily lives of the four kids. We are blessed to have her stay for a month and a half.
We are grateful for all the help we get from our donors and friends and thank the Good Lord daily for inspiring you to enter into these children’s lives, and bringing light and love to them. Thank you so very, very much.
Fr. Mike, children and staff
