Author: Tatjana Bak

In Thailand there is no conscription for women, but they are allowed to join the army. During upper secondary school girls can choose an extra subject aimed at soldiering to see whether they like it. One of the older girls wanted to do this and recently she has had several training sessions. She learned how...

“Mum, listen, I was able to buy new clothes, just like that. I chose them all by myself and bought shoes, too! I have never had so much fun shopping, it was fantastic!” Thanks to a wonderful donation the girls were able to treat themselves to new clothes and shoes. They were overjoyed when they...

How can we generate more funds for Stichting Baan Phak Phing? This was the question we asked ourselves as board members. At that moment we decided to set up a ‘stroopwafel’ fundraiser in collaboration with Markus & Markus Stroopwafels in Waddinxveen. A large group of children and adults did their best to sell as many...

Some time ago we had several lessons on children’s rights. A visiting organization taught the staff and later the girls on this subject. One of the questions during the follow-up, taken care of by our staff, was what the children thought of their rights and what they personally would like to have improved or changed....

‘Time flies’ is what we say, or ‘there are only 24 hours in a day’ and like these there are many more expressions about time. I guess it is clear to everyone that you can’t do everything at the same time. The girls spend many hours at school, the days are long and then they...

One of the older girls and her ‘mother’ at Baan Phak Phing were talking about a stool made of empty plastic bottles that you could actually sit on. The girl thought this would never work, but her ‘mother’ explained it was certainly possible. Together they decided to create a stool that was strong enough to...

Some time ago we received 1000 fish from our neighbor. These we put in our pond. The fish are now the appropriate size to harvest so we could organize a fishing event. One Saturday in July we made the fishing poles and divided the girls into several fishing teams. As soon as the fish were...

Three of our girls have completed secondary school and moved on to new educational programs in a city 3 hours from home. One, 18 years old, will attend a professional program for which she hopes to later find a job. It was difficult for her to leave ‘home’, her ‘mothers’, and ‘sisters’. She is adjusting...

Last month we received a donation to treat the girls to ice cream. It took a while before we could schedule the event but once the temperatures reached more than 40 degrees, it was really time for the mothers to take the girls to an ice cream parlor. Not only scoops of ice cream but...

For many years the girls have been dreaming about going to the beach. Many of them had never seen the beach and the sea. From Chiang Rai it means a drive of at least 14 hours and therefore this was quite an undertaking which needs planning. But after a long time the girls’ dream has...