Author: Tatjana Bak

In 1987, Christine Overeem left the Netherlands and moved to Thailand to start Baan Phak Phing (‘shelter’) together with her co-worker Heidi. This safe house for abused girls has been a safe haven for many. In 2018, Christine handed over the work to the Thai staff under whose guidance the girls are in good hands....

Last month we welcomed three new girls in Baan Phak Phing. The first girl, only six years old, was very sad. She kept on crying. Then another girl stepped in and played with her so that the girl could be distracted from her fear and sadness. This new young girl didn’t own any pyjamas so...

“Ah, we’re almost home!” The two girls had just finished school and were looking forward to dinner. They could almost smell the food, that’s how close they were. When they were just about to pass the neighbours’ parked car, the car suddenly started moving. Without indication, the neighbour took a turn. There is no way...

A girl of only nine years old, recently came back to live with us. She used to live with us before, after she had become the victim of abuse. Back then she was not even six years old. After a few years in Baan Phak Phing, she went back to her mother because it was...

A young couple wanted to get married and was on the lookout for a good location. They also hoped to find people willing to help them with the preparation of the party. Well, I can tell you one thing: the ‘mothers’ of Baan Phak Phing got very excited when they heard this news. They enthusiastically...

Most people enjoy a good party but everyone has different ideas on what the best way to celebrate is. Some love large crowds, others are content with several close friends nearby; some prefer to dance and sing, others would rather keep things peaceful; some would like a full on meal, others just want a nice...

In order to stay healthy, the girls eat fruit and vegetables every day. Usually, we go to the market to buy our groceries, but with a garden like ours we thought it would be a great opportunity to actually grow some fruit and vegetables ourselves! Gardening is not only educational and saves money, but also...

In order to give the girls a good education and prepare them for the rest of their lives, we make use of computers. Of course, computers tend to get slower over time which usually means they need to be updated. A simple update can speed up a computer and generally makes it last for years...

Baan Phak Phing was founded in 1990, so you can imagine that many girls have become part of our family since then. We don’t know exactly how many girls lived in Baan Phak Phing over the years, but we do know there are many. For us, as ‘mums’, it’s so encouraging to see that we...

At the beginning of this year, a mother who worked in Baan Phak Ping for over 13 years left to take care of her sick father and other family members. This was tough for both the staff and the girls. Recently, the staff and the girls from the house where the mother had worked went...