Wardrobes

The girls’ wardrobes had turned very ugly. The veneered closets were damaged, shelves and doors were broken, and they had become very unstable. Due to generous donations all the girls now have their own wardrobes for storing their clothes and personal things. We hope they will be able to use the new wardrobes for many years to come.

Many thanks to our sponsors.

Computers for homework

Doing homework may not be the children’s favourite activity, but it has to be done. A lot of homework, especially tasks from high school and college, needs to be done on a computer. The computers we had needed to be replaced which is a major expense. Therefore we wanted to switch to another system, Chromebooks. These are not only less expensive but also easier in maintenance. This is quite new for Baan Phak Phing, but our IT specialist has used them before on a large scale and so we are confident that this is a good solution.

We are grateful to have received enough funding to buy Chromebooks. They have been supplied, prepared for service and put in place. The girls now daily use them for their training and sometimes for leisure.

A new car

Baan Phak Phing is located quite a distance out of town and public transport here is not as good as it is in The Netherlands. Therefore, we drive the girls to school every day ourselves. Each of the family homes has its own car, in which up to 12-14 persons can be transported. Besides driving the girls to school by car, we also need the cars to do groceries, to do family visits (and the families usually live far away or in the mountains), and for outings. So, the cars need to be safe, strong, and in good condition. One of our three cars was 20 years old and well past its due date. It didn’t have enough power to go up a mountain anymore, and we needed to take it to the garage regularly to be repaired. It also no longer met the government requirements. If possible, we wanted to replace this car by a new one and just recently we were able to do just that due to a generous donation. On 2 April 2024 the car, a van suitable for 16 people, was delivered. We hope to use it safely and for a long time to come.

Curtains in the bedrooms

It is nice to sleep with the curtains closed, it gives everybody in Baan Phak Phing a feeling of privacy and security. However, the curtains were old, faded and torn. We are so happy that we have been able to buy new curtains and curtain rails recently for all the bedrooms. Now the girls and staff can have a good night’s sleep with the curtains closed.

New water borehole, It’s completed!

At the beginning of November 2023 we shared our urgent need for a new water well on one of the properties. The old well no longer gave clean water. The quality of the water was so atrocious that the girls suffered from irritated skin and severe itchiness after showering and when wearing the clothes which were washed in that water. We asked you for help to raise €5500,00 to take on this project. We were astonished that after only a short amount of time all the money was donated, even more than the amount needed for the drilling of the well.

At the beginning of January the drilling was started and at the end of 6 days the task was completed. The well is now 72 meters deep, which gives us sparkling clear water. We haven’t seen such good water in years! Even filling the water tank has improved. Once what took 5 hours to finish, now only takes 45 minutes. This is due to the size of the pipes and the new pump.

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Treating yourself

How wonderful to give every girl a chance to buy a new set of clothes and shoes. Most girls get their clothes and shoes from an older/bigger ‘sister’ in the house, or they get a donation of second-hand clothes, which is wonderful and for which the girls are very grateful. However, to be able to choose your own clothes, to your own taste for once and wear them with pride is something the girls really appreciated! Some of the girls selected a higher-end store that they normally don’t go to for one set of clothes, while others went to a cheaper store for more sets. They walked through the stores with big smiles on their faces and when they came home full of pride with their purchases, they put them on and showed them to everyone. Mary said: “Mum, I have never been able to do this before in my life, I am so grateful”.