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.
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.
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.
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”.
In our multipurpose room we have a stage on which the girls perform, where we all watch a movie together, and which is used during training sessions or creative activities for the girls or staff. Every week we also use the facility for a meeting with the girls who are in the independent living program.
We like to stimulate the girls’ musical skills. In each house there is one guitar and in two of the three houses there is an old keyboard, which is a hand-me-down several times over. Due to their condition, both are ready to be replaced; unfortunately they can no longer be repaired.
