Fountain of Life Children's Centre

Little kids playing around the playground before leaving to the bowling alley.

What was the activity?
Fountain of life Children's centre was an orphanage for kids who their parents have been neglecting and ignoring so they put them here at he Fountain of Life Children's centre. Amazingly , and a little bit disturbed, some of them chose to stay at this orphanage rather than being taken care of by their parents and each of them seemed to be ina great health and happy to be here.
What were my aims?
The whole aim of the activity was for other participants to learn some Thai culture that was taught by kids at the orphanage and to share their care to to kids. However my personal aim was to experience how their lives had been and to entertain them as much as I possibly could.


What did I do ?
I was designated to accompany this trip as the only Thai speaker in the group so my job was somewhat like the others, was to experience the way of living of the children, and also help translate when needed but the translating job seemed to be less important during the day because no matter how difficult it was for foreigners and the kids to try to communicate, they still understood each others through smile and mutual comprehension.
During the day, all delegates got a chance to learn traditional Thai culture such 'Wai' (ไหว้) and how differently Thai people used to dine back in the days, and they also learnt how to make a 'Kratong' which was used to celebrate and worship the goddess of the river. And as part of the main theme 'We Walk Together' , we tried to do everything together with them, we had lunch together, after lunch we brushed our teeth together, then we , as a pair, went bowling together, which was something they had never done before in their life.


On the way to the bus to the bowling alley.

Although there were some difficulties in a language barrier, I was the only Thai speaker, this gave me a hard work to go back and forth to translate this and that for whoever called my name but as they day went by, the more I realized we did not really need a translator that much because everything the kids wanted to say had already been conveyed through smile.
What have I gained?
At the end of the day, every kid was still pumped after their first trip to the bowling alley and I could see their smile at the end of the day. This was the sign telling me that our goal was accomplished, our goal to make all the children smile like they never did before was completed and I felt so fulfilled from experiencing their sincere appreciation and later that night I looked at what the kids had and realized that, they only had what they needed and they never asked for more and they appreciate everything they received because it's not about how much it cost, but it's about the thought that counts.