Provide Education and Hope for Children at Risk

It's the beginning of November and the children are gearing up for their second term at school.   They had a few weeks' break and now will be in school until mid or late March. 

All the children passed their exams and we all breathed a sigh of relief (some years we have a bunch to tutor through another set of exams).  Some children went up to the mountains to help with the rice harvest, and some stayed to work on the farm and enjoy access to the internet. 

Our Phrao high school seniors have been busy attending workshops and learning more about programs at our local universities.  The three girls have all done well in high school and should be able to attend one of the top universities in Chiang Mai.  For now, they are not venturing further away.

Our vocational high school, students are all continuing for at least two years to get their certificates in hospitality/tourism, electronics, and construction.  

We had several activities for the children in addition to after-school tutoring.  This past term, Finn ran weekly workshops in English and a range of personal development skills, adapted for four different age groups. 

They all worked on English conversation, while the younger ones worked on social skills and self-regulation (coping skills for when they get frustrated). The older students worked on self-awareness, empathy, and tools for mentoring the younger children. 

We had a visit from an anti-trafficking organization that came to talk with the middle and high school students; reminding them to stay in school and study well so they can get good jobs and not be lured into danger by distant, uncertain,  job promises.  We mentioned that one of the reasons Warm Heart got started was to provide education, and a path to a career, for vulnerable hill tribe children so they did not run the risk of being trafficked.

We could not miss the annual Halloween party with homemade decorations, face painting, games, and yummy goodies.

Thank you for making this possible!  

Best wishes for a safe holiday season!

Dana, Evelind, Michael, and the Warm Heart Children's Home staff and students

P.S. Please mark your calendars for #Giving Tuesday, November 28, and tell your friends; to help us add a few new donors.  GlobalGiving has a matching bonus pool of over $ 1 million. All gifts up to $2500 are matched.  The more we raise the more we earn of the bonus pool.

We started a new school year with our focus on academics, a range of extracurricular activities, including English language learning, mindfulness practices, and pre-professional skill development, adapted to the various age group at the Children's Home.

Mid-May arrived with the smokey air receding, and the weather cool enough to get the new school year off to a good start. There were still cases of COVID being reported and everyone arrived in their classrooms with masks.  Within a month, half the school had caught a mild version and with recovery, the masks were off most of the time.

We have five new students - four in 7th grade and one in 2nd grade from hill tribe villages in the surrounding mountains.  They all arrived two weeks early to have time with our after-school teachers to be assessed and assigned lessons to fill in the gaps from their prior school.  They all continue to get the extra help they need to be on grade level with their peers.

We settled Pokpong into Technical College in Chiang Mai for a 2-year certificate in welding and construction.  Nuey S. started up at Chiang Rai Rajabhat University, in a program to train teachers who will come back to their rural communities when they graduate.  She has a scholarship for her tuition, and we are helping with the rest. 

We were pleased to have some volunteers this spring from the UK and Canada.  They engaged the children to practice their English, playing games, singing songs, and baking cookies.  Finn, our Upskills/English teacher ran an English camp with Tovah, who is on a gap year after high school in Canada.

We also had a visit from Prem, one of the international schools in Chiang Mai, to plan joint activities over the course of the school year.  One project is to foster young clothing designers, using recycled, upcycled materials and presenting them at a Fashion Show fundraiser for Warm Heart in the winter. We will keep you posted.  

We are continuously evaluating our programs and learning from our peers in our network of private children's homes in Chiang Mai.  Mali, the Manager of the Children's Home worked remotely as she started back from maternity leave.  Soda, our lead for the Elderly Access to Care program filled in for her.  Now that Mali is back, they are still working together to track each child and identify programs and solutions to ensure a successful school year ahead.

Your gifts make this all possible!  Our children see the students who have graduated and are in university or out working and know they can strive for their own dreams.  

Best wishes for a wonderful summer!

Dana, Michael, Evelind and the Warm Heart staff and children

Links:

• Celebrating our 15th Anniversary!