Tomorrow morning at the ungodly hour of 6am I shall leave my house (mind you, that means setting the alarm for 5am!) and meet up with a small gaggle of ANZWG women heading up to Khon Kaen to deliver donated clothing, toys, and other goods to two House of Mercy orphanages in the area.
We'll return to Bangkok by Friday afternoon at the earliest, and probably will lack Internet access until then.
I'll be straight with you all. I'm not a saint (obviously) and didn't know of this project until after ANZWG wrapped up its collections drive. So I never pounded Bangkok's steaming sidewalks, knocking on doors, seeking donations. But once Bron told me about it and said the van still had space, and because I love Khon Kaen, need to get out of this city, and would like to suss out the orphanages' needs in anticipation of future philanthropy (like during our Annual Walter Family Christmas-time Exodus to Isaan), I asked to tag along.
We will spend Thursday with the children, who are all living with HIV/AIDS. I'm sure spending time with them will be gorgeous and heart-wrenching rolled up into one. This weekend, I'll post photos and more House of Mercy information for readers interested in helping the kids.
Until then...au revoir, mes amis!
Have fun! I'm excited for you, even if you didn't pound the pavement. The kids will be ecstatic and, I'm sure, their joy will be contagious. Enjoy the time with ladies and the orphans!
Posted by: teresa | October 19, 2006 at 08:15 AM
Wow, I didn't realize that was in Khon Kaen. I'm moving to Khon Kaen from Surat Thani in the south in the next few weeks. Previously I lived in Ubon Ratchathani. I've visited Khon Kaen but I know little about it. I'll look for your pictures of the orphans and I'll visit myself when I get up that way. Thanks for your post. Your site is great by the way!
Posted by: Vern | February 26, 2007 at 10:03 AM