Goodbye, Future Light!

As per the requests of a few very persistent people, I now present some photos from my last few days at Future Light...

My last day there, a few of the younger kids were participating in Sports Day. Sports Day is the most amazing day of the school year, and I'm jealous that I didn't grow up with it. It's an intense inter-school competition where the kids compete in everything from running to relays to Muay Thai. They really go all out with new uniforms for the competitors and elaborate costumes for the "cheerleaders". I went as the proud parent/crazy soccer mom, but apparently it is a very Western thing to watch your kids at an event like this. Our kids were the only ones with fans cheering them on and buying them all sorts of sweets and treats, but they were definitely the happy kids there.


Zorbay being awesome and owning a tennis ball throwing competition... he got one of the farthest distances!


Adelle is one of two Australians that I hung out with whenever I needed some time away from the home. This is her taking pictures of some children she does not know. These are a few of the cheerleaders in elaborate costumes that I was talking about!


We spent a rather eventful morning at Sports Day, and then I went back to the home to spend some time with the kids who were there.


Natasha and Jen are the two amazing girls who run and fund the home. On one of my last days there, they came up to see the kids and bring LOTS of donations. It was Natasha's birthday just a few days before they came, so I thought it would be fun for all of the kids to make her a birthday card to surprise her with when she got there. Little did I know it would occupy them for HOURS. I can't even describe how excited the kdis were for Natasha and Jen to come, and they were even more excited to have something to give them when they arrived.






They were all so proud of their cards! Matay only arrived at the home a week before I got there, so when we were making the cards he had never even met Natasha. But of course that didn't stop him from putting just as much love into his card as the rest of the kids did into theirs. His card was actually the product of quite a few kids' (and my own) handiwork, which I think makes it even better. And, he learned how to say "Happy Birthday" and "I love you", so he definitely had the right to want to show his card off!


After all that hard work, it was time for some fun. Or for a nap, as evidenced by Nichi sleeping in the background!


I was serenaded by the little girls for at least an hour, and treated to some (very Traditional) Burmese song and dance...





In anticipation of Natasha and Jen's arrival, all of the kids put on their best clothes and did their hair and make up. They even got me all dolled up... Natasha paid me the "compliment" of saying I looked like an 80's pop star. Once they were ready, they all sat quietly and patiently in the main room, just waiting. After nearly two hours, they finally arrived and you should have seen these kids' faces. They came with TWO VANS FILLED WITH DONATIONS, and the kids could not get out the door to carry everything in fast enough.


They were SO eager to help unload the vans, and not because they knew the things were for them, but because they just wanted to help.


SO many boxes! And this is only about half of it. Lots of awesome frozen food and TONS of cheese that they absolutely hated. They said it tasted like armpit.

Now, this goes against absolutely everything I stand for, but these kids are worth it:

They are ALWAYS in need of donations, whether it be goods or funds. There are 36 kids, 4 staff, and 2 houseparents all living off of the kindness of two twenty-something girls in Bangkok. If you would like to help in any way, you can contact me or get in touch with them directly by clicking here. Every little thing counts, and even the smallest acts of kindness go such a long way with these kids!

Smiles, Smiles, Smiles

This is my favorite batch of pictures yet... so many SMILES!

Papalin (I think I'm finally learning how to not butcher their names!)


Desioo and Tada.. they were blowing bubbles and catching them in their mouths. At first I discouraged the eating of soap, but then I came to the sad realization that it was probably the cleanest thing they'd done all day.


$1,000 to anyone who can look at this photo and not smile...


I wish I could be fascinated for hours by something so simple!


Tadalie... such a little model.


Yota, one half of my shadow...


... and Tantanso, the other half.


A cutie whose name I am embarrassed to say I still don't know. He's always by my side, but never says a word. He's always got a smile on though!


Monday dancing and putting himself in a trance.


Checking himself out... too too too cute!


Yota and Tantanso.


He's gorgeous. And I think this might be the best picture I've ever taken. Of course, it helps when your subject is so photogenic!

Just an evening stroll to Burma...

The Thai-Burmese border is not even a half of a mile away from the home, so we took a little field trip yesterday and played and walked along the border. I still can't get over how much fun these kids are!

Starting our walk, this is a (harvested) cornfield right next to the home.


Chatook and some sort of yucky, muddy creature.


Such cuties...


They kept telling me this was fish... so maybe fish eggs? They found some crazy things.


Nunu!


There's some digging going on with a makeshift bulldozer- operated with a bucket- so the kids had fun playing on the mounds of dirt.


Nichi, Thana, Mumu, and I. You can't tell I've been roughing it for a week, can you?


Desioo with... a jaw bone?


Thana and a little old man we picked up along the way.


Shower time for some dirty, dirty boys!


Desioo on the swingset out in back of the home.


Popali, all dolled up.


Mumu and Sasa... these kids are all such hams =)

The kids took over my iPhone

The kids LOVE my iPhone, especially taking videos and pictures of each other with it. This is the work of the budding photographers...

Chatook and Nunu, two of the youngest kids.


Homework time! After dinner, they all take out their workbooks and do their work (without being told!). I love hearing them practicing three languages worth of homework, and I still can't get over how smart every one of them is! Or how great the older kids are when they help the younger kids (without complaining!).


A few of the older girls doing their homework together. These are three of the girls I've been sharing a mat and net with every night. You can see one of the mats on the floor here. Comfy, right?
These two are sisters, and they've got another younger sister at the home too.


I get to have a slumber party with these girls every night, which makes sleeping on the hard wood floor completely worth it. They're the 12 little Asian sisters that I never had =)



This is Monday, and god damn I've got such a soft spot for him.


Chatook is too young for school, so I stay home with her, Monday, and one other boy all day. She's another one that puts a smile on my face as soon as I see her, and this is why...

Future Light Children's Home

For the next few weeks, I'm volunteering at Future Light Children's Home in Mae Sot, Thailand. The town shares a border with Myanmar, so it's got a big refugee community. Future Light is a home for Burmese refugee children ranging in age from about 1 1/2 to 16. There are 36 of them here right now, and every last one of them is absolutely amazing. My favorite thing about them is that they're ALWAYS smiling! I'm so amazed with how well behaved they are, and how much they love and support each other. I've been there since the beginning of the week and I've yet to see even the smallest argument. I've also yet to hear a single complaint out of any of them. They're all already smarter than I can ever hope to be... not only are they pretty much completely self sufficient and independent, but they can also speak, read, and write Burmese, Thai, AND English. Keep in mind each of those has its own alphabet!

I'm staying at the home with the kids, and life there is the epitome of roughing it. Not only is there no air conditioning, but they don't even have fans, and the temperature gets well into the 90's everyday. There's no shower, and obviously no Western toilets- just one squat toilet for 42 people. The "house" is comprised of a main room, a room where the girls sleep, and room where the boys sleep, and a room for the house parents. There's also a kitchen/eating area outside behind the house. The backyard is just a big dirt patch- it's straight out of a movie. There are pigs in the yard to the left, and a sweatshop to the right. They sleep on the hardwood floors, with only the thinest bamboo mats you can imagine, and there are at least 5 kids to one mat. The little girls have to sleep so close together that they can't even straighten their legs. There are 7 or 8 of them on one mat, under one mosquito net. I've been sharing a mat and net with 4 of the older girls. They give me the only pillow, and they use me as their pillow. Like I said, living out there is definitely roughing it and it's tough for me, but the kids are so amazing that it's completely worth it. I have the luxury of quitting anytime I want- they don't.

This is Nunu. She actually lives out back in a house with her father, but she spends all her time with the rest of the kids. She's definitely one of the cutest kids I've ever met, and I've met a lot of kids. No matter how bad my mood is, as soon as she comes over to me I just can't help but smile.

The kids are all best friends, and you can tell how much they love each other. With them, there's no such thing as cliques or bullying, and being left out is unheard of. They'll even adjust their games to make sure everyone can play, from the youngest kids all the way to the oldest.


This is Matay. He just came to the home last week, but you'd never know it! He's adjusting so well and the other kids treat him as if he's been there for years.


I swear, these kids could start a circus. They've all got crazy tricks up their sleeves and I'm always so impressed with what they can do. And they're definitely not shy about showing off!


I've been making bracelets with all the kids, and I can't believe how into they are- even the boys! They want to make them as soon as they wake up and the second they come home from school, all the way until bedtime. I'd say about 100 bracelets have been made in just the past two days! I brought a big bag of thread with me and my supply has just about run dry already. They picked up on it so quickly- it took a lot of them just one try, and a few of them even figured it out on their own. I've been cranking them out as fast as I can so everyone can have one, and in return, they've all been making ones for me. I think I'm up to 13 now! My wrist is getting pretty heavy...


This is Adam- the youngest of the kids. He's got a habit of getting into everything, and he's always a mess. I can't tell you how many times I've caught him sitting by himself playing with a pair of scissors or a knife. I've never been anywhere like this before, where the kids have next to no supervision or guidance, and it kills me.


The kids all LOVE the camera, and they certainly aren't shy. I've got more videos on their way, but for now, meet a few of the kids...