Graduation Day

Last week, three of our oldest girls at Agape Home graduated from primary school (the compulsory portion of their education) to the Thai system of high school---a great achievement indeed! This means that they are one step closer to being able to choose to study further (one wants to go on to study computers and IT), and to graduating to the promise of a good job and a future with possibilities that we all dream of at their age. I am so proud of them. All are excellent students, well thought of by their teachers and friends. Given the odds against them based on the circumstances of their early lives, their maturity, grace and success is all the more stunning. The same day, 5 of our young boys graduated from the Thai version of elementary school to what we would know as middle school, or junior high. In a few years, they will join their "older sisters" as success stories in the educational system. I hope there will be many more to follow. We hear a lot about metrics these days---what a wonderful thing to be greeted with the news of this particular "metric of success"!!

Safe and sound!

Well, certainly safe...I do not know how sound one can be after 36 hours of travel, crossing the international date line, and walking into a blast furnace! I am up and talking though, so that is a good sign! I will write more later, but just wanted to say a quick hi from the other side of the globe!

I can’t believe it’s snowing again!

In two days I will board a plane that will take me to the other side of the globe---and to the other side of the “climate”!!  From the chilly, damp, blustery end of a Minnesota winter (or, beginning of a Minnesota spring), to the sultry, hot humid summer of Northern Thailand, it should prove to be an interesting adjustment!  It will be a little like stepping into a blast furnace!  I haven’t experienced Thailand during the “hot season” in four years and I find that I am just a little unnerved at the prospect.  The HOT sun, the HOT breeze, the HOT pavement underfoot, the inevitable HOT downpour at some point during the day (the rain really is warm!), are all to be anticipated with a healthy mix of fear and respect.  Like surviving the sub-zero Minnesota climate in the winter, surviving hot season in Thailand is just as much a “badge of honor”!  Wish me luck!

Time to start writing again---my next trip to Agape Home departs March 28th. I will be updating this blog during my travels and hope you might join me! Please don't forget to post a comment or two along the way. I enjoy hearing from you as well!