Hot season begins in Thailand in March, revs up to peak intensity during April, and begins to wane into just plain hot and humid rainy season by about the third week of May and into June. This means that the "summer" school holidays in the Thai school calendar run from about March 20-about May 20. That is a long way to say that it is school holiday time here and the children are home during the days!! What bliss! Although my visit is short this time, I am actually able to see and be with the kids more this visit because they are around all day.
Now, I know that the idea of 80 some kids all home for school break at the same time has many of your hearts pounding with empathetic panic! Long and short of it-there are very few day long programs that we can sign the kids up for!!! No matter though...for many years now lots of dedicated people begin planning way in advance to make sure that the days are full of a variety of fun and interesting (and at times even educational!) outings and activities for all the various age-groups to enjoy. In just the two days I have been here there has been constant activity---two visiting teams bringing their own day camp experience right to our door-arts and crafts---special outings to exciting locations like the Bua Tong (snake belly) limestone waterfall that you can actually walk up and down---in the water---on the limestone which is amazingly easy to find traction on even as the water rushes underfoot (-really---I have been there a number of times and can attest to this from first-hand experience!).
But, for me, today was really sweet. You see, every Tuesday during the noon hour, the nannies gather for a time of worship, prayer, study and fun in the big "Sala" area in the front of Agape. It is always wonderful to hear them singing and laughing together. This week, and during the summer school break---the "middle-aged" (9-12 or so) kids get to joing them---and the sight, and sound of it always brings a lump to my throat and a tear to my eye. The video clip below will, I hope, give you a small taste of this very precious time! Oh, and if you hear a slightly familiar voice chiming in near the end...that would be me...momentarily forgetting that the same camera capturing the kids and nannies voices would also capture mine!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
excellent. it feels wrong somehow to want you to come back to the states.
Patty -- I love to read your Thailand blogs--your love for the kids overflows right through the words!
-- Peggy Rader
Post a Comment