BAAN HUEY KONG MOON SCHOOLS
Kharma2026, a blessed journey from the very first hour!
We are all back home safe and sound and immediately had a week of overdue work to catch up on, hence the Kharma Foundation update now. We, as in Lucy, Mark, Gina, Noodle, Scott, Justine, Sompong, Tuk and myself. A great little gang of volunteers, proud of em all.
As usual and of importance: the numbers! With combined efforts, we raised 459,974 Baht, which is approximately 12,777 Euros / 11,220 GBP. All donations went to Baan Huey Kong Moon: for construction projects and repairs, for goods, and for food and drink during the visit. The small construction projects included a room for a nurse with medication, a new toilet building, an upgrade for a toilet block, an upgrade for 2 teachers’ rooms with a new roof, and new power supplies in the canteen.
Furthermore, more than 600 kilos of rice were donated, as well as all kinds of kitchen items and goods such as canned fish, noodles, sauces, mushrooms, etc., etc. Eight revised Lenovo laptops. Sports and games equipment, badminton rackets, volleyballs, footballs, nets, shoes, shirts, pumps, and caps. Toys, educational games, a teddy bear of their own for every child. Books, notebooks, pens, and markers. Paper, coloring books, and posters. Standing fans, hanging fans, solar panels, and solar lighting for the school squares. A large, well-filled truck went from Pattaya to the mountains of Mae Hong Son. Everything, absolutely everything, made possible by your donations. Our gratitude is immense, and that of the teachers, children, and parents even greater. Thank you!
That the journey was blessed from the start became apparent when we were speeding to the airport in Mark’s SUV and got a flat tire in the fast lane. That gives you a scare in the early morning! Fortunately, we pulled over to the side, and there you are: an 8-lane highway. Heat. Time pressure. Not fun!!
Noodle, with her beauty J, managed to stop a driver, an angel and with great difficulty, he got that wheel off, and we made the flight with less than 10 minutes to go. The minibus and further planning therefore continued smoothly in Chiang Mai to Mae Sariang, thanks to the hard work of the driver who stopped: our hero of the trip!
The Baan Huey Kong Moon School and the 3 branches were very happy with our combined efforts in donations and efforts. Typical little schools in villages far removed from the big bad world. The locals often have red lips and teeth from chewing the beetle-nut (a kind of mild ‘softening of the hard life’). The children were as always cute, shy, and friendly. The head of the school is Mr. Somsak, 48, but embodied in a 16-year-old lad. Young face, lean, strong, good presence. His school served as our home base, as it had electricity and water. Not unimportant 😉
We visited the other branches on that first day: saw the new toilet building, the renovation of the teachers’ room, a new power grid in the cafeteria, and some smaller projects that were not yet finished. We were late in confirming what could proceed to be build due to accumulating donations, etc. After 5 to 6 hours of bumping along in the back of the truck, we were happy to be back at home base, having turned the classrooms into sleeping quarters and eaten a well-deserved dinner made by our lovely cooking team. The next day, all 124 kids came to the main branch with the teachers, and we played games, had a delicious lunch made by Noodle & Gina, and did sports in the afternoon: badminton, volleyball, takraw, and football of course.
I had had, let’s say, a too easy bowel movement since the day before departure, so after a few days I was pretty much done with the inside of the toilets. Now, I’ve always wanted to be a bit of a poopy joker, and that was half a fact. Fortunately, this school had a clean toilet with water. We could also ‘shower’ using the bowl and the water tank. In the evening, we had fun with the teachers and volunteers; enjoying beers and singing songs on guitar by candlelight. Great times in good company.
On the third day, all the kids came again, and we distributed all the donations of food, school books, sports stuff, second hand clothing and games among the 4 schools. And then what follows of course are the usual photos with the kids and teachers. We also had 8 laptops, 2 per school, 600 kilos of rice, and good power banks for all the teachers (a lifesaver in the wilderness). The children also received a super cool teddy bear, soap, toothbrushes, etc. As a thank you, the children sang the national anthem, and then it was back to sports!
In the evening, we had another delicious meal, a bottle of wine and some cheese, because my stomach was finally feeling better. The company of Lucy, Mark, Gina, Noodle, Scott, Justine, Sompong, Tuk; what a great bunch. Wouldn’t change a thing. Life can be perfect, for me its these trips.
The next day: getting up, packing up, and saying goodbye… time flies. It was such a joy to enjoy it again! The beauty of the surroundings. But more the vibe. Children without phones. Just playing. Running. Teasing. Playing tag. Boys, girls, mixed together, with each other. Suddenly, it all seems very innocent. How we in the west are changing our world with technology and social media. And in the once so remote places like these villages, the internet is here. TikTok is coming. How will their futures change? Until then, I remain a blessed person to enjoy seeing children being children for 1 week a year…
Once again, thank you very much! Beautiful photos are being added in the hope this gives you a bit of insight and allows you to share in how fantastic it is what we are achieving together.
Kind regards,
The volunteers of the KF
