Bunne puts up a shelf for our projector and the sheet is hung.
Just enough time before I leave for a bit of fun with Don, Lanchok, Lar and Judy. Hugs and more hugs fill me with love ready for my journey ahead. I leave feeling blessed and light of heart.
A smile costs nothing but gives much.
All our love from Raising Hope and Joy.
Goodbye Hope Home………for now!
xXx
We sat, we waited.
This was the second delivery attempt following a customs hold up and many phonecalls. Little did the delivery man know that we were ready to pounce on any murmurs of repaying customs charges, poor man did not know what he was up against. One further short phonecall later and finally we have the projector.
It’s easy the instructions say, I would like to say I had it up and running in a flash, but that bit goes where?
Hmm, and where should we put it?
After the Christmas toaster was fully dismantled by a budding 6 year old electrician last night, we think higher!
We sneak a peak……
We have a moment of joy…
Then we close the curtains and hold up a sheet to later be fixed to the wall. Just look at what has been created because of you….
The leopard on the ‘safari’ wheel gets huge ‘wow!’
Upsidedown zebras!
Going in for a closer look!
Spot the extra little people on the ‘people of the world’ wheel.
We have to get a Bob Marley CD now!
Having fun…..
At the start of this journey I would have been thrilled just to get enough money to splash some paint on the walls, buy some CD’s and glowing stars. I hoped we could get a light projector.
I hoped to find a way to give a little something back to Hope Home, after they refilled me with inspiration and joy this summer.
‘I’ turned into ‘we’ and we hoped to set up a charity. We hoped you would be as inspired as us and that an idea could become a reality.
We hoped that by starting small and aiming high we could begin to build a community of network and support aimed at bringing joy to children less fortunate.
We know we cant change a life, but bringing a smile to someones face can change someones day, what better place to start.
We became all of you, and I can only hope my open, honest, blogs will put a huge smile on your face this Christmas in the knowledge that you have brought such joy to so many.
My dear mum to whom this charity is dedicated always said ‘a little bit of what you fancy does you good.’
Well look what happens when lots of people each put just a little bit of what they fancy together.
We hope Hope Home is just the beginning.
If its OK with you I need to go and find a cuppa and a mince pie…..nothing beats tears of pure joy.
Hoping you all have a very Happy Christmas, but shining a light for all who need it at this time of year.
To have hope we have joy, to have joy we have hope.
You are proof of that.
xXx
I arrive at Hope Home a little ‘traveled’.
But within moments a sense of home fills my bones and heart as I am welcomed with open arms.
I arrive to the Christmas party, balloons adorn the garden. A home grown tree decorated with the staffs handicrafts are only a part of what they have done to make this day an absolute celebration of color and joy for their community.
Food is shared, gifts are exchanged, performances are given.
The garden fills with all the evidence of why this home is so special, of what Judy has created, as it is all about community, family, friends.
Thankyou to Jikki and her family who have welcomed me into their home throughout my stays here.
And of course to Judy and her open door, a welcoming haven and instant revival to any friend of Hope Home.
Quickly in this home from home I find myself sitting at the breakfast table full once again of joy and life……and awaiting our projector!
It is because of you, are ever growing wall of stars, that we have reached our first target.
‘Thankyou’ to those whose names are not given.
Tomorrow brings so much colour and joy, watch this space for our Christmas blog to see just what we all have achieved.
Happy Christmas Eve.
xXx
Today begins with some serious snoozing, well it is Sunday!
Followed by the introduction of fluff and fluffier much to Joy and Don’s delight.
‘Beautiful’ was the response from the staff at Hope Home when I finished the painting on Friday accompanied with huge smiles, I couldn’t really ask for more. Today was all about the stars, alongside my favourite helper.
We have a wall of stars, a thankyou to everyone who has donated so far, and to our trustees. Judy has the gold pen and will add any future names. We will also update you over the next month as the children use the room.
So, we began with this……
And now we have this……
One wall is left white in the hope that we raise the £500 needed to buy a light projector to send images twirling around the room. For more we could look at bubble tubes and fibre optic lights. There is time.
With a special thanks to Cultural Canvas and their inspiring Art Relief International project. My month here as a volunteer in August and the life long friends I met are where this all began.
http://culturalcanvas.com/art-relief-programart-relief-program
Painting in August at Hope Home
So what now? Over the next year we will be researching other projects whom we could support from as far as New Zealand and via a hard working team in the UK. We will post news and messages as we explore fundraising ideas and creative spaces.
I send thanks to you all on behalf of Raising Hope and Joy, and to the staff and children here at Hope Home.
But for now, its time for bed.
What an absolute joy.
xXx
A very special young girl, Kaesha, gave two very important mascots to me before I left. I would like to introduce these little balls of love and thought, or as I like to call them fluff and fluffier. Seen here in down town Bangkok enjoying a much needed rest over some juice and watermelon from the night market.
They had quite an adventure taking the train to Ayutthaya, the night bus to Chiang Mai, and even stopping at a fun fair on the way.
One is to see me safe on my travels, the other is for another little girl at Hope Home, Joy.
Kaesha knows all about these special children, and already plans to make flapjack at Aunty Helens cafe when I come home. She asked that all the money made goes to Hope Home.
Dear Kaesha, you deserved a blog post all of your very own.
They finally reached their destination.
You made a little girl very happy as she stared into the googley eye, had her face tickled, and held onto the softness that is Mr Fluff.
Thankyou for raising some very special hope and joy.
View across Chiang Mai from Wat Phra That Doi Suthep (temple below)
Well, what a week. It hasn’t quite sunk in that our first project, step one, is almost complete.
Wat Umong, a place in the forest to meditate
Step two is to keep fundraising for sensory equipment for Hope Home.
Offerings line every street and temple
Our charity was launched a mere month ago. As I sit over coffee I would just like to share with you want we have achieved in this time, accompanied by a few photos from Raising Hope and Joys time in Chiang Mai.
Loy Krathong, a festival honouring the water spirits and end of the rainy season
I have as ever been humbled throughout. It is wonderful to have friends and families loyalty but Raising Hope and Joy was met with more than that, it was met with excitement, enthusiasm, belief and spirit. ‘I’ became ‘we’ and the miriad of skills needed to run any venture became shared between many hands, many talents. Since then we have more hands on board, and our thanks goes out to you all.
So, a website, a bank account, a first trustees meeting, 143 face book likes, £245, a paint brush and a lot of blue paint later and how do we feel?
For me if I just begin to think of each person that has supported us so far, be it a face book ‘like’, an offer of promotion, a donation, comments on our wall of Hope and Joy, tweets from other charities supporting us, my Dad writing to his local paper, my family video skyping me when the paint fumes all get a bit much, I am filled, in honesty, with joy.
‘Krathong’ the flowers and lights floated on the river to thank Phra Mae Khong Kha, the goddess of water for forgiveness for polluting her waters.
So what have we learnt? The key learning for me, is one of time. The joy of setting up a charity is that it is through choice. I believe the more enjoyable it is for all involved, the more that will be achieved. There are not the boundaries of deadlines, bills and hierarchies but it can be easy to be stuck in a mindset of everything needing to happen yesterday.
I have been known to be a bit of a solo ‘spitfire’, to become instead a community and to truly work as a team, one that at times sits on me, is what I believe will give this charity longevity. ‘This is not a mountain you have to climb’ were the words given to me by a very dear friend this week.
Three hundred steps up to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep
On my first trip to Thailand, it seemed as if there was Thai magic, things would seemingly appear as you needed them. What in fact was happening was that I was slowing down, living in the moment. There is no magic (sorry) but as soon as we get stressed about when or how something will happen, we miss what is right in front of us. Stepping out of my own culture for a time is certainly helping me to see even more clearly the aims and objectives of our charity.
There are things I hoped to do that I have not done, there are things I didn’t plan to do that have happened, but all that matters is that we have begun. So as I finish a few stars, and touch up a few edges, I hope you have enjoyed the one thing I do best, an honest open account of a journey. See you for the final blog, with a room full of stars.
Making a wish, thousands of lantern are let into the sky
You just know I have to say it, go on, in chorus,
to have hope we have joy, to have joy we have hope.
xXx
Today begins with a very strong coffee beside a very smiley Natalie. We look at pictures of moons for the room and she approves!
My walk around the corner to Hope Home.
The children are getting ready to go to nursery.
Here’s little tour….
The kitchen, always good smells coming from here
The dining area for staff
The garden
The washing area for baths and showers after a hot day
The resident cat
The ducks, no eggs yet!
Time for a little drawing
Any requests? The truck that takes them to nursery, Yoot in his wheel chair and a bycicle that I use to go to get the paint
And so to my blue and the last stroke of base coat on the wall.
You may ask why I am doing this, what is in it for me? It is of course for the children and for an ethos that reminded me of my own. It is also in celebration of a strength found in the possibilities we create when we work as a community. I may be painting, blogging, but a team works to enable this to happen in so many ways, and your support is its life line. it’s a sense of completion and achievement just in the last brush stroke. A sense of something finished and yet just beginning, I am hot, tired and so painted out, but still, a joy.
And so I find myself painting Raising Hope and Joys tree of life, echoing the tree of life Sarah and I painted in the children’s bedroom in August. An experience in August from which so much has grown.
And now after feasting on mango and rice, its time for those moons and stars……
xXx
I can tell you in brief about these last two days, as basically a room turned to white and deep blue, I as ever got covered in paint and had an occasional little helper leaving white foot prints around the room.
Here’s the room I am to paint. I suddenly feel very small. I know I am very small, but you know what I mean!
Yesterday I arrived at Hope Home to a very warm welcome to begin our first project.