The first of the accidents happened when a student named Tham was struck from behind by motorcycle while she was walking. The impact sent the nine year old flying into a nearby wall.  The concussion she suffered caused her brain to swell and she spent two days in the ICU. When her condition improved she was moved into a crowded hospital room where we were finally able to visit. There we talked with her some while she peered at us through the only eye that wasn’t swollen shut.

Not long after Tham was hit, we learned of a more tragic accident involving a student in Yommorat, the community along the railroad tracks. Usna (oohse-na), one of our regular Saturday kids, was on the way home from school when her and her brother took a motorcycle taxi. She was unaware the driver was drunk and when he failed to stop before the oncoming train, the tail of the bike was clipped by the train and the children were thrown off. One of Usna’s legs was caught underneath the train and had to be amputated below her knee.

Tham has since been released from the hospital and rejoined us on Saturdays. Everyone is glad to have her back, especially her friends and classmates who visited and decorated cards wishing she would get well. She’s not as energetic as before, but still just as sharp and shows up to class in a skull cap while her hair is growing back. For Usna, there’s a much longer road to recovery ahead and she will likely spend more than a month in the hospital. Despite the circumstances, however, everyone has been impressed with her toughness. Which is important as she must cope with more physical challenges such as the healing of her wound, a skin graft, and eventually learning to walk with a prosthetic limb.

Two bright students from two different communities. They don’t know each other and aren’t in very close proximity. Yet, their neighborhoods are plagued by the same issues. Sad, unfair and enraging, these aren’t the types of stories I like to share, but they do offer a glimpse into the difficulties of growing up in the communities we’re serving and exemplify why these children benefit from any love and encouragment we can offer in our time with them.

We’re doing more to help Usna and her family during her hospital stay. Because we don’t want to see her fall behind in her school work, we’ve hired a tutor to come and teach her a few times a week. We’ve also given the family $100, a small gift to help with incidental expenses (the majority of her hospital bill is covered by the Thai government). If you’d like to help, make a donation like normal, but email me (insearchofsanuk@gmail.com) directly to let me know it’s for Usna and her family.

~Dwight

This first set is pictures from the morning session in a community along the railroad tracks not far from central Bangkok. Click on the pictures to make them larger.

Sometimes we meet outside right along the tracks, other morning we meet in the mosque within the community. As you can see there’s very little room to teach. The space for play is even smaller. Often places where the children end up playing are dangerous, like the area below with the plank of nails sticking up.

The last few pictures are from both communities and I selected these to highlight the volunteers who have shared their Saturday with us. All of the volunteers pictured have joined us teaching on several occasions and are crucial in helping us build relationships with the communities.

We’ve had really good volunteer turn out. Thanks for your help spreading the word and don’t worry if you still want to see recent pictures of our smiling students, visit us on facebook.

~Dwight

PS – My hands are usually too full to take any photos. All the photo credit goes to volunteers like Dew Napattaloong, Arsanchai Sukkuea, and Grace Breedlove.

This holiday has also reminded me that everyday I am fortunate to be surrounded by courageous, inspirational women. They are key to the achievements of ISOS. To give you an idea, I went back and looked through our list of volunteers. It seems that for every 10 volunteers who join Sanuk My Saturday, 8 of them are female. The list didn’t include the all female teaching team, led by Chris, there every weekend. That’s a wake up call for two reasons. First, because I realize I need to do a better job of challenging some guys to come out and commit to helping these kids. They are desperate for the positive male attention they don’t get at home. Secondly, that I’d be an idiot to neglect to wish all the women reading a Happy International Women’s Day and send a sincere thank you for all you do.

-Dwight

Note: This isn’t an exhaustive list by far, as I have only included organizations I have personally worked with.

Sanuk My Saturday – Saturdays – Pinklao/Yommarat

This is the ISOS project teaching English in the slum that you’ve been hearing so much about the last few weeks. I’m trying to round up support for the project which we have expanded to a second location last weekend. For those unfamiliar, you can donate, sign up to volunteer, or read more about what we’re doing in last week’s update.

Little Light Project – Monthly – Victory Monument

Little Light is a special program for students at the Bangkok School for the Blind that encourages them to reach for their hopes and dreams with activities challenging the students to interact and discuss with volunteers. Join the LLP group to get updates and invitations to the sessions. Meet a few of the children in this brief video:

Friends for All Children – M-F – Samsen

FFAC is a home for orphaned infants and toddlers who hope to be adopted. Volunteers are encouraged to come spend time with kids during the week. If you survive feeding and changing time the overwhelming cuteness of these kids will keep you coming back. Visit the FFAC site for more.

SSS Foundation – M-F – Sukumvit 71

Hop off the BTS and a short taxi ride later you’re in a group of buildings used for the recreation and education of many of Bangkok’s children with special needs. Long term volunteers are preferred and will have the opportunity to aide the center with a variety of tasks from teaching English to physical therapy. More in [English] or [Thai]

IDC Visits - Mornings, M-F, Soi Suan Plu

Last year many ISOS volunteers who had been helping at Bangkok’s Refugee Center began getting more involved with visiting the Immigration Detention Center after raids on refugees resulted in many of our students being detained indefinitely. For every volunteer who joins, we are allowed to call one detainee and we use this to allow separated families to spend a few moments together. Volunteers are usually gathered twice a week and bring food, water, and other supplies to the families. See the volunteer page to get involved.

“Dream Big, Work Smart, Start Local.”

-Dwight

Enjoy the pictures. Next week we’ll be featuring a post from Chris Castellani (our volunteer coordinator in the photo below) detailing her visit to a refugee camp in Northern Thailand.

-Dwight

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