The Rayong Ladies Circle (RLC) has been involved with the Huay Pong for a long time. Each year longtime RLC member Khun Tiew from Phu Luang organizes the Phu Luang funfest in cooperation with the RLC. With the proceeds of this family fest, which is held once a year in November, we are able to give some of the children of the Huay Pong a school education and a better chance on the employment market.

A day at the beach is enjoyed and appreciated no matter the weather

Another activity we have been involved with is taking a group of children for a beach outing every month. We go to the navy beach in Sattahip. The children enjoy the sea and the food and get a chance to experience a carefree day out.

Food is also involved in our cooking classes at the center. Every now and then we ask the children what they would like to have for lunch, and under the expert guidance of Khun Tiew a group of RLC members gathers in the institutes’ kitchen to prepare a meal for all 300 kids.

Of course these activities are fun and exciting for the children and give them a chance to break out of their every day activities. However, at the end of the day it is back to the institute, back to bad housing with none-existing hygiene facilities. So we RLC members decided to get involved in the improvement of the Huay Pong children’s’ living conditions…..

We had to start somewhere and we are only a small group. First we needed a project, thus the “Huay Pong Development Plan” was drafted, the renovation of 6 buildings. Next we needed money. Asking for sponsorships, collecting money through activities we can organize, and ‘spreading the word’ were the top items on the list. So we decided to organize a Christmas 2001 raffle to collect money for the first improvements, new mattresses and pillows for the children.

But the expat community appears a small, closely knit one and word started spreading that we were trying to improve the conditions at the Huay Pong institute. One of our first contacts was Mrs. Jill Thomas from St. Andrews International School. Through her we were introduced to Lewis “Woody” Underwood, the chairman of the Jesters Care 4 Kids Charity Drives (JCD), and the British Community in Thailand Foundation for the Needy (BCTFN). From this point on the whole system started rolling. Before we knew it we had a 4.3 million project on our hands.

At the time this article was written, the works were in full progress at one of the buildings at the boys’ side, sponsored by the BCTFN. This will be finished by April 20th, 2002.

Since the JCD agreed to renovate Building A, two buildings remain at the boys’ side that have to be taken care of. Unfortunately they are in such a bad condition that renovating is out of the question. The best, and really only option, is to tear them down and build one new building consisting of 2 floors. This will cost about 3 million Baht and we are still looking for sponsors for this project.

In the meantime we found a Danish group in Bangkok willing to sponsor the renovation of 1 building at the girls’ side and partly pay for the replacement of the roof of the office of the social workers, the material being donated by a private individual. We would like to stress the fact that we are also very pleased with sponsored building materials, which will lower the costs of the renovation.

Another example of a most welcome donation is the Garden International School in Ban Chang. They held a special Huay Pong week raising money and getting 300 pillows. St. Andrews International School in Ban Chang raised money to spend on mattresses.

So at this point in time we are still looking for sponsors for the 2 buildings at the boys’ side and 1 building at the girls’ side, and for money for 150 mattresses. It may be clear that any shop or factory that wants to donate them is more than welcome to do so.