"Baan Dada children's home and community services is a project of the Neohumanist Foundation. It started as a boys home in Huay Ma Lai village, Sangklaburi, Kanchanaburi province in 1994, in an effort to protect the growing number of disadvantaged children in the area. Sangklaburi borders Burma (Myanmar) where many refugees and migrant families moved to this area due to poverty, disease, and political repression by the Burmese military Government."

Back home i decided i wanted to experience first handily what it is like to volunteer. I choose an appealing children's home just near the boarder of Burma and Thailand.
I prepared myself mentally for the basic rules and way of life at the home.
- Vegetarian diet (easy as i am one)
- Anything other than tofu, veggies and rice is rarely eaten (little harder)
- No smoking, no drugs and no ALCOHOL (okay far the hardest)!
I arrived expecting to give back to the world instead i got alot more than i bargained for and ended up gaining love, compassion and overall love and appreciation for my life.
The past month i have been constantly surrounded by snotty, screaming, sweaty children, experienced severe diarrhea for several days, realized i most likely have nits, detoxed my body of junk food, alcohol and basically all things bad for you and lived in a sleepy town 10 hours drive North West of Bangkok with not only 60 children but lizards, geckos, scorpions, mossies and millions of flies.
Looking back one would never imagine that i could leave this home in such a peaceful, joyful and appreciative mind... yet i have.
I already know how difficult it is going to be for me to write this blog and find the correct words to use about my time at the home..... BUT i will give it a go. Be prepared it may be long.
Begging from the beginning i woke in Bangkok early to the sounds of traffic and opening shops on Sunday the 5th. I caught a taxi to the Southern Bus terminal where the language barrier was clearly highlighted. I am till not sure what part of me (my mind or body) decided to catch the 10 hour public bus with hard seats and no air-con instead of choosing the 6 hour VIP coach with air-con and reclining seats however i ended up on it and off we went. The drive was all things expected for a public bus- Long, tiring, hot and crowded. It was also all things not expected- beautiful views, pleasant and friendly people who i attempted to chat to and kind of enjoyable.

I arrived in the town of Sangklaburi and after realizing this is actually for real jumped on a motorbike with myself, one man, my backpack and 2 extra bags and we headed for the home. (Well that's where i planned to go.)
After driving through the hills at sunset i thought nothing could change my mood as i was truly at peace with my decision to volunteer... ha that was until we got lost. Trying to catch the last of the sunlight to find directions all i could do was laugh and say to myself "Sophie what the f*** where you thinking"

Finally finding the home i arrived and was greeted by the two Dadas, 50 odd smiling children and Debbie an experienced volunteer who stayed an extra night to fill me in on the home. Trying not to fall asleep at dinner i managed to get the basic facts on the home and headed to the volunteers house. Those who volunteer at the home have considerably better living conditions than the children (which of course i felt dead guilty about). Our house is a few minutes walk from the main home and has two sides to it. Each side sleeps around 8 people. Most of the time i along with the medic i was the only one in the house. Falling asleep i was amazed at the constant noises and bugs surrounding me - all i kept thinking was Tamara would not like this place at all! Despite all these noises i slept like a log and woke feeling refreshed and energized.

The first few days where tiring but enjoyable. I settled in quicker than expected and was instantly made welcome and felt like family already. My daily routine went something like this. Morning i would teach English to the younger children which was sometimes successful sometimes not. By teaching English i mean first playing games such as hokey poky and duck duck goose, then getting the children to count to ten and sing the ABC. I would often use flash cards and books and then for around 1/2 an hour try and get them to trace and write words in English. The young young ones would just color and scribble.

All in all there was around 8 kids in this class and they where the first names i learnt as i spent the most time with them. After teaching i would spend 1/2 to one hour with Whallawut a very special and affectionate boy who has some learning difficulties. He has recently had an operation on his eye so i would also do activities for his eyesight along with teaching him English. After the morning i would often be exhausted and shattered. Lunch would be served and more children would want to cuddle and play with you. The children at the home are so so affectionate it is unbelievable. There would always be one either sitting on your lap, playing with your hands, tickling you or giving you a massage. The afternoons at the home would consist of a mix of administration and computer work, teaching the girls English, the boys maths, simply just playing/watching the children's games and selling at the market. Before i arrived i got told that i could help the children sell things at the market in Sangklaburi and i had no clue what to expect. I soon found out. The home is constantly given packages of dolls, clothes, school supplies and knick knacks. Of course somethings they use/need but alot they don't. So the Dadas and some volunteers decided to improve their maths skills and to get them to interact with others outside of the home to set up a market and sell these left over items. There stall is just two tables with all the items on them. Sometimes they would sell lots others not so much. I enjoyed going along with them and by the end learnt some Thai just so i could be laughed at by the customers for mispronunciation.

I quickly discovered how fast time goes at the home. It just flys by. After 5 days of routine i was looking forward to having the company of another volunteer. In one night two just happened to arrive. One was Tracy from Hong Kong who is a tropical medicine specialist staying for three days to help the home on the vaccination program. Tracy is the complete opposite to me however I really enjoyed her company and always got a good laugh from here comments. I was shocked at how she hated bugs and yet she study s tropical medicine but I soon learnt how good and how much she loves her job. The other volunteer was Amy for the UK. We just seemed to click right from the biggining and during her time at the home (just over a week) we had many chats on just about everything and anything. It did not take long for us to discover how many similar characteristics we shared.

The next morning we woke and where told to pack as we where off to the floating house in Sangklaburi for the Thai New Year. Us, the children, pots, pans, food and rubber tubes (for swimming) where shoved in the ute and off we went. The next three days was full of fun, games, swimming, swimming and more swimming. The house was just a simple bamboo hut on water and as I thought where do we all sleep I realized i was standing on it... the floor. Me and Amy where true lifeguards and where always on watch as some of the kids where a little sketchy in the swimming department and it scared the living daylights out of us. The water was oh so tempting so it didn't take long for us to become lifeguards from in the water. That night suffering sunburn and exhaustion from so much swimming and playing we went off to the local high schools annual concert. The night was a lot of fun as we where continually entertained by drunken teenage Thais letting loose at a school concert. (The whiskey was continually poured and It was hard to decline but I had to due to the detox). Crashed that night not even noticing the 50 odd kids sleeping all over me but trying not to think ok if I don't have nits already I will tomorrow. The next morning I was welcomed to the world of travelers diarrhea which lasted the next few days. On our last day we took the small kids for a walk along the longest wooden bridge in Thailand into the Mon village and something happened to me that has never happened (well above the age of 3) I pooped my pants. Hahaha laugh all you want cause at the time that is all Amy and I could do. Oh the experiences of traveling.

Overall the holidays where a lot of fun and I really enjoyed it. But after 3 days of children constantly surrounding you I was needing alone time so was thankful for an afternoon of rest and relaxing.

The remaining time at the home was spent doing my usual daily routine along with working on the vaccination program, organizing the bookmarks and cards they draw and sell, writing the monthly newsletter and of course many more hours of playing and cuddling the children. I rode on a motorbike with 5 people, I went to my first ever church service and I was put through extreme pain as I spent one afternoon working along side 5 men to help build the girls dormitory. I carried buckets and buckets of cement and by the end of the day was weak, exhausted and began feeling my raw hands blistering. But it was all worth it and next time when I return to the home the dorm will be built and I can officially say I helped.

I honestly admit that I was sometimes lonely and developed a certain love hate relationship with the home. Obviously a LOT more of the time I loved it but sometimes I really needed alone time and just could not get it. These feelings would quickly go as a magical moment would happen. These special moments are impossible to put to words put could be anything from watching one of the children give the last spoon of dinner to another or been squeezed so hard when one of the children randomly gives you a hug.

The Dadas are the two most selfless people I have ever met who I will always remember for their compassion and love for others. They work so hard and have actually given up everything and I mean EVERYTHING for the lives of others. Not only does Dada one (us volunteers call them Dada one and two) run the home he has also developed many community projects to benefit a lot more people. If only there was more people like him....

Dada two spends a lot more time at the home and I have had and enjoyed so many chats with him. He is such a kind man who has the biggest and most friendly smile ever. He taught me so much. I will never forget when he explained Neohumanism to me. He explained universal love and values, And to love beyond barriers. These barriers could be everything from family and friends to religion or nationality. He told me this is how war starts and how few people can actually love past there own people. I will always remember this and from now on I too will try my hardest to love beyond barriers.

I view my time a the home as a time of self discovery. I learnt from others and am slowly been educated on meditation. I am only at the beginning of the path but know I will continue to learn throughout my travels and life. I have been mediating every morning and night even if it is just for a short time and slowly learning to clear my mind. Before every meal the children say a prayer. I too would often put my hands together and close my eyes but I could never work out what they where saying. On my last evening I asked Dada and he told me. The first section is on appreciation for the food and not wasting any (all scraps got to either other children or the goats) and the second part he translated for me. This is what they say.

“Do all good you can,

In all ways you can,

To all the people you can,

Whenever you can,

For as long as you can.”

The tears ran down my face that night sitting in the kitchen watching them say their prayer and they still continue to build up as I repeat this as part of my meditation two times a day.

There are two pictures in the homes kitchen of children from Africa who are clearly starved and malnourished. I often caught the children glancing at this when they said their prayer. All the children in the home come from either extremely poor families themselves, or do not have a family at all yet they are so so grateful. They are grateful to be able to eat three meals a day, they are grateful for the Dadas love, they are grateful to be able to sleep on a hard floor and they are grateful to be able to have a family of 60 who at times may drive them up the wall but they all love and care for this family of theirs. As the tears are running down my face I realize I have learnt so much from these children the most important lesson been appreciation. I have gained appreciation for my life and childhood and I will always thank the children for teaching me this. I know I will return to the home but until then keep smiling Baandada as I know I will whenever I think of you.

Peace, love and happiness to all beyond ALL barriers.