On Monday, Mike and I went with the staff of Cornerstone to help sponsor a Christmas party at a local hospital that runs a program for children with autism. That definition seemed to be pretty broad, and there were children of a variety of ages. Some enjoyed the program more than others due to the stimulation and loud sound system, but everyone enjoyed the gifts. One of the Cornerstone directors has a husband that makes a great santa, so he braved the heat, wore the suit, and was a big hit with the kids. We all sang songs both in Thai and English and finished off with a delicious meal with the staff, children, and we believe some of their parents.
This morning, I attended another Christmas party put on at a place called House of Blessing and House of Love. House of Blessing is a "day care" that we would call preschool, and is for minority children that live in the slums of Chiang Mai. The goal is for them to learn Thai well enough that they are allowed entry into a Thai school come first grade. It also provides them with benefits such as food on a regular basis and a uniform to wear. The same site hosts a home called House of Love for children who do not have living parents or relatives. Several of them were deaf, and most had HIV which is well controlled with anti-viral medication. All of them were delightful! The program was lengthy, with many songs and dances, a message, and then more songs and dances. The pre-schoolers were so well organized, happy, and performed their songs and motions with great enthusiasm. My favorite part was when a little group of girls were doing a dance which involved them dancing in a big circle while holding special little dishes filled with flower petals which they were tossing into the air in a very rhythmic way. It was so fun to watch it looked like it would be even more fun to be a part of it, which is exactly what a young sibling decided to do. Looking about two, he/she charged right up front, leaped onto the stage, and joined right into the dance for a couple of rounds, and then jumped back of to the stage and returned to the crowd. I didn't know exactly what I was getting into, so I failed to bring my camera. But you can learn more about this fabulous establishment here: http://www.internationalministries.org/teams/52-brown. I had a chance to meet their director, who was a precious woman with such an evident love for all of the children, and their love was evident towards her as well. This site tells more about her work, and has lots of pictures of the children I was with today. Again, we finished off the program with a fabulous lunch. I don't know what the soup was called, but essentially it was blood soup. Noodles, yummy broth, and cubes of congealed blood. They were very kind to hold back the blood in my portion since I am farang (foreigner), but I told Mike I would have at least liked to have tried it. He told me it was better that I didn't, and I'm totally okay with that.
I'll leave you with one final image... Our Christmas decorations at our house will be shared with you another day, but can't wait to share with you my new favorite Christmas tree which is located just down the street from our neighborhood. Merry Christmas from Thailand!
Who knew that Mike was actually wearing Christmas colors?!
Merry Christmas to you too. Thanks for sharing.
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