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At Home&Life we provide the children with a daily routine including life skills training, school homework and reading, all of which can help them to develop their ability to earn as they get older. Our life skills training activities cover basic things that the children need to know as part of everyday life, like helping with cooking, cleaning and tidying their rooms.
When the children return from school in the afternoons they often spend time gardening and learning about agriculture in our organic garden. They also love painting and making products such as T-shirts, handbags and other handcraft souvenirs for our “Gallery” in the Home&Life coffee shop and bakery. This also helps them to earn some money which they can save for their futures.
Under Thai regulations children have to leave the foundation when they are 18 years old so that younger children can be taken in. However at this age some children still need the love and care of a family and may not be quite ready to face life on their own. Therefore if they are able to earn money they can pay for their own accommodation at the foundation, any experience gained working on the projects will help the older children find suitable employment within the area, therefore allowing them to stay at the foundation.
The children also have extra English language lessons every week with the volunteer teachers from Teacher Volunteer Centre (TVC) who come and run fun activity lessons with the children. We also support any of the children who have talents interests in other things like singing, swimming or boxing etc.
This is our latest project and started in Feb 2012, a 'learn and earn' shop for coffee, snacks and the sale of the handcraft items made by the children. The foundation has developed an onsite bakery which is where the goods are freshly baked. In the past, international volunteers with cooking and baking skills have been kind enough to teach the adults at the foundation how to make items such as bread, muffins, cookies and pizza! We are now able to make these to sell in the shop and at the local market.
The older children work in the coffee shop at the weekends, providing them with the training and experience of a working environment which will help them in the future.
The Coffee & Bakery shop were builted and support by donors, friend and family
special thanks for Dutch organisations , KIWANIS Nijmegen, Wilde Ganzen.
Special thanks to Mr.Albert Zwartjes.
Hydroponics is a subset of hydro culture and is a method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions, in water, without soil. Terrestrial plants may be grown with their roots in the mineral nutrient solution only or in an inert medium, such as perlite, gravel, biochar, mineral wool, expanded clay pebbles or coconut husk and in our case is to build the instruct and using the sponge for planting !
The Hydroponics Garden’s instructs has been included several sponsors as we saw a lot of profit we can gain for the children include the skills they’ll learn from not only the skill of planting but also the skill of selling and refund the income. And since in every years we will get the effect from the raining season which take most of the years, its cost too much damage and interrupted the normal planting system as our thick soil hold the rain and let most of our plant soaked. Then to avoid this non good environment we find the way to solution and how to gain enough vegetable which can also reduce the most cost of our home!
Then we are more than thank you to all the sponsor who has support this project to be happen we’ll keep running up and improve our skills which will pass on to our children in all profit we get!
Thai dancing is very much part of our culture
something that every child should know and learn about.
We run classes for all the children who want to join in. They are led by Kate one of our teachers who taught Thai dancing professionally until the tsunami.
Our older children are now so good that we give performances around the area as well as entertaining guests who visit us at Home & Life. The younger children also take part in the performances, usually in the folk or modern style.
Everyone has a lot of fun and thoroughly enjoys these performances. This is another project aimed at making us self-sustaining as each performance is paid for and generates income.
Handicrafts are something all the children enjoy doing. This project is another step on the way to the children becoming self-sufficient and it gives them valuable lessons both in making the items and in seeing how this kind of venture is run. This is also how many Thai families earn money to provide for their families.
Some of the items that the children make and sell are:
Fire Lanterns that rise into the night sky
Necklaces, bracelets and wristbands
Paintings and postcards - all our own work
T-shirts in various designs and sizes.
During the tourist season, you will find the children selling their handcrafts and yummy banana muffins, cookies and bread at the Bang Niang Saturday afternoon market ... stop by and help them develop their selling techniques!
Food is one of the biggest expenses at the foundation. Since opening the foundation there has always been a garden, this allows us to grow our own food such as chillies (we need a lot of this!), garlic, Thai basil, lemongrass and long beans.
Recently a hydroponic (‘plants without soil’) garden has been set up to grow vegetables such as lettuce, spinach, pak choi and mushrooms. As well as providing food for the foundation, any surplus crops are sold at local markets. We are aiming to increase the size of the hydroponic garden as eventually we would like to be able to supply some of the local hotels and restaurants in Phuket, providing further essential funds for the foundation.
Some of the children have taken an interest in gardening and get involved in planting and helping to grow the crops.
All of our children go to school and for each child we pay for the essential items needed for school, such as uniforms, books and stationery. We make sure they get to and from school safely by using our Home&Life truck. This is not always easy as costs keep rising, especially fuel for the truck.
Education is the key to the children's future: if they can learn, they have a chance of becoming successful adults who can then take care of their own families when the time comes.
But learning is far more than just school lessons. We teach them the right way to live so that they can help in our community and live well with others. The children are given responsibilities as part of our family and this is important for their futures too.
Extra lessons are provided whenever possible. Volunteer Teacher Thailand volunteers come every Wednesday after school to teach English and they have also been taught western cooking.
We are fortunate to have a member of our staff who is willing to teach the children who are interested and want to learn Thai dancing.
Finance and business are very important for the children's future and we try to teach them how to manage money. They are involved in all our projects to help support Home & Life.
“Learn and Journey for Life" Home & Life’s summer trip every child has a dream and many dreams need to support.
One of the most important things is how we can providing the chance of each dream to be fulfill, our summer trip 2014 was one of the ideas that we think it can provide them the best way to see and think what and which way is for them.
Not just only “traveling” but also interferes with the knowledge of the various different cultures, traditional, new experience. So then the project" Learn and Journey for Life" Home & Life would like to thank you for all Staff, all the sponsors who has been always kindness, work hard and support this trip to be happen! All the Best Hope to see you next year again.