Our first day here and a visit to the temple in Doisuket
The Christmas Celebration (that I posted the video about) when the families of all the children staying at the home came to celebrate with them. Remember Nhu works to prevent the continuing use of children in the sex trade industry by offering children who are in environements that put them at risk of being sold or told to "go find work in the city" scholarships. With the scholarship they come live in the children's home, get meals three times a day (for some this in it's self is something new), and a full education for as long as they can progress through school (so if they graduate high school and want to go to college, the scholarship covers that). Remember Nhu though works to maintain good relationships with the parents who let their children come in live in the home so that they can share the love of Chirst not only with the children but with their whole family.
Just some typical camp fire goodness in the evenings and games with the girls. Plus my living quarters for the first week and one of the girls being responsible and working on her homework.
Our trip to see the largest Budhist temple in Northern Thailand. The princess was actually visiting the same day so we had to wait until she left to go in, luckily there was a beautiful waterfall just around the corner that we got to enjoy during our wait. It was kind of crazy when we finally did get to go up. You have to buy a ticket to get up there and there is a tram that takes you to the actual temple. It's at the top of a mountain and has one beautiful view, which is what I found the most beautiful part, and is also full of gold adorned building, statues, and even bells. People were everywhere, including tons of tourists and then people coming to pay tribute to their god by bowing down before statues, putting money in what seemed like the hundreds of offerings boxes, and laying downl all kinds of other offereings (which you could buy right outside the temple).
Our New Years Eve celebration with the kids full of testimony sharing, all kinds of games and snacks (including seaweed chips.. pretty tasty) and the lantern send off at midnight.
Our visit to the Hilltribes, which is where many of the children here at the home come from. Many of the people in the Hilltribes will resort to selling their children of sending them to work in the city so they can send money back home. It was a realization, walking around this village, of this fact as there were not many teenage girls or boys to be seen and very few young ones any where. Mam, one of the house mom's that got us an invite to the tribe from the chief (you have to recieve an invite in order to come) pointed out to us a really nice house when we were walking around and told us how that family had two of their daughters working in the bars of Chiang Mai and that is how they could afford such a house. Things like this influence other members of the village to do the same as they see only the profit from it. Luckily Remember Nhu has created relationships with a lot of the Chiefs of these tribes and educated them on what is really happening when the girls "go to the city for work" and now many of the Chiefs will refer families to Remember Nhu if they see the children at risk of such a future.
