Today was our first day of seeing how the organization really works and what type of workshops they do. We would be visiting Baan Nokkamin Foundation (The House of the Homeless Birds). About Baan Nokkamin Foundation: " It is a private foundation registered under the Thai law as a non-profit organization. It is a home for orphans, street/ homeless children, less privileged children and children from broken families in Thailand. The foundation was established in 1989 by Mr. Erwin Groedli, a missionary from Switzerland, who initially rented a room for homeless children to live in. As more children came to the house, the need for another room came up and eventually the Baan Nokkamin Foundation came into existence. Baan Nokkamin Foundation adopts a family/home style approach as a system of upbrining the street children and running the Foundation. The members of the staff are real husband and wife and their sole purpose in to run these homes on a full-time basis alongside raising their own children. Each family accommodates about 10 children and parents take care of their daily needs. The children receive love and care and are offered proper education, until they are able to live on their own, so that they can be in a position to help others and benefit society" (ARI Orientation Handbook, May 11, 2016). The day started at 9:30 when we were picked up from the volunteer house. Then we went to pick up Pepo, who is the project coordinator and our translator at workshops. The drive to Baan Nokkamin Foundation house was about 45 minutes (I fell asleep). Once we arrived the girls (Cat, Carina, Pepo) greeted the home and went to work. Meanwhile, Emma (Art Director), Sarah, Maggie and I had our ARI orientation at a small outdoor cafe. Emma gave us the run down of what is expected, how lesson plans are created, a description of some of the community centres we visit most often or who we will be seeing in the next couple of weeks. We shared our stories and how we found/ knew we wanted to participate in ARI. Emma also told us her story. Emma completed a Major in French and a Minor in Fine Arts at St. FX. When she found out about ARI she stalked the program for a while through their blog, wanting to make sure it was legitimate. She came to ARI for 3 months and loved it. Upon her return home she was trying to decide what her next move would be, when she received a phone call from the retiring Art Director. They offered her the job and has been here for a year and a half now. Emma says her main priority at ARI is to make a safe space for art to take place and to help people understand that it is no longer for the elite/ select few, it is a mode of communication and allows people (Thai especially) to express feelings that are otherwise kept inside. After our fun chat we headed back to the Foundation to help the other girls. The 10 girls that stay at the house had completed a mural and our job was just to finish it up. The girls were helping us paint and also making a mess, it was a lot of fun! The final product was breath taking! The girls did an absolutely wonderful job. At around 3 o'clock it would be time to head home and unfortunately for me my day would take a turn for the worse. I get very, very car sick/ motion sickness, and in Thailand a lot of driving is stop and go/ speed up and they drive standard. Mixed with the heat, most likely dehydration, and exhaustion I became very sick. I made it home and proceeded to sleep from 4:30- 6 am the next morning. I feel much better now! | |