Project title
HAPPINESS FOR FREE
English training and motorcycle helmets safety lessons for primary level children in Educational Service Area 2, Tak Province, Thailand.
Project Dates: 21/05/17 to 26/05/17.
Volunteers: Eddie Haworth, Founder/Director at Gift of Happiness Foundation. The Honourable Mr. Terry Sherwood, Bangkok. Mr & Mrs Thomas & Anita Abraham and their three children, Elisabeth, Anna and Raaya. Bangkok.
Paid staff: Khun Wanpen Sotiya (AKA Bob), sponsored by Monroe consulting Group and Khun Polchanok Buasorn sponsored by the Clown Eckie Corporation.
Transport sponsored by: Monroe Consulting Group - Clown Eckie Corporation.
Project sponsors: Geoffroy Van Innis Memorial Trust - Planet of the Crepes
Administration and location guide: Khun Rattaporn Praphawan (Boom) - Mr Eddie Haworth.
Number of beneficiaries: Around 1,100 children and teachers at 1 Orphanage/school, 5 Thai Government Schools and a remote Karen Hill-tribe Thai Government school all located around the Asia One Highway Police Patrol district in Tak Province, Northern Thailand.
Schools/Orphanages visited; Hsa Thoo Lei Orphanage/School - Banmaepanure school - Ban Pang San School - Ban Mae la Mao - Ban Houy Ra Pring Karen Hill-tribe school - Wat Sa Wang Arom school - school - Thai Rath Wittaya 61 school (Ban Houy Ya Ou)
Goods and services given: clothing - toys - educational supplies - babywear - sports gear – motorcycle helmets - Professional family entertainment shows & educational performances given by volunteer, Clown Eckie.
Total value of goods and services given; ฿-178,000.00.
Aid & Show Giving Project Report by Eddie Haworth, Founder at Gift of Happiness Foundation.
Day 1. - 20/05/17;
Eddie says...
The day of loading was due to start around 2pm with our new full time staff member, Bob and myself preparing the trucks ready for the next day’s long trip to the North of Thailand. However, I had to pop out in the car before the preparation started and when I returned from the shops, the ignition key decided to break off in the lock and I was unable to remove the broken part of the key which in-turn caused the security devices to kick-in and disable the engine from starting! This little problem would take-up the next few hours of the day with locksmiths and various other engineers being called out to fix the problem and it also tied-up Bob for the whole of that time as he was running around on his motorbike trying to find the right people to come and fix the car. It was eventually fixed at great expense to me and quite a stressful few hours of dashing around for Bob and I now have what could be the most expensive car key on planet earth?
Despite all the trials and tribulations of getting the car fixed-up, the previously arranged 3pm arrival of five volunteers at the Go Happiness Centre in Bangkok, went according to plan when the lovely family of Thomas & Anita Abraham arrived with their three children, Elisabeth, Anna and Raaya who were all set to lend an important hand in loading our trucks ready for the big trip north starting first thing Sunday 22nd May. I was unable to lift much due to an old leg wound that was playing up and also dealing with the engineers fixing the car, so the Abraham family took over the loading of our two trucks with all the usual essential supplies for the poor children we would be serving throughout the week to come.
Day 1. - 20/05/17;
Eddie says...
The day of loading was due to start around 2pm with our new full time staff member, Bob and myself preparing the trucks ready for the next day’s long trip to the North of Thailand. However, I had to pop out in the car before the preparation started and when I returned from the shops, the ignition key decided to break off in the lock and I was unable to remove the broken part of the key which in-turn caused the security devices to kick-in and disable the engine from starting! This little problem would take-up the next few hours of the day with locksmiths and various other engineers being called out to fix the problem and it also tied-up Bob for the whole of that time as he was running around on his motorbike trying to find the right people to come and fix the car. It was eventually fixed at great expense to me and quite a stressful few hours of dashing around for Bob and I now have what could be the most expensive car key on planet earth?
Despite all the trials and tribulations of getting the car fixed-up, the previously arranged 3pm arrival of five volunteers at the Go Happiness Centre in Bangkok, went according to plan when the lovely family of Thomas & Anita Abraham arrived with their three children, Elisabeth, Anna and Raaya who were all set to lend an important hand in loading our trucks ready for the big trip north starting first thing Sunday 22nd May. I was unable to lift much due to an old leg wound that was playing up and also dealing with the engineers fixing the car, so the Abraham family took over the loading of our two trucks with all the usual essential supplies for the poor children we would be serving throughout the week to come.
The three young ladies, Elisabeth, Anna and Raaya did a fantastic job of carrying around half a ton of goodies from our warehouse sorting rooms to their waiting parents who got seriously stuck into the job at hand which took a couple of hours and produced two very well loaded trucks. They managed to fill the trucks all in good time for our staff member Bob, who’d just about finished with the lock changing job, to load my Royal Enfield motorcycle onto its transportation trailer before dark.
Day 2. - 21/05/17.
This was the long driving day from the Go Happiness Centre in Bangkok to Mae Sot, Tak province, Thailand. Only myself and one other volunteer, Terry Sherwood and our paid staff member, Bob would attend this project because the other regular volunteers were all away on holiday or just visiting their homeland for family reunions etc. So no waiting around for anyone and we were able to depart before 10am and onto the Asia One Highway by about 11.30, ready for our first stop for fuel and my monthly dose of junk food from a well-known fast food outlet (Not M/D because they don’t sell food fit for human consumption?). We were restricted to 90 km/h because of the motorcycle trailer so this particular journey was going to take at least 8 hours, but as we had no problems apart from negotiating the massive re-construction work on the last 85 kilometers of the Trans Asia Highway as our little convoy traversed those last kilometers of the journey. We arrived at our usual cheap but clean and happy guest house just before dark and prepared the motorcycle and trucks for the visits to an Orphanage and school next day.
This was the long driving day from the Go Happiness Centre in Bangkok to Mae Sot, Tak province, Thailand. Only myself and one other volunteer, Terry Sherwood and our paid staff member, Bob would attend this project because the other regular volunteers were all away on holiday or just visiting their homeland for family reunions etc. So no waiting around for anyone and we were able to depart before 10am and onto the Asia One Highway by about 11.30, ready for our first stop for fuel and my monthly dose of junk food from a well-known fast food outlet (Not M/D because they don’t sell food fit for human consumption?). We were restricted to 90 km/h because of the motorcycle trailer so this particular journey was going to take at least 8 hours, but as we had no problems apart from negotiating the massive re-construction work on the last 85 kilometers of the Trans Asia Highway as our little convoy traversed those last kilometers of the journey. We arrived at our usual cheap but clean and happy guest house just before dark and prepared the motorcycle and trucks for the visits to an Orphanage and school next day.
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Day 3. - 22/05/17. Hsa Thoo Lei Orphanage & Banmaepanure School.
We set-out quite early with me riding the Enfield, Terry and Bob driving the two trucks to the orphanage that I had been assured by a very efficient English teacher, Khun Boom was close to the Airport in Mae Sot. So after around half an hour trying to find the Orphanage and becoming very hot and bothered in the process, I decided to ask the local motorcycle Taxi guys to guide us to the place we were trying so hard to find. The guys all looked at the name of the place on my android device and told me that we couldn’t possibly be further away from the place as it was in a totally different direction and on the other side of the town from the Google map location we had been given? Luckily we had set out quite a bit earlier that our normal starting time so we actually arrived at the place having followed one of the motorcycle taxi guys across town to reach the place that was very familiar to me as soon as we arrived. I have been there more than 20 times past, but this time I was told the name of the Orphanage and not the usual name of the place we were eventually led too. The orphans were brought from their residence to see the show and receive their gifts at the offices of the Burmese Migrant Education Committee (BMWEC) which has a large meeting room with a stage for me to perform the big fat buffoonery show. So we quickly set-up all the show pros and sorted out the right kind of gifts for the mainly teenage children, then I started the show about 11am. The show went down very well with the children and though it was a very hot and humid morning, I also very much enjoyed getting the children to participate in the musical mayhem part of the show and seeing their happy faces throughout the rest of the show. We chose not to give the children motorcycle crash helmets at this place because the orphans who are mainly Burmese hardly ever get a chance to ride pillion unlike the Thai children we serve, who are often riding pillion or actually driving some old motorcycle they’ve cobbled together.
We set-out quite early with me riding the Enfield, Terry and Bob driving the two trucks to the orphanage that I had been assured by a very efficient English teacher, Khun Boom was close to the Airport in Mae Sot. So after around half an hour trying to find the Orphanage and becoming very hot and bothered in the process, I decided to ask the local motorcycle Taxi guys to guide us to the place we were trying so hard to find. The guys all looked at the name of the place on my android device and told me that we couldn’t possibly be further away from the place as it was in a totally different direction and on the other side of the town from the Google map location we had been given? Luckily we had set out quite a bit earlier that our normal starting time so we actually arrived at the place having followed one of the motorcycle taxi guys across town to reach the place that was very familiar to me as soon as we arrived. I have been there more than 20 times past, but this time I was told the name of the Orphanage and not the usual name of the place we were eventually led too. The orphans were brought from their residence to see the show and receive their gifts at the offices of the Burmese Migrant Education Committee (BMWEC) which has a large meeting room with a stage for me to perform the big fat buffoonery show. So we quickly set-up all the show pros and sorted out the right kind of gifts for the mainly teenage children, then I started the show about 11am. The show went down very well with the children and though it was a very hot and humid morning, I also very much enjoyed getting the children to participate in the musical mayhem part of the show and seeing their happy faces throughout the rest of the show. We chose not to give the children motorcycle crash helmets at this place because the orphans who are mainly Burmese hardly ever get a chance to ride pillion unlike the Thai children we serve, who are often riding pillion or actually driving some old motorcycle they’ve cobbled together.
As the BMWEC offices are only a short ride from the guest house, I made an executive decision to return to my room for a quick shower and to change the dressing on my leg wounds because the pain was getting to be so uncomfortable that I couldn’t have continued with the next show without resting for a while. Bob and Terry went off to have some lunch while I did the old leg wound dressings and took a short rest. Then by about 1pm we were all ready for action again and set-off in search of the school that was marked on the G/Map as being close to the offices of another NGO that I am very familiar with, so I knew the way this time. But as I had decided not to take the motorcycle so as not to inflame the leg wounds. I went as passenger in my own truck with Terry driving and me navigating whilst happily shouting at the GPS voice every time she told us to “Make a left turn or do a U turn bla, bla, blaa!”…Anyway arrived at the school in good time to set-up the show props and unload all the goodies. We were delighted to give quite a lot of educational goods, clothing and toys to the children at this particular school which had been partly burned-down caused by an electrical fault just a couple of weeks before we arrived.
The head teacher told me that they had lost 20 of the school computers and a lot of educational materials in the fire that destroyed three classrooms, an office and a toilet block. We didn’t have any computers to give them on this trip, but we did give them plenty of educational materials and I promised to try and find some used computers/laptops before our next trip to Mae Sot in Late June.
The head teacher told me that they had lost 20 of the school computers and a lot of educational materials in the fire that destroyed three classrooms, an office and a toilet block. We didn’t have any computers to give them on this trip, but we did give them plenty of educational materials and I promised to try and find some used computers/laptops before our next trip to Mae Sot in Late June.
Day 4. - 23/05/17. Ban Pang San School - Ban Mae la Mao school - Ban Houy Ra Pring Karen Hill-tribe school.
The day started early again as we had three schools to visit and three full-on shows to give the children. So despite my leg giving a few problems, we set-out with the saying “The shows must go on!” and we were determined to give the children a great day to remember at each of the three locations. The locations of all three schools were around 40 kilometers south of Mae Sot and located far from the main road deep within some of the mountainous terrain that’s known to be difficult to reach. So with a little guidance and help from a teacher who we followed along some remote small roads, we arrived in good time to set-up and do the first show. The children were all dresses in pure white uniforms and gave us a very respectful welcome to their school whilst seated in well-ordered rows of girls on one side and boys on the other. The tightly measured rows all quickly disappeared as soon as the show started and the children had a great time. The joy lasted throughout the performance and even after the clown had finished engaging them in all sorts of mayhem and buffoonery they were all left without even a single mark on their pristine angelic outfits?
The day started early again as we had three schools to visit and three full-on shows to give the children. So despite my leg giving a few problems, we set-out with the saying “The shows must go on!” and we were determined to give the children a great day to remember at each of the three locations. The locations of all three schools were around 40 kilometers south of Mae Sot and located far from the main road deep within some of the mountainous terrain that’s known to be difficult to reach. So with a little guidance and help from a teacher who we followed along some remote small roads, we arrived in good time to set-up and do the first show. The children were all dresses in pure white uniforms and gave us a very respectful welcome to their school whilst seated in well-ordered rows of girls on one side and boys on the other. The tightly measured rows all quickly disappeared as soon as the show started and the children had a great time. The joy lasted throughout the performance and even after the clown had finished engaging them in all sorts of mayhem and buffoonery they were all left without even a single mark on their pristine angelic outfits?
Still only about 10.30am, we went straight off to the second school of the day which was only a few kilometers from the first one, so we arrived there with plenty of time to set-up and give the Happiness to a slightly smaller audience than were at the first school. These children were also dressed in very white clothing but this time with a logo on the back so we weren’t too confused as to which school we were visiting. The children were just as regimented as the last ones and very quickly became unregimented as soon as the show started. They also had a great day to remember and we were more than happy to have giving them so much Happiness to carry with them for ever more.
After a very quick lunch in a delightful little place that was actually someone’s home turned restaurant, we were led back to the main Asia 1 Highway about 15 kilometers away from the remote eatery, by another teacher driving his 4x4 truck. Then after a short trip along the Highway, we turned off onto a rough track that was to be the start of an 8 kilometer long journey through the mountains. We crossed five small rivers and our little convoy of vehicles managed to scale up and down some very steep potholed tracks that have been hewed out of the jungle by the people who live in a Karen hilltribe village located at the a-top a high peak close to the tree-line. Though my truck is made for the kind of off road driving we had to do in order to reach the village…I was amazed to see that Terry who was driving the second Go Happiness truck, had been blessed with having such great experience and military know-how as to make it possible for him to drive the two wheel/drive vehicle along such a difficult path that is really best suited to be traversed in military track vehicles. I have a great deal of respect for Terry’s driving ability and just as much great respect for Mitsubishi who produced such a robust truck and of course my great thanks go to Monroe Consulting Group who bought the truck for us in 2015.
After a very quick lunch in a delightful little place that was actually someone’s home turned restaurant, we were led back to the main Asia 1 Highway about 15 kilometers away from the remote eatery, by another teacher driving his 4x4 truck. Then after a short trip along the Highway, we turned off onto a rough track that was to be the start of an 8 kilometer long journey through the mountains. We crossed five small rivers and our little convoy of vehicles managed to scale up and down some very steep potholed tracks that have been hewed out of the jungle by the people who live in a Karen hilltribe village located at the a-top a high peak close to the tree-line. Though my truck is made for the kind of off road driving we had to do in order to reach the village…I was amazed to see that Terry who was driving the second Go Happiness truck, had been blessed with having such great experience and military know-how as to make it possible for him to drive the two wheel/drive vehicle along such a difficult path that is really best suited to be traversed in military track vehicles. I have a great deal of respect for Terry’s driving ability and just as much great respect for Mitsubishi who produced such a robust truck and of course my great thanks go to Monroe Consulting Group who bought the truck for us in 2015.
Go Happiness trucks made it to the top of the world!
When we eventually arrived at the village on top of the mountains, we were greeted by a great audience of mainly Karen students who had gone all-out to make themselves look a smart as possible so as to show their great respect for having us make such a tough journey to see them. They don’t see many westerners apart from missionaries and doctors up in that village. So I was pleased to see they were really happy to have such a rare opportunity to be visited by some old clown who wasn’t there to try indoctrinating them into any kind of spiritual fantasy or start sticking needles into them. I must say…“I just love doing what I do for impoverished people who never have to give anything in return?”
We gave the children here a lot more goodies than most other places we visited during this aid and show giving project tour because they are simply in great need of everything we gave them. The show also went down very well indeed and though it lasted about 15 minutes longer than expected, all the children stayed right to the end, before dispersing into the hills and forest to make their way back home.
We gave the children here a lot more goodies than most other places we visited during this aid and show giving project tour because they are simply in great need of everything we gave them. The show also went down very well indeed and though it lasted about 15 minutes longer than expected, all the children stayed right to the end, before dispersing into the hills and forest to make their way back home.
Day 5. - 24/05/17. Wat Sawang Arom school - Thai Rath Wittaya 61 School.
This would be the last day of aid giving and shows on this month’s project tour and we headed back to the same area as before, about 35 kilometers south of Mae Sot to a school located well off the beaten track to start the days “Happiness Giving”. The first school was tucked away in the forest, but when we arrived we found a very well maintained set of school buildings and an audience of children eager to see the show. This was the day when all the children and teachers wear their scout and guide uniforms as is the tradition to do once-a week at all Thai Government schools. So we were greeted by a very well regimented and disciplined audience who found it hard to just let rip and relax into enjoying the show…but soon after Terry had a quiet word with the head teacher, about 5 minutes into the show…the whole room suddenly filled with unabashed joyful mayhem! We were delighted have received such a great welcome and much appreciation for the goods and show we gave from all the children and teachers.
This would be the last day of aid giving and shows on this month’s project tour and we headed back to the same area as before, about 35 kilometers south of Mae Sot to a school located well off the beaten track to start the days “Happiness Giving”. The first school was tucked away in the forest, but when we arrived we found a very well maintained set of school buildings and an audience of children eager to see the show. This was the day when all the children and teachers wear their scout and guide uniforms as is the tradition to do once-a week at all Thai Government schools. So we were greeted by a very well regimented and disciplined audience who found it hard to just let rip and relax into enjoying the show…but soon after Terry had a quiet word with the head teacher, about 5 minutes into the show…the whole room suddenly filled with unabashed joyful mayhem! We were delighted have received such a great welcome and much appreciation for the goods and show we gave from all the children and teachers.
After being treated to a very nice lunch at the school itself, we and our vehicles were all lined-up in convoy to follow a teacher back to the main Asia 1 Highway and headed south for a few kilometers to reach one of the many police checkpoints dotted along the Highway. Once we cleared through the checkpoint we turned off the road into a large school that I have been meaning to visit ever since my first trip of very many to the province, way back in 2002. I was not at all disappointed to be greeted by the head teacher and all the children who were clearly delighted to have us stop-by their school that is usually just passed-by. The road has a constant stream of NGO vehicles carrying aid and all sorts of other western NGO volunteers traveling to the Thai/Burma border City of Mae Sot. But I think we were the first group of westerners to ever visit the school that sits right by the main road and all the children made it very clear how happy they were to see us. It also struck me that the children were full of self-confidence and eager to learn whatever we had to teach them, as they understood we were there to participate in English trainer’s primary level teaching program.
The show was a great success and the teachers were thrilled to see the children doing so well during the parts of the show when I engage them in a sort of mass participation extravaganza with up-to 20 children making silly musical noises on all sorts of squeaky toys and homemade instruments. After the show and handing over all the goodies, our small group were invited to receive a lovely personalized Certificate of Appreciation and I was asked to sign several more Certificates for the teachers to keep. We left the school quite late in the afternoon before heading back to Mae Sot to spend our last night in the City, at least until next time we go in late June. I received a call from the head teacher asking if we could please call-in to the school again next day when we were due to pass-by on our way back to Bangkok. I agreed to do so and mentioned that we would like to have the children on stand-by so we could give them some last minute instruction on the motorcycle safety helmet incentive to promote the wearing of crash helmets for kids.
The show was a great success and the teachers were thrilled to see the children doing so well during the parts of the show when I engage them in a sort of mass participation extravaganza with up-to 20 children making silly musical noises on all sorts of squeaky toys and homemade instruments. After the show and handing over all the goodies, our small group were invited to receive a lovely personalized Certificate of Appreciation and I was asked to sign several more Certificates for the teachers to keep. We left the school quite late in the afternoon before heading back to Mae Sot to spend our last night in the City, at least until next time we go in late June. I received a call from the head teacher asking if we could please call-in to the school again next day when we were due to pass-by on our way back to Bangkok. I agreed to do so and mentioned that we would like to have the children on stand-by so we could give them some last minute instruction on the motorcycle safety helmet incentive to promote the wearing of crash helmets for kids.
Day 6. - 25/05/17. Second visit to Thai Rath Wittaya 61 School en-route to Bangkok.
We had to leave the guest house earlier than the usual departure time when we are heading back to Bangkok to avoid the rush hour traffic at the end of such a long drive, because of the unscheduled stop at the Police checkpoint school. So we duly arrived at the school soon after the National Anthem had been played and I negotiated the motorcycle trailer in revers up-to the place where the children were waiting eagerly to see the bike and even sit astride the machine for photos wearing the helmets. The teacher asked me to sign another 15 Certificates for all the teachers who’s attended the previous day’s English Training Program we gave them, then we departed to the sounds of some very happy students and teachers wishing us safe journeys until next time we visit them. We arrived back at the Go Happiness Centre in Bangkok about 5 pm and Terry only had to take a short Taxi ride home just in time for his family evening meal followed by story-time for his wife and daughter who hadn’t been able to join this trip.
End Report by Eddie Haworth.
We had to leave the guest house earlier than the usual departure time when we are heading back to Bangkok to avoid the rush hour traffic at the end of such a long drive, because of the unscheduled stop at the Police checkpoint school. So we duly arrived at the school soon after the National Anthem had been played and I negotiated the motorcycle trailer in revers up-to the place where the children were waiting eagerly to see the bike and even sit astride the machine for photos wearing the helmets. The teacher asked me to sign another 15 Certificates for all the teachers who’s attended the previous day’s English Training Program we gave them, then we departed to the sounds of some very happy students and teachers wishing us safe journeys until next time we visit them. We arrived back at the Go Happiness Centre in Bangkok about 5 pm and Terry only had to take a short Taxi ride home just in time for his family evening meal followed by story-time for his wife and daughter who hadn’t been able to join this trip.
End Report by Eddie Haworth.
Next aid and show giving project will take place during the last week of June 2017 and we are now inviting volunteers to join us for what will be yet another life enhancing experience of giving tons of Happiness to another 1,000 or so children in need.
HELP US MAKE EVEN MORE PEOPLE HAPPY!
We know there are lots of people who believe in what we are doing to support so many poor people in Thailand. This is where you can really make a difference!
We know there are lots of people who believe in what we are doing to support so many poor people in Thailand. This is where you can really make a difference!
"Every donation ONLY goes to help the poor people we serve!"
| Via ATM or Android to: Account Name: Gift of Happiness Foundation Address: Kasikorn Bank PLC. BIG-C Rama 4, Bangkok. 10110. Account No:7702101594. Account Type: Savings. Sort Code: 0004. Outside Thailand. Swift Code: KASITHBK. Currency Converter | *Clothing - Adult and Children’s / New or Used. *Toys - "No toy weapons please". *School equipment - Paper, pencils etc *Playground equipment - Always very welcome *Medical supplies - anything available at pharmacies. *Bedding - Essential for most northern locations. *Toweling - Can also be used for bedding. *Personal hygiene - Soap, toothpaste/brushes etc. *Mosquito nets - Helps prevent Malaria and Dengue. *Other useful goods - We know what's needed. READ MORE>> |
