Gift of Happiness Foundation Aid & Show Giving Project 06/12/15 to 10/12/15.
Special Christmas project is 23/12/15 to 27/12/15. (Published here by end Dec 2015).
Gift of Happiness Foundation (GoHF) is proud to be collaborating with UNICEF and the Burmese Migrant Workers' Education Committee, both of whom are helping us visit the very poorest migrant schools that somehow manage to exist in the northern regions close to the Thai/Burma border.
Just one of thousands of poor kids that so much need a little happiness in their lives!
Preparation and loading of two trucks were undertaken by Eddie Haworth (Director at GoHF) at the foundation's warehouse in Bangkok during most of the day on Sunday 06/12/15. Eddie also gave some baby essentials to a local single mother who lives close by the foundation warehouse in Bangkok.
Then an early start was made on Monday 07/12/15 for the long drive, with only Eddie and our regular driver, Mr. Amarin Nissasoka, taking the two trucks up to Mae Sot in Tak province, Northern Thailand. This time the journey would take nearly 9 hours because we needed to stop off in Ayutthaya as Eddie had some technical difficulties with his android device, which contained much of the information he needed to find the remote locations we were to visit during the planned week ahead.
We still managed to arrive soon after the other volunteers' flight landed at the small airport just before dark. These volunteers were Mr. and Mrs. Antione/Emmie Van Innis and Mr. Ben Calberg, who were invited along to help by teaching some Thai language and organizing some extra fun and games for the children when we arrived at each location. Mr. Van Innis is the brother of our dearly departed friend and strong supporter of our charity, Mr. Geoffroy Van Innis, who sadly passed away in March of 2015. This project was partly funded by Fab Card Asia, Pacific Cross Insurance, Horton International and a very kind donation of money from the Geoffroy Van Innis Memorial Fund, and we also dedicated one of the shows in the name of Geoffroy and Antione’s grandfather, who also passed away just a couple of days before this project was started.
Then an early start was made on Monday 07/12/15 for the long drive, with only Eddie and our regular driver, Mr. Amarin Nissasoka, taking the two trucks up to Mae Sot in Tak province, Northern Thailand. This time the journey would take nearly 9 hours because we needed to stop off in Ayutthaya as Eddie had some technical difficulties with his android device, which contained much of the information he needed to find the remote locations we were to visit during the planned week ahead.
We still managed to arrive soon after the other volunteers' flight landed at the small airport just before dark. These volunteers were Mr. and Mrs. Antione/Emmie Van Innis and Mr. Ben Calberg, who were invited along to help by teaching some Thai language and organizing some extra fun and games for the children when we arrived at each location. Mr. Van Innis is the brother of our dearly departed friend and strong supporter of our charity, Mr. Geoffroy Van Innis, who sadly passed away in March of 2015. This project was partly funded by Fab Card Asia, Pacific Cross Insurance, Horton International and a very kind donation of money from the Geoffroy Van Innis Memorial Fund, and we also dedicated one of the shows in the name of Geoffroy and Antione’s grandfather, who also passed away just a couple of days before this project was started.
Photos - Ben Calberg & Emmie Van Innis
First thing on Tuesday morning we drove a short distance across town from our usual guesthouse to the offices of the Burmese Migrant Workers' Education Committee (BMWEC), where we met with our Karen/English/Thai speaking translator and guide, Mr. Aphichat Siriphongphana. Then we were off to the first of four Migrant Learning Centres, located around 33 kilometres south of Mae Sot along the high mountain road to Umphang. We arrived at the Hta Lor (Talar Aor Klar) School to be greeted by around 80 very excited children who’d made a special effort to dress in their finest clothing in order to show respect for their unusual Western and Thai visitors. We set up all the show equipment ready to give the kids an hour or so of great Western style slapstick comedy silliness presented by Clown Eckie.
Quote;
"People who can make others fall down laughing posses a divine gift of creation which must be given freely to those in need"
"People who can make others fall down laughing posses a divine gift of creation which must be given freely to those in need"
See this short part of the Gift of Happiness Foundation Clown show.
Before the big show started, our latest volunteer Thai language teacher, Mrs. Emmie Van Innis taught all the children in one of the classrooms and played some fun games based around using Thai language. Emmie did this kind of teaching at all the other places we visited during this project and so all the kids we saw this time had even more than the normal happiness that we give them so often! We followed the teaching and big show by giving the whole school lots of toys, educational supplies and clothing. The head teacher and all the children were absolutely delighted to receive all our offerings and they are already looking forward to our next visit to their school in 2016.
After lunch at a nearby waterfall and nature reserve restaurant, we drove another 20 kilometres or so along the same Umphang mountain road to do it all again at the Parahita Htoo Migrant Learning Centre. This school consists of just one small classroom with one full-time teacher who somehow manages to teach just over 100 kids who are mostly underfed and in very great need of some decent clothing. Our volunteer, Ben Calberg, pointed out that he could only find one single deflated football in the dirt yard behind the schoolroom, and there were no signs of any other toys at all. So we were delighted to be able to give them a large dose of happiness through the Clown Show and an even larger load of essential items of clothing, educational supplies and much needed toys.
GoHF Director, Eddie Haworth, says: “I’ve been visiting and helping poor kids in this country since 2002, and I’ve seen the poorest of the poor living in terribly hard conditions. But this place is now very close to the top of my list of desperately poor kids, just under the kids we serve who live on garbage dumps!”.
We will return to give them as much as possible in 2016.
After lunch at a nearby waterfall and nature reserve restaurant, we drove another 20 kilometres or so along the same Umphang mountain road to do it all again at the Parahita Htoo Migrant Learning Centre. This school consists of just one small classroom with one full-time teacher who somehow manages to teach just over 100 kids who are mostly underfed and in very great need of some decent clothing. Our volunteer, Ben Calberg, pointed out that he could only find one single deflated football in the dirt yard behind the schoolroom, and there were no signs of any other toys at all. So we were delighted to be able to give them a large dose of happiness through the Clown Show and an even larger load of essential items of clothing, educational supplies and much needed toys.
GoHF Director, Eddie Haworth, says: “I’ve been visiting and helping poor kids in this country since 2002, and I’ve seen the poorest of the poor living in terribly hard conditions. But this place is now very close to the top of my list of desperately poor kids, just under the kids we serve who live on garbage dumps!”.
We will return to give them as much as possible in 2016.
Wednesday 09/12/15, we revisited the BMWEC office to collect our great helper and translator, Mr. Aphichat Siriphongphana, and from there we drove to another location about 50 kilometres away from Mae Sotand in the same general direction towards Umhang. But this time we were visiting a migrant school called Thoo Mwe Htee Ger Ni, located in the village of Phop Phra, which is in turn located in a more remote area and deep within the jungle that straddles the Thai/Burma border south of Mae Sot.
The 200 children attending this school were not quite as poor as the ones we had visited the previous day, but they still needed the large amount of goods that we brought for them. We noticed the children here are being educated by some very seriously minded teachers who seemed to enforce a strict regime of segregation between boys and girls. This, in turn, meant the children were under orders not to stand up or interact with the clown during the show! However, they tried very hard to relax enough to thoroughly enjoy the “Great Big Buffoonery Show” presented by Clown Eckie on the large school stage, and by the end of the show even the teachers were in fits of unadulterated laughter. So, mission happiness was accomplished yet again!
After a quick lunch of Thai noodles in a roadside eatery, we went back along the road to Mae Sot where we turned off to head into another quite remote area where the last Migrant Learning Centre for this project was located. The name of this school is Parahita Learning Centre and it is located within the temple grounds at Wat Hway Nu Kalae, around 35 kilometres from Mae Sot town. There are around 150 kids attending this small school, which has no enclosed classrooms as the buildings are mainly converted cattle sheds and temple buildings. There is an obvious great need for clothing, educational supplies and toys here as the children were all very poor indeed and, in some cases, had nothing but hand-me-down old rags to wear. So we were delighted yet again to be able to give them so many essential goods and so much equally essential happiness through the silly old clown show that was presented on the steps leading to the all-seeing statue of Buddha (who we think also enjoyed the happiness?).
After all the giving and spreading of happiness to so many children in need, we had to head back into Mae Sot just in time for our three great volunteers to take the last flight to Bangkok and start writing their own report about the experiences they all enjoyed during this short but important aid and show giving project.
The 200 children attending this school were not quite as poor as the ones we had visited the previous day, but they still needed the large amount of goods that we brought for them. We noticed the children here are being educated by some very seriously minded teachers who seemed to enforce a strict regime of segregation between boys and girls. This, in turn, meant the children were under orders not to stand up or interact with the clown during the show! However, they tried very hard to relax enough to thoroughly enjoy the “Great Big Buffoonery Show” presented by Clown Eckie on the large school stage, and by the end of the show even the teachers were in fits of unadulterated laughter. So, mission happiness was accomplished yet again!
After a quick lunch of Thai noodles in a roadside eatery, we went back along the road to Mae Sot where we turned off to head into another quite remote area where the last Migrant Learning Centre for this project was located. The name of this school is Parahita Learning Centre and it is located within the temple grounds at Wat Hway Nu Kalae, around 35 kilometres from Mae Sot town. There are around 150 kids attending this small school, which has no enclosed classrooms as the buildings are mainly converted cattle sheds and temple buildings. There is an obvious great need for clothing, educational supplies and toys here as the children were all very poor indeed and, in some cases, had nothing but hand-me-down old rags to wear. So we were delighted yet again to be able to give them so many essential goods and so much equally essential happiness through the silly old clown show that was presented on the steps leading to the all-seeing statue of Buddha (who we think also enjoyed the happiness?).
After all the giving and spreading of happiness to so many children in need, we had to head back into Mae Sot just in time for our three great volunteers to take the last flight to Bangkok and start writing their own report about the experiences they all enjoyed during this short but important aid and show giving project.
AGAPE Orphanage/Go-Happiness Boy Band get new Guitars!
Amarin and Eddie left the airport and drove to the Thai/Burma Friendship Bridge, from where they headed along the border to the Orphanage that GoHF has been supporting for the last few years. We arrived at AGAPE Orphanage with a small but very important gift of three good quality guitars for some equally very important teenage boys who are rapidly becoming highly skilled musicians! The young men were absolutely delighted to see what we had brought for them and immediately started tuning and playing their new instruments. We will be visiting this orphanage again in January when the whole group of children and those teenage boys will be entertaining our merry band of volunteers, one of whom is coming from London, and others are expatriates from Australia, USA and Wales.
Stay tuned to this news page for all the updates on that project.
Stay tuned to this news page for all the updates on that project.
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Give used or new toys, clothing, any useful goods.
Subscribe online with credit/debit cards or send ATM/Android & simple Bank transfers.
"No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted."
QUOTE; Recruitment Specialists Monroe Thailand Help Deliver Essential Supplies to Refugee Children
A respected children’s charity supported by Monroe Consulting Group Thailand is today departing on yet another relief operation, this time to aid desperately poor children in refugee camps in the north of the country.
The Gift of Happiness Foundation confirmed that it will be taking two truckloads of essentials to more than 1,000 children, with another supply trip planned for Christmas Day.
The Foundation is led by professional circus performer Eddie Haworth, who, in additional to the delivery of donated essentials, delivers smiles to the camps he visits with his slap-stick clown performances.
Monroe Thailand, an international award-winning executive recruitment company, recently committed to providing ongoing funding for the Foundation, and purchased a new truck to double the amount of aid that could be delivered to groups of marginalised children throughout the country, from the slums of Bangkok to the northern refugee camps.
Eddie said the refugee communities had established migrant learning centres that were not accredited by the Thai government and relied on external funding to help educate about 18,000 students. “This, coupled with decreasing support for displaced communities in Thailand in recent years, has made the learning centres increasingly unstable.”
He said the Gift of Happiness Foundation was just one of many small non-governmental organisation that supported the learning centres, mainly in Tak Province, since 2005. “And as a well-established support organization we have now gained the respect of large organizations like UNICEF and the Charities Aid Foundation of America.”
A respected children’s charity supported by Monroe Consulting Group Thailand is today departing on yet another relief operation, this time to aid desperately poor children in refugee camps in the north of the country.
The Gift of Happiness Foundation confirmed that it will be taking two truckloads of essentials to more than 1,000 children, with another supply trip planned for Christmas Day.
The Foundation is led by professional circus performer Eddie Haworth, who, in additional to the delivery of donated essentials, delivers smiles to the camps he visits with his slap-stick clown performances.
Monroe Thailand, an international award-winning executive recruitment company, recently committed to providing ongoing funding for the Foundation, and purchased a new truck to double the amount of aid that could be delivered to groups of marginalised children throughout the country, from the slums of Bangkok to the northern refugee camps.
Eddie said the refugee communities had established migrant learning centres that were not accredited by the Thai government and relied on external funding to help educate about 18,000 students. “This, coupled with decreasing support for displaced communities in Thailand in recent years, has made the learning centres increasingly unstable.”
He said the Gift of Happiness Foundation was just one of many small non-governmental organisation that supported the learning centres, mainly in Tak Province, since 2005. “And as a well-established support organization we have now gained the respect of large organizations like UNICEF and the Charities Aid Foundation of America.”
