When Lisa Measures became the CAS (community-action-service) overseer at St Andrew international School, she probably didn’t imagine her heart being totally stretched by those she would meet in our community projects. We took her on a tour of our service partners, starting first at the Emergency Home ( a shelter for women, teens and kids victimised in domestic or criminal violence) . Just ten mins after arriving, Lisa found herself saddled with a little girl who seemed like she’d found her comfort. For the whole time, we were there, that toddler was not going to be separated from Lisa. Then, when the other kids awoke from nap, Lisa suddenly found herself with a whole bunch more kids, all seemingly magnetized to her! We delivered a couple of bags of new clothes for the kids — just in time for next month’s special outings! In exchange, the Home gave some clothes which the kids had outgrown — which we then duly passed on to the little kids at the House of Blessing which we visited later. Next stop was the Thanksgiving Home, where Lisa was really touched by the passion and work of Khun Wanchai and wife Maetim for the developmentally-challenged teens they care for . They took us for a tour of their new annex which has greatly improved since the school’s CAS students went there in June to paint the house which was shambles then. They’ve really come a long way and now the TGH annex is a training activity center and a dorm for the five boys who live there. The Home is a center for independent living as they work to create opportunities for the teens to have their own little businesses — including baking, running their second-handshop, running a little restaurant , and a photocopy, computer service shop in the future! Our final stop was the house of Blessing, a Home for children born in prisons — there again, Lisa felt so drawn to the kids and remarked that she would soon volunteer her time there too! We were able to see the new projects they have there including fish, crab and prawn farming.
It was inspiring to see the different Homes embarking on self-sustaining projects which engage their young teen residents to have a part in the responsibility as they grow into independent living.