The Opening House ceremony was joined by our children of CPDC, some children of the Baan Jing Jai and the children of the slums as well as by some guests of honour, such as the President of the Father Ray Foundation, President and representatives of the local Rotary Clubs, the President of the Expats Club of Pattaya, representatives of the United Nations Office of Drug and Crime, President of French Club, plus many more. The festivities started at 10 am with a traditional Thai dance presented by some girls of the centre.

After that the director of HHNFT, Khun Radchada Chomjinda, held a short speech talking about the progress of their work and heartfully thanking the sponsor Mr. Hans G. Müller for his generosity as well as all the German supporters in general as they have been a big help all the time. She also announced the appointment of Mr. Parisorn Noja as the director of the Anti Human Trafficking  in recognition of his work and great effort in the fight against pedophilia and abuse towards children in Pattaya, while she will take over the position of the temporary acting director of the CPDC.

Mr. Hans Müller was called up on the podium to explain his motivation for being engaged at the CPDC with so much effort and why he had donated and sponsored the boys houses which thus requested him to be cutting the ribbons of the two new boy’s houses. Of course everybody had the chance to visit the houses and get an impression of how the children live like.   Afterwards the children presented two more dances as well as a Hula Hoop act.

The event ended with a great lunch including noodle soup, a rice dish, French fries as well as fresh fruits and little coconut cakes.

On behalf of the children and the staff of CPDC and the whole HHNFT team we would like to thank everybody who joined us on that special day. Very special thanks go to Mr. Hans G. Müller for his generous support during all the years and for sponsoring the two new houses.

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At about 11am the visitors arrived at the CPDC where they were welcomed by the HHNFT staff. Initially, they were given some introductive explanations about the necessity of child protective actions in Pattaya and about the goals of the work at this place. These include providing street children with protection, education and prospects for the future.

Few later some of the children used their school break time to come back to the CPDC and have lunch there. Hence, everybody together enjoyed the delicious food provided once more by Khun Eat and her team. This lunch had been sponsored by the guests who furthermore proved their generosity by bringing plenty of toys and food articles with them as presents. Well fed and happy about the children’s joy facing the toys, the group took a look at the various facilities of the CPDC ranging from accommodating houses to a nursing unit and the Education Center. At this point the friendly visitors also made use of the occasion to ask numerous interesting questions and thus showed their deeper solicitousness in the children’s fate.

Finally, the group headed further to the Drop-In-Center in order to get information about the immediate care for street children over there. Before, however, they surprised with a generous donation of 15.000 Bath to be used for the children “Education Fund” of the CPDC.

On behalf of HHNFT we want to extend our gratitude for this friendly and interesting visit as well as the generous support.

The little ones at the Baby room enjoyed the great attention given by the caring visitors, while the children of the Sotpattana School for the Deaf where able to let off steam at the motivation room. Their visit started with a brief video informing about the history of the orphanage and the life of the children living here and ended with a guided tour around the compound, so our visitors were able to get impressions with their own eyes. Finally there has been a small exchange of souvenirs between the Navy and Khun Toy, the director of HHNFT. However it did not remain with giving the children an enjoyable time only, but the Navy group also donated medical goods, sweets and money. Thus they will help providing a good life for the children in the future. Moreover the guests were very interested in our work and in the opportunities to support the children sustainably such as a sponsorship.

For all these great efforts we want to say thank you to all the members of the Navy group and especially to their chaplain Father Lito.

In spite of the long trip that started early from the Laem Chabaeng harbor, the group arrived in the morning at CPDC. However they did not show any tiredness, but directly started working. While half of them helped cleaning the houses, the others started picking up the garbage from the ground, weeding, cleaning the fish pond and washing cars. But not only the Navy was hard working, the children were highly motivated as well. They showed that they are able to take responsibility for their home and their environment, an important goal of CPDC. Soon a team spirit has been developed. Yet helping the children tidying up was far from being all the visitors did for the children, they also sponsored medical goods and impressed by the children’s engagement they donated some extra money.

Just as the quotation “business before pleasure”, after all the work was done the group joined the children for having their lunch. Subsequently the children could not wait to take their visitors by the hand directly to the sports court or the pitch. No doubt, this was great fun for both sides.

Unfortunately time flied and soon the Navy had to leave going on their long journey back to their ship.

We want to thank the whole team for supporting our children by their donation, but more by help taking care of their duties. As well we want to say thank you for the little souvenir, received by some staff members of CPDC and Khun Scheree Wilkie, representative of HHNFT. Though a special appreciation goes to Mr. Henry Green, who was in charge of the group, and to Khun Peter Thorand for managing the team.

Yet before the show began, everybody was offered to satisfy hunger by the great choice of food that has been provided for the guests: freshly roasted chicken, a variety of noodle soups, healthy fruits and, especially loved by the children, little coconut cakes. The show could start and older children entered the stage to present a traditional Thai dance, which was followed by a modern dance shared by the little girls. The highlight of the act was a 12 year old girl dancing with the hula hoop, though the song of the young boys was pretty good as well. The whole audience enjoyed the presentation of the little stars and could only be impressed with their talents.  

The performance only has been interrupted for the raffle. The children were able to win toys, stuffed animals, electronic musical instruments or some money. However the staff could win household articles such as a hot pot, jewellery or some money. Independent of what was won; everybody was quite content and happy. Thus a very successful day came to its end. It was successful, because the celebration was able to raise smiles in the children’s faces and because people were touched by the children’s talents and laughter’s.

Therefore we want to thank everybody, who joined us that day, as well as everybody, who made this special event come true.

At the Christmas Bazaar HHNFT did not only inform about the work of the organization to the best of the children at the Pattaya Orphanage and the CPDC but there were also articles sold. Thus students and teachers but also visiting parents had the opportunity to buy nice cards, fans, bracelets and necklaces, many of these beautiful items were made by the children of whom HHFNT takes care of, and other items were donated by generous benefactors. All the proceeds will be spent in favor of the children of course, for example is to buy them Christmas presents.

However, the cooperation took not only place at the Christmas Bazaar but also on the compound of the Pattaya Orphanage. On Thursday, 15^th of December, a group of fifteen students and three teachers from the school came to see the Pattaya Orphanage. After a little tour across the compound, they met with the children from the Sotpattana School for the Deaf. For them the students had brought some nice little presents which the deaf children happily received and answered with self-made good luck bracelets. Thereafter, everybody together played some nice games of running and catching. At this point it was proved that a lack of speaking does not prevent a happy gathering and playing. As refreshment, the Regent’s school had brought along soft drinks, snacks and fresh fruits. Finally, they also visited the babies’ room and got explanations about the work of the Orphanage at this place. Well informed and on the same time happy about the funny playing the friendly group of students went back to their place of studying.

HHNFT is glad about the fruitful cooperation with the Regent’s School Pattaya and wants to extend its gratitude.

Already for a longer time Dr. Johannes Peterlik and Dr. Uschi Peterlik have supported the CPDC and they now took Christmas as an opportunity to give the children a pleasure. They invited all the children to an excursion to a toys store of the Central Festival Shopping Mall. However the children could not only inspect all the toys, but also select one as their very special Christmas present. It was no surprise that facing the big choice of toys it took some time to find the right one. Eventually there were big smiles on the children’s faces and everybody was happy, whether with a remote-controlled car, a dollhouse or cuddly toys.

Finally the cherry on the cake of this day was a lunch at a restaurant sponsored by the Austrian Consul Rudolf Hofer.

To thank their generous sponsors the children gave them little dolls made by themselves as a present.
HHNFT wants to extend its gratitude towards the charitable Austrian sponsors as well.

Upon their arrival the 36 visitors get to know the Orphanage by watching a short VTR about the daily activities and happening.  Later they split up into three groups, so different groups of children could enjoy intensive attention of the visitors. These had the pleasure to spend their energy at the motivation room with the children of the School for the Deaf. With the toddlers they were engaged by playing ball and running games. And last but not least, at the baby room the visitors had the chance to take care of each child individually.

Before leaving, group photos are taken and the female Chaplain Thamsen and Khun Toy, Director of HHN Foundation exchange souvenirs to appreciate the work of each other and good cooperation.  We want to thank Khun Peter Thorand for constant good cooperation by giving groups of the US Navy and Marine the opportunity to share their laughter, smiles and happiness with our children.

Once more Khun Peter Thorand had paved the way for a group of US Navy members for having a day of new experiences and great fun. This time the destination has been the Fountain of Life Centre, a place that provides a day care program for underprivileged children living in Pattaya. The visit of the US Navy made for variety from the daily life of the children. At the beginning the children presented some songs and dancing they know and taught them to their visitors. These accepted the challenge and participated with enthusiasm. Thereafter the Nannies had prepared a few games, such as musical chairs. This brought the children and the US Navy group closer together. As a gesture of gratefulness Sister Jones, head of the centre, presented the visitors with a framed group photo of the children. Afterwards there was some more time which everybody benefited from by playing together outside in the garden.

 In conclusion it is not exaggerated to claim that the common activities of the US Navy and HHNFT can meanwhile be called a yielding cooperation.

A major reason of Mr. Hofer visiting is the request of H.E. Ambassador Peterlik who kindly wishes to see that Austria though being a small country regarding the size was a big one as far as giving help is concerned.  He mentioned that the Austrian community in Thailand is very active and may be able to support the work of the CPDC.  To give an example, the Austrian Ambassador paid visits to the CPDC earlier and also invited our children and the director of HHNFT to be present at the Austrian National Day reception in Bangkok in order to inform about our work. Additionally, Madame Ambassador organizes the selling of T-Shirts to the benefit of the children at the CPDC.

We feel highly honored having been supported by the Austrian dignitaries.  Thank you very much.