Dear sponsors and friends,

      All who read this have in some way shown interest and concern for the plight of Sangkhlaburi's migrant children. We thank you deeply for making this connection, for taking the time to touch and affect lives so far away. 

      Through your combined support we have been able to dramatically improve the level of care and opportunities of our children. At the same time your increased assistance has helped us to reach out to new communities, to more children in desperate need of choices.

      We are now able to provide a warm and loving home environment for over sixty five orphaned, abused and abandoned children. In addition, through our Free School and Outreach Schools, we directly support the education of over five hundred children. This vital chance to bring hope and opportunity to so many lives could never have been realized without your compassionate thoughts and actions.

Sponsorship Program

Many people from different countries have now made the compassionate decision to bring choices to a child's life. Some of these sponsored children are now in their third year of education. Their knowledge and understanding of social issues, choices and rights have all grown visibly as a result. Recently, through the hard work of Cyndee, Matthew and Mary, the sponsorship program has expanded beyond all expectations, providing more and more children with new hope and opportunities for a better life.  The children already in the program have responded excellently to their new opportunity, many of them already ‘jumping' grades, some even Moving  from grade 1 to grade 4 in just two years! 

We are also delighted to have our first High School Student. Fourteen year old Karen girl Malati began receiving assistance through the sponsorship program two years ago. She had received some education at a police border school but this was her first time to attend official school. Although Thai is not Malati's first language her teachers saw her academic potential and helped her move up grades by giving her extra homework and allowing her to take tests in the evenings. Malati has studied hard and last month took the High School entrance exam, she not only passed but has been placed in the top class. Malati's dream is to study at University to become a teacher.

 Outreach Program

Deep in the Thai jungle some three days walk from Sangkhlaburi 

the Karen villagers of Phu Mong have recently celebrated their hard fought 

and long awaited victory. After suffering years of repeated evictions by 

soldiers, Phu Mong village has now won it's right to exist.  The building of a 

village school, funded with Children Of The Forest donations, was a vital part 

of the campaign for Phu Mong villagers rights.

In April fifteen children and three adults from our Home made the 

three and a half day jungle trek to honour the villagers struggle and to 

officially open their Children Of The Forest village  school. The Phu 

Mong children and villagers welcomed us with traditional Karen 

songs.

Traditional Culture

As the children are influenced daily by Thai lifestyle it is important they 

maintain close links with their heritage. Dance and music lessons by one of 

our single Mothers enables the children to have fun and at the same time to 

be proud of their cultural identity.

Fish Farming

 The Amicus Foundation further helped our steps towards self- sufficiency

 with their support for several catfish ponds. The children raise and catch 

the fish themselves. These high protein fish, previously too expensive to 

consider purchasing from the local market, are now a regular part of our

 childrens' diet.

Rice Milling 

           The Aurora Foundation provided a solution to the ever increasing 

              cost of rice. Our new rice milling project enables us to purchase 

              unmilled rice directly from local villages. The children and single

              mothers then mill the rice to produce inexpensive and nutritional

              brown rice for our staple diet.                                                                              

www.childrenoftheforest.com

planting seeds of hope and opportunity

           Vocational Studies

             Started with the donation of sewing machines by Joe Murray from Melbourne 

             our sewing workshops have proved to be a tremendous success.  With the 

            dedicated help of our local teacher the project is already developing into a 

             small workers co-operative. Quality shirts, pants and bags are already being

         produced by the children. We hope to have these products available on our

           website soon.

           Single Mothers

Single mothers are particularly vulnerable in this harsh environment. With 

no social welfare, the death or departure of a husband leaves them in a 

critical struggle to provide their children with    basic necessities.

To offer a way out of this struggle we have invited a few Single Mothers to 

join our community. On arrival they are physically and emotionally 

exhausted, yet with time and support in a positive environment they can

 heal and reach their potential as caring and loving Mothers. 

Single Mothers play a vital role in our community helping with cooking,

farming, vocational work, rice milling and teaching the Kindergarten 

children in our Free school.

Donations from sponsors have been financed various projects for Single 

Mothers including, growing mushrooms, vegetables and even raising a few 

pigs. A Single Mothers co-operative is being established, produce can be sold

 to nearby Sangkhlaburi Market.

                                       Medical Care

This difficult and expensive area of the project has been fully supported by Dr. Richard Haughland and his Starfish and Starfire Foundations.

Doctor Jack a Burmese Doctor has been employed by The Starfish Foundation to treat and administer free medication to all children in our Project.

We have also benefited from the employment of a Mon medic to our home staff. With many years experience at refugee camp clinics, Talaito is highly skilled with knowledge of local infections and diseases.  Working alongside Mark Curragh from New Zealand Talaito has helped us become highly effective in dealing with common border diseases such as Malaria, Tuberculosis and Dengue Fever.

We are deeply indebted to Richard Haughland for generously supporting the entire Children Of The Forest project since its inception.

           Koh Lanta

          This Summer the older children in our Home were able to enjoy a wonderful

              holiday. With the support and commitment of Jessie, Laurie and their friends 

              on Koh Lanta in Southern Thailand we were able to stay for five days at an 

              idyllic beach location. The beautiful Sunflower Bungalows Resort was made

          available  solely for twenty five of our children and adults.  A huge thank you 

             to the owners of the resort, Norman and Kittimar for their generous hospitality.

             Activities with The Koh Lanta Swedish School was also a memorable part of 

          the trip. Children from different backgrounds came together to study, play 

             and learn from one another. Many new friendships were formed, and will

             continue for the mutual benefit of both groups.

              Childrens' Home

             The continued support of Aiutare i Bambini, Italy, has enabled our Children's

             Home to increase its compliment of careworkers and maintain a steady supply 

             of essential needs for the children. Daily nutritious meals have become the 

             norm, clothes, sandals, blankets and mosquito nets are all provided for the 

             sixty five orphaned, abused and neglected children in residence. The 

             additional staff now make farming, sports events, swimming trips and 

             childrens' meetings a fun part of everyday life.

             Many thanks to Francesco and Aiutare i Bambini for their ongoing advice and

             generous support.

           New Childrens' Home

Matthew Kelly Senior along with Matthew and Mary Kelly of the Amicus 

Foundation visited our project in 2006. After seeing the poor state of repair 

of our cramped living accommodation they generously offered to build a 

larger new Childrens' Home on an adjoining area of land. The new Home has

 been built in traditional style and its position atop a hill offers spectacular 

views of  surrounding lakes and mountains.

With much excitement the children have now moved into their new Home. 

The old Childrens' Home will be repaired and used for Vocational Training

purposes.

Thank you from the staff and children to Mr. Kelly and Matthew and Mary of 

Amicus for their generosity and continued support.

           Free school

With new classrooms a library and teacher training provided by Paul Hancock, Mark Curragh and James Connor , our Free School continues to provide the education and opportunities  250 migrant children students deserve. Our Free School offers the children their only opportunity for an education. Ideally as children progress through the Free School we hope sponsors can be  found to finance their further education in Thai State Schools, Colleges and maybe even Universities. Without an education the children will have little choice but to join the exploitative employment market working long hours on plantations, in factories, or as house servants for pittance wages.

The generosity of Thanat Thiramon, Alexander de Lesseps, Amicus Foundation, Vicki Considine, Tyronne Dang, Jennifer and the National Honors Society of ISB and the companies who made donations at  the Bangkok Property Awards     Charity Auction have all helped finance the Free School to date. We have also received support and visits from Harrow International School of Bangkok and The Regent's School of Bangkok, hopefully our friendship with these excellent schools will  continue for many years to come. In January we received support for the Free School from The Kitchen Table  Charities Trust  a U.K. Charity founded by BBC Radio presenter John Humphrys . On behalf of the teaching staff and children attending the Free School….      Thank You All

Infrastructure

Through individuals and groups we have been able to make numerous long awaited infrastructure developments this year. To meet the increased number of students John and Nina Cassils funded two new kindergarten classrooms and a bathroom. They also assisted in making vital improvements to the muddy and dangerous entrance road. Particularly during the dry season severe water shortages have had a powerful impact on the comfort and hygiene of daily life. Now, however, through the support of the Rotary South Bangkok, Children of the Forest's water problems are solved. Last month the Rotary Club funded the drilling of a sixty five metre well which provides a constant supply of over 2000 litres of water per hour. Not only this, they are now ready to install a water purification system to ensure sufficient drinking water for both the home and school. 

           Jotini's Story………Continued   
                                                  

In the previous newsletter we told the fist part of Jotini's Story. Jotini is Karen and had lived previously in Burma.  Jotini's father was murdered by Burmese soldiers. Jotini's Mother remarried but her new husband was violent towards her and her children, especially Jotini.

After a severe beating which resulted in hospital treatment Jotini returned home to find that his Mother had committed suicide. Jotini decided to run away and sought shelter in the jungle. Stopping only at temples for food and drinking water from streams Jotini walked 90 Kilometers to find shelter at a Mon village in Sangkhlaburi. We found him there only two days after he had arrived and invited him to stay at our home. Now, nine months later, we would like to update his story.  

                     As you can see Jotini is now a happy, healthy boy.

At first he could speak only Karen and communication with Jotini was through other Karen children in our home. Understandably Jotini had some initial behavioural problems but after individual and group talks he soon improved. Because of the fear created by his brutal stepfather Jotini found it very difficult to trust adults and sought friendship with the older girls in our community. With the help of these girls and the warmth and support of our House Mothers Jotini has grown in confidence and his amusing, outgoing and gentle personality has emerged.   Jotini will continue his education until he feels ready to leave school. If he chooses not to study at College he will be provided with a number of vocational study options. In attending a Thai school Jotini will be entitled to a Thai Citizen Card, this will remove the risk of deportation back to Burma and also the risk of exploitation by unscrupulous employers.  When Jotini finds suitable employment he will, no doubt, marry and start a family of his own. A family free from the suffering he endured before joining our community.

…Thank you   There has been so much help in the form of donations, volunteering, fundraising and words of encouragement that I don't really know where to begin. With such a long list I apologize deeply if anybody is left out. It is the combined efforts of these people and many more that have enabled us to reach beyond all possible expectations in striving to help those deprived of safety, dignity and choices. Thank you-Mum and Dad, Nana Pat, Mark Curragh, Dick Haughland, Mat, Pee Naam, Pee Pot, Craig, all those in the Ko Lanta campaign, John and Nina, Rick and Adrianne, Jesse, Jennifer, the children for making it their community, Karen villagers for their ever generous hospitality, Nong Por Clae's mum, Nana, Ray, Paul, Tony and June, Ton Gerdsen, ladies at the Bridge Club, Tyronne Dang, Matthew and Amicus, Francesco and Aiutare el Bambino, Erin and Robyn Corvisy, Scott and Nicole, Dave Edwards as the first sponsor, Alex de Lesseps, Robert Hearn, Harrow International school, Maryann Bowles, Christine Russell, Vickie Considine, Mae Aew, Ooi Soohock, Thanat Thiramon, Doug Snyder, Mark's family, Dawson Bruce, Te Awanga Kindergarten NZ, Alice Baker, Alastair, Joop Van Delden, Bob Kennet, Amy Kelley and Harrow School etc…etc…   My deepest gratitude,   Daniel Hopson.           

Heartfelt thanks from The Children of The Forest