Pictures and Videos

I have a video that's been a long time coming, but will be up in the near future. Please feel free to watch it on YouTube and, if you belong to a church, to share it with your church family. It should be fairly easy to rip it from YouTube, and I encourage you to do so!
There will be more pictures coming too, both of the kids and of my trip to Burma for my visa renewal. My visa renewal marks the half-way mark of my trip, and I just can't believe that I've been here for three months already. It seems like I've only just gotten here, but I've already made so many long lasting friendships. I know these last few months will soon be over and I'll be on my way home, which makes the upcoming trip home bittersweet. Leaving friends and those that you've come to love is always hard.
In times when I find myself not looking forward to leaving, I just remind myself of Philippians 4:8. It's amazing how God's word has an answer for all situations isn't it?
God Bless you all!

Blessings, Blessings, and More Blessings!

Alright, so I've found out through the Agape grapevine so to speak that we have a few kids from the group that I work with being adopted soon! At least two that I know of and we might have another one or two, but they were referred to as more hypothetical and based on a lot of uncertainties so I'll let you all know if I find anything out for sure. I do know for sure that Kittichai (pronounced kid-dee-shy), a little boy from the five year old group is being adopted by a couple who live in France and Suwat (pronounced soo-watt), a little boy from the two year old group is being adopted by a couple who live in New Zealand. Neither of them are HIV positive. Kittichai will be the first to leave, and could be leaving as soon as the end of this month but there are still a few things to finalize first. I just couldn't wait for the next ''monthly update'' to tell you all, it's just so very exciting! I know we will all miss them but the fact that they have the opportunity to grow up with a loving family and special attention without 15 other kids always around is such a beautiful blessing. Keep them in your prayers and please keep their new adoptive families in your prayers as well!

I've received lots of positive feedback regarding my blog and the birthday cards were wonderful (the mail takes about two weeks to get to me, so they were a little belated ;) )!

Keep up the prayers! God Bless you guys!

Pictures, As Promised!

I know that it's been a little while since I've added pictures, but I have a lot now so enjoy!

The picture uploading site that I had previously used was not able to handle all of the new pictures that I needed to upload, so I have a new site for people to go to to look at all of my pictures. Just go to www.dropshots.com/littlebigfish17 and click on the Agape Kids Album to see them! These pictures were taken on my birthday at a lake near Agape and on the Agape grounds. Some of the pictures were taken by the kids, yes I let them use my camera (with supervision of course), and those ones tend to be my favorites! Let me know which ones are your favorites too :)

I've tried to keep all of my e-mail, correspondence, blog, and picture information under the same domain name (littlebigfish17) so it's easier for everyone to remember, but if you can't just let me know and I can get the information to you.

I'm not able to say the kid's names since this is a public blog, but if anyone wants to know the kid's names please just contact me through e-mail and I'll be more than happy to let you know!

God Bless, and keep up the prayers!

April Updates!

Now that I've been here for a little while, I've started to get myself adjusted to what the schedule and life style here in Chiang Mai. Things are usually pretty laid back and there are lots of things to do both inside the city and outside! Between work, meeting new people, making time for friends, the markets, and staying on top of keeping everyone back at home updated, it's easy to stay busy. 

This past month I did start to get a little homesick, but the friends I've made here have made it very easy to get myself adjusted and even celebrated my birthday with me. Even little gestures make a big difference when you're this far away from home! Two of my friends took me out to dinner a few nights before my birthday to help me celebrate, and we got to eat all sorts of local favorites like lime chicken, stir fried morning glory of course, and what the Thais like to call "Dancing Shrimp" which is actually live shrimp served in a super spicy broth. I'm pretty sure I won't be forgetting that experience any time soon!

The kids are wonderful and I'm really starting to enjoy working so closely with them! Now that I've learned enough Thai to hold a real conversation, it makes it so much easier and the kids love to tell me all sorts of interesting things. Although there are usually only myself and a volunteer supervisor on shift, I feel privileged to get the chance to work with the kids in a more one-on-one type setting and it makes it easier for them to remember my name. For a while, some of the kids had taken to calling me Mae Ar Sa (pronounced may aah saw) which means Miss volunteer in Thai. The kids can say Alissa, but sometimes when you say it too fast it sounds like Ar Sa to the kids so they got a little confused!

We had about 8 kids in isolation with the chicken pox at one point this past month and have finally gotten all of the kids healthy and chicken pox free! It sounds like it wouldn't be too bad to work in isolation, but it can be tricky since the kids are generally confined to a room and can't play with the other kid's toys in case they get anyone else sick. We had to be a little creative and plan some activities for the kids to do just to keep them from going crazy with seeing so much of each other all the time! None of the volunteers got sick and we're all taking the right precautions against both getting sick and getting HIV. This past month has been a little bit of a trial with more than one child getting cuts and scraps, but everyone has remembered their safety precautions and we are of course being very very careful when any blood is involved! So don't worry, we're all using our heads over here.

Other than that, I feel that the kids are really warming up to me especially since I've been here for 2 months. Time has gone by so quickly and I still can't believe that I've been here for two full months and only have 5 more months left! There are so many things that I still want to do and I have guitar and piano lessons with the older kids planned for June when the kids are on summer break and might even start some cooking lessons with a few of the nannies and kids as well. Either way, I'm sure I'll stay busy! 

My work schedule has me working for 5 days in a row and then I get two days off so if anyone would like to talk with me through Skype or just chat online, let me know so we can set up a time! Remember, I'm about 12 hours ahead of you all so when it's the morning for you, It's about bedtime for me.

  Getting To Know The Kids

(Due to privacy laws in Thailand, I won't be able to post any pictures of the kids with names attached but please feel free to e-mail me if you'd like to know who is who in the pictures!)

Each of the kids at Agape has their own personal story. Some are more elaborate than others, but I’d like to dedicate a portion of my newsletter each month to some of the kids and their stories. I feel that by getting to know the kids on an individual basis will help both myself, and my readers, to understand and connect with each child personally.

Jarupon (pronounced Jah-rue-pong) is in the four-five year old group that I work with at Agape and is about 5 years old. He first came to Agape just a little over a year ago with his older brother after their family could no longer care for them. Jarupon is HIV negative, but his brother is HIV positive. These two boys have been through a lot in the past year having lost both of their parents, moved to Agape, and having had to learn a different language.

Both of these young boys have been through so much, and it's very understandable that Jarupon is one of our most difficult children to work with. As a young adult, I haven't had to go through nearly half the trials that they have and I know most of my friends can say the same thing. When I first came to Agape Jarupon practically refused to listen to me or respect the fact that I was a volunteer. He's made such wonderful progress as he has learned to trust more and more people in his life.

There used to be days that he would just terrorize the other kids and just behave horribly in general but by remembering to be patient and always rewarding good behavior, it has really paid off for all of us. He loves to hear that he has been a wonderful helper and likes to help us with the younger kids too. For some reason, he has gotten it into his head that if something is broken, I can fix it so I'm usually greeted with a broken toy and a hug. He is a wonderful little boy, and I pray that we can help him through the trials that he will continue to struggle through.

Prayer Requests

- Please continue to keep my safety in your prayers. We have had a few issues with political riots recently and although none of them have been directed at foreigners, you can never pray enough for safe travels!

- Also, I would like to request prayers for the kids at Agape. The ARV drugs are doing wonders for their well-being and immune system but there are still a lot of kids who get sick very easily and have trouble getting rid of even the common cold quickly.

- I am currently the only volunteer working at Agape besides the two volunteer supervisors (technically full time volunteers, a little different than what I am) and although it hasn't been too difficult to adjust to working shifts being the only English speaker, pray that I have patience and can learn to speak Thai better!

- We will be getting new volunteers in June and I ask that you keep their travels in your prayers as well.  Pray that I will be an encouragement to them when they arrive and be the best host I can be.

Quick Update

Hey everyone,

I just wanted to give a really quick update about what has been happening over the past few weeks. There has been a little outbreak of chickenpox at Agape and seven of the sixteen kids I work with have it and are currently in isolation to prevent spreading it to the rest of the kids! Please keep them in your prayers since they aren't able to go outside or do any of the fun things that the other kids get to do like participate in the Songkran festival (a 3-day water festival in Thailand marking their new year celebration). I've been working with them a lot since we have a volunteer who hasn't had the chickenpox yet and I don't mind working with the sickies.

I have also decided that I will be remaining at the volunteer house by myself until the next set of volunteers arrive in late May or early June since I'm just getting used to the area and have lots of friends here! I will also be starting my Thai lessons this week so keep them in your prayers as well. I've picked up a little bit but knowing more would be very helpful too.

I've been asked if there are things that I'd like for my birthday or if there are things that I miss in general, and right now it's mostly just my family but anything that reminds me of home would be appreciated! Things like softcover books or pictures of family and friends or handwritten letters would be wonderful and please let me know if there's anything that you'd like for me to send you as well! I love to write letters, and don't mind sending more personalized cards to people.

There have also been some concerns about how things are going in Thailand with the airports in Bangkok being shut down again and all of the protests escalating to more dramatic means. Don't worry! Things on the news at home tend to be more blown out of proportion than what they really are and everything here is ok for me. There are two political parties that are having some differences right now but there hasn't been any violence so far and there have just been some strikes happening around the city. We just have to be mindful of not being identified with either party in case things become a little more hazardous; this should be pretty easy since party members are identified as wearing either a red or yellow shirt and I don't own shirts of either color! 

Apart from feeling a little homesick recently, I'm doing just fine and miss all of you very much! I have a video that I'm getting ready to send to the members at Southwinds Church of Christ and I'll have for you guys as soon as I can!

God Bless, and remember Matthew 28:19-20!

Pictures Finally!

Items The Kids Need!

Ok, so after discussing with Laura, the volunteer coordinator at Agape, we have come up with a list of things that the kids could use if anyone is interested!

Craft Supplies

-Coloring Books

-Colored Pencils

-Markers

-Crayons

-Paint (finger paints, acrylics, anything that can be washed out of clothes!)

-Yarn

-Glue (both glue sticks and regular glue)

-Pretty much anything crafty that kids age 2-16 would like

Hygiene Supplies

-Toothpaste (both adult toothpastes and little kid style toothpaste)

-Toothbrushes

-Washcloths

-Towels

-Woven bath mats

-Baby shampoo (the kind that won't sting if it gets in their eyes)

-Regular shampoo

-Soap (both bar and liquid are fine)

-Combs

-Hair clips

-Hair ties

-Deodorant

-Baby powder

School Supplies

-Book bags

-Pencils

-Pens

-Notebooks

-Rulers

-Calculators

Toys

-Anything either new or used, but please don't send plush toys or soft animal type toys! Plush toys are huge carriers of communicable diseases and we don't want the kids spreading germs through their playthings. Remember, these kid's immune systems aren't the best due to being HIV positive.

As a side note, we would like to remind people that items are a lot cheaper here than what they are back at home. If you would prefer, please let me know what items you would like to have purchased for the kids and make a donation towards the purchase of those items. This might be better in some cases like with bulkier items like book bags and would let the kids be able to pick out which ones they prefer; this would also eliminate the need for shipping costs! If you decide that this is the route you'd like to take, I'd love to send you pictures of the kids using the items that you've sent or made donations towards!

We would also like to encourage just plain sponsoring the kids! A lot of the kids at Agape don't have any sponsors right now, and sponsorship pays for a lot of their everyday basic needs like new clothing, food, paying for school when they become old enough to go, utilities for Agape, etc. If you are interested in sponsoring a child, it is only $30 a month and can be done by looking at the Agape Home's website at nikkisplace.org. You can also make direct donations for other things through that same website, and it is very user-friendly.

Any comments or questions?

Please feel free to e-mail me and let me know!