Happy New Year

Hallo everyone. Happy New Year. 2011 has been a very good year for O, which is now ODET! Thought simple O was just a bit short, so now we are the "Organization for Development and Education in Thailand". Thank you for your donations throughout the past year. Your assistance has helped to keep many people's hopes alive.

Maybe you are new to this blog and looking at it for the first time. ODET is a small community based organization that finds out children living in poor circumstances and provides financial or other assistance to their care givers in order to ensure that they continue going to school and complete their education. ODET also occasionally offers assistance to other people in desperate need. We have no overheads, other than a stipend of 500 baht per month for Nok our liaison person who does much of the groundwork.

Here's a recent picture of Ja who's now doing very well in his final year of Primary school where he has made many friends and is particularly good at art. He suffers from asthma which is unfortunately a common problem among school children in Thailand. Now he is 11 years old and currently living with his father and aunt.

Welcome back everyone. The first school term is just coming to an end. All has gone very well with the children O has been supporting and there has been a huge response of thanks from the local community for all of the supporters of O. It is very nice to see that this programme has been so widely welcomed and that it is able to continue as it is.
The two pictures here included are from the Karen community of Ko Saderng which O was able to assist earlier with the repair of their traditional musical instruments.
Above is a gathering of the village children for singing rehearsal. Below is Dai who is the music and language teacher. His other job is farmer.

New school year

Hallo everyone,
It's the beginning of the new school year we have gathered some pictures and a little information on each of the people currently being supported by O. People are generally chosen for assistance by O on the basis of having an extremely limited income and the need for them to continue to go to school.

Pat is 14 years old and currently studying in her 3rd year of high school. She goes to a temple school in Kanchanaburi and lives with her grandmother. She has a part time job washing dishes after school to help meet her schooling costs. O has just begun to assist Pat this term.

Gaem is 11 years old and lives with his aging grandparents on a minimal income. He goes to a local government primary school and is in his 4th year.







Gong now lives with his father Tap, a rickshaw peddler of no fixed income. His mother Tia recently died. He is 11 years old and is in year 6 at a government primary school.






Ja is now 11 years old and lives with both parents and is in his 5th year at a government primary school.









Bia is 7 years old and is just starting her first year at primary school. She lives with her grandparents.











Gehn is six years old and is now in kindergarten for pre-primary school preparation. He lives with his grandparents.















Nut is now 17 years old and is studying accounting at a vocational college. After school she works as a part time volunteer with a consumer rights organization.









Somboon is 32. She is intellectually handicapped and lives with her mother and uncle in a remote area. They have just recently been able to fix a solar panel for electric lights to their house in the fields.

Hallo everyone,
April began with the sad news that Tia, the mother of Klong, one of the children sponsored by O, passed away suddenly from a heart attack. She was 37 years old. Her cremation was held at the nearby temple on Monday April 4. She will be sadly missed by all.

Tia's coffin with picture and flowers at the temple.









Friends and relatives pour consecrated water over the hand of the deceased to wish her well and pay their last respects.


Klong, Tia's son. Has just completed another year of junior school. He will live with relatives and continue school in the coming new term
Thanks to everyone's contributions, O was able to donate towards some of the funeral expenses and continues to support Klong's schooling.




















Brothers Tum and Taeh returning from the funeral. They have also just finished the school year at the end of March and will be continuing with the new term in May.



Nok continues to do much of the community contact work for O