Additional information and pictures of the new safe house

 

Here are more pictures of the safe house in Udon.  I forgot to mention that a suspended ceiling will be installed in the kitchen where only the tin roof and beams are now exposed.   They will install good lighting as the kitchen is now very dark and dreary.   The large dining room area is part of this large kitchen space so the girls will have plenty of room to prepare food and eat in this nice area of the house.

There are at least three banana bunches growing but still green.   I hope some of the workers will not cut and take home a bunch so they will be ripe by the time we get girls living in the house.   There is one coconut tree that is a problem because it is too tall to harvest the coconuts and they could fall on someone’s head.   When they were clearing off the area, many old coconut shells from this tree had to be put in garbage sacks to haul off.   There are five mango trees that are not in season to produce fruit at this time, but they will provide delicious fruit for the girls.   Ron intends for them to plant papaya trees as they will produce in a few years and are very delicious and nutritious.  

There is a lot of garden space.  At the safe houses where they grow vegetables and have fruit, our cost is much less.   The girls also eat better having more variety in their diet.   It is good to teach girls how to plant and take care of plants in a garden for their own future use.    No one has to be hungry when times are bad if there is land to grow food.   In past years as we traveled in China, we saw that they planted vegetables all along the banks of the highways.   No land went to waste that could be used to grow food.

This is the left side of the house.   The girls' rooms are all upstairs and the house mother's room is downstairs at the end of the carport.  The house will be painted white inside and outside.   It will give a fresh new look to the house.   The block wall around the property will be painted, if we do not run out of money on this project.   That will be the last thing to do.   It would also freshen up the entire property. 

The gate will be locked at night for security.  Here is the narrow street in front of the house.   The school and shopping areas are only a few blocks away from the house.  

When we finish the house and have it ready for girls, the house mother will need to be trained on how to find and interview girls for acceptance.   She will need to k now how to care for them, establishing rules and a regular routine.  We are preparing the job description now in order to help her provide a good home and a great opportunity for the girls who will come to live here.  She will need to know how to send reports to us for the sponsors, how to maintain a budget and provide a balanced petty cash report each month.

I really hope TG will accept the job.   She is learning now how to secure the best prices for items needed to remodel and furnish the house.   She is maintaining a computer itemization of things purchased and the cost, so she is learning the business side of running a home now.   

She is very skilled in technology so she can teach the girls how to use the cell phone to their advantage as well as computers.   The future depends on everyone having good skills in technology and these poor girls would never have an opportunity to learn these things without the advantage of an education.

One of the church leaders is a very good Bible teacher.   He and his wife would be considered for the houseparents’ job if TG does not accept it    Within the past year, this brother fell from the roof of either the church building or his house.  He is now paralyzed.   He in a wheelchair but continues to lead in teaching classes and preaching.    He would be limited as a housefather and most of the work would fall on his wife’s shoulders.   She would really have to depend on the older girls helping with the housework and garden work.  In any event, he will be good to teach the Bible to the girls.

There is no need for heat or air conditioning.   Some nights are cool, but a comforter is enough to sleep warmly.   The windows all have screens so they can sleep with windows open and not worry about mosquitoes.   There is a rainy season in our early spring in the U.S.   When we were in Mukdahan, Thailand three years ago, I think they told us they had rain in April and May.    

People dress modestly here even in 90-degree weather.   Many ride motorbikes so they wear jackets or long-sleeved t-shirts.   Everyone is clean and dressed nicely.   We mostly see young people.  I guess old people mostly stay at home.   We do not see anyone out that is close to our age.   Everyone has a cell phone and those with cars have the latest models.   People do not appear to be suffering economically here, but yet there must be poor people as in every country.   We mostly see the people going to jobs and shopping.   

There are few taxis and not many of the local type of motorcycle with seats' taxis.    Uber is the way to go.  It is easy by downloading it on your phone to call them.   Ron set up an account and they charge our credit card for each trip.  He does have to have the right change to pay drivers.   He types in where we want to go, and they can tell from the call where we are located.   He gets a message back saying how long the wait will be and the type of car and tag number.   I saw a message on his phone saying if the wait was more than 10 minutes, a free coupon would be given.  When we get in the car, the driver already has his cell phone GPS set for our destination.   It is very inexpensive and quick.   Most speak a little English or use the translator on their phone to ask a question.    Modern technology has certainly made trips to foreign countries much easier for us.   

I will keep posting blogs about interesting things about Thailand.   If you are only interested in the progress on the house, you can simply look at the pictures I post.

Wishing everyone a happy Thanksgiving.    I will surely miss this holiday but hope you have a great one.   May God bless all of you.