Latest News From BaanGerda
Children Prepare to Take Part in Midnight Run
Posted by Karl Morsbach on 1st October 2008There is a big difference when you look upon Bangkok’s city streets at night from the perspective of a thirsty runner rather than sitting in an air conditioned car…
What started as an activity initiated by a group of enthusiastic runners has developed into a serious sports challenge. For many years now, the management of Amari Watergate Hotel in Bangkok have organised the annual ‘Midnight Run’ along the streets of the city centre. In the beginning, the number of people participating was a humble handful of enthusiasts. However, the tradition soon developed and last year as many as 3000 started the race and almost an equal number managed to complete it. Participants can choose between distances of six and twelve km.
This year the race is on October 11th and the organizers are expecting more than 4000 runners.
BMW Thailand is the main sponsor of the event and many other companies take the opportunity to show their commitment and help make the event possible. Numerous attractive prices are donated for a tombola after the race.
As in previous years, proceeds from the event will go to help HIV-infected children in a royal project and also to BaanGerda. Last year, a few of our children attended the preparation for the midnight event and it left a lasting impression. This year they want to actively participate and insist that the Midnight Run is not only for adults.
For many months they have been preparing under the watchful eye of BaanGerda staff. They can’t wait to go to Bangkok on October 11th. Take a look at the video to see their unusual training methods…
Photography Course
Posted by Mike Thomas on 1st August 2008
Several of the older children recently benefited from a photography course kindly organised by Barbara Walton. She has submitted this report along with a link to some of the photos that the children took:
“As professional news photographers based in Thailand for epa european pressphoto agency (www.epa.eu/), Narong Sangnak and I don’t have much time for passing on skills, but we enjoyed a great day teaching a group of BaanGerda photo enthusiasts the basics of taking a picture during a day-long workshop.
After Narong’s thorough theory lesson, and assisted by photographer Udo Weitz and Narong’s wife Prang, we worked with small teams in the field, encouraging and directing their portrait, landscape and self chosen assignments. The budding young photographers got to use Canon and Nikon professional equipment, and soon picked up that learning how to shoot pictures is often about re-learning how to look from behind a camera, and allowing yourself to be adventurous, curious, and bold enough to give a photo idea a try - and see if it works.
By the end of the session all the kids were moving their bodies and not just standing to shoot, getting closer to their subject and really searching their home BaanGerda environment to find where interesting light and nice locations were for picture taking.
We then saw a very enthusiastic group shown how to edit their shoots and work off their pictures - crop, tone and save for group discussion. While we only scratched the surface we saw some great talent emerge!”
Barbara Walton
View some of the children’s photos
HIV Medicine Side Effects
Posted by Ginge on 8th July 2008
When you look at most of the kids at BaanGerda, it would be easy to believe that they feel as healthy as their peers living in the community. And for many this is indeed the case. However, what most people don’t understand about HIV treatment is that it is can be aggressive to the body and many people, both children and adults, have problems adjusting to their medication. In fact, the majority of our kids have experienced side effects from the drugs and this is just one of the things we need to monitor whilst caring for the residents of BaanGerda.
There are many degrees of side effects which can occur very early on in treatment, or appear after several months or even years. Most side effects experienced from ARVs are quite mild, and often will resolve themselves. Headache, skin rash, fatigue or diarrhoea are common examples. Usually the symptoms are noticed in the early stages of treatment, or after a change in drug regimen.
Other side effects are more serious and will require swapping one or more drugs after consultation with a specialist. Anaemia is common with one drug, neuropathy (numbness, usually in the hands and feet) from another. High cholesterol and lipodystrophy (where body fat is transferred from one part of the body to another) are also frequently observed. However some drug reactions are severe and can be fatal if not recognised in time. Usually it is impossible to tell in advance who will suffer these side effects. For this reason, the staff at BaanGerda need to keep a careful watch over any children who have recently had a change in their medication, and the house parents are also instructed to look out for any suspicious symptoms.
It is a sad fact of life that many of our children have experienced such poor health in the past that they will tolerate considerable discomfort before complaining. Whilst we try to make our children feel as normal as possible, it is our responsibility to teach them to recognise dangerous symptoms which may arise from drug side effects.
Trip To The Seaside
Posted by Ginge on 3rd May 2008We are in the middle of the long school holidays which, for the children at BaanGerda, are punctuated by a very important event: the annual beach trip. Our first holiday with the children was 6 years ago, and since then it has become a tradition which the kids look forward to for months in advance.
Throughout the month of March the children talk of little else. They pack their bags days in advance, and when the day of departure arrives the buses set off at 4am, but you can be sure that with all the excitement hardly anyone manages to get any sleep before that. They arrive before lunch, sleepy from the long journey, and desperate to go and play in the sea.
Much has changed since our first visit when we were unable to disclose that our children were infected with HIV for fear that we would be turned away. Many resorts didn’t want to accept us when we mentioned that we were bringing HIV kids and ultimately it was decided to keep it secret. By the time our resort discovered they had HIV, the owners had become so fond of the kids they didn’t turn us away. Instead they gave us a cheap room rate and plenty of extra treats for free. Each family stays in a simple bungalow with one room for the children and another for the parents for 3 fun-filled days. Not only that, we have also observed that those children who have persistent HIV-associated skin problems show much improvement after a few days at the beach, perhaps due to the salty water.
It is as a result of the kind support of friends of BaanGerda that each year our children are able to enjoy what is a big highlight of the year.
Nutrition Research Study Update
Posted by Ginge on 9th April 2008At BaanGerda we are aware that the role on nutrition is just one of many important factors influencing the development of our children. Visitors to the village may have noticed that some of the children seem very small in comparison to other children of the same age. The HIV virus not only attacks the body’s immune system but can also affect the physical and mental development of a child.
It is believed that a healthy HIV infected child requires approximately 10% more food intake than a non-infected child. A child with clinical symptoms of HIV (opportunistic infections / HIV wasting etc.) however requires up to 50% more food. It is our responsibility to ensure that our children get sufficient nutrition to ensure they develop like normal children. We find this now takes up a larger proportion of our monthly budget .
We are delighted that a team of nutritionists from the Thai Red Cross HIV Research Centre and Mahidol University in Bangkok have decided to undertake a study of the role of nutrition in HIV children at BaanGerda. After two preliminary visits to assess the height, weight and food intake of the children, the team are now working on various approaches to ensure that the nutritional needs of our kids are being fulfilled.
BaanGerda is an ideal location for such a study because we have records about the physical development of our children going back several years as well as clinical data for each child. The team will be working with our cooks to adapt menus for healthy high-calorie foods; our parents to encourage their involvement in their children’s eating habits; and our kids to teach them the importance of eating healthy food.
We will be making regular reports on the progress of the study, but for now our children seem very happy to know that one of the team’s recommendations is to eat plenty of ice cream and milkshakes!
Developing The Orff System In Thailand
Posted by Bruce Gaston on 26th March 2008
I first heard about the Orff method about 25 ago, when The Goethe Institute in Bangkok sponsored a special workshop and they brought over Dr. Hermann Regner from the Orff Schulwerk Centre in Salzburg. After that, Regner led several workshops over a period of years and we developed together the beginning of the Orff system in Thailand. At that time we were unable to achieve the goal that we had set for ourselves; that was to make an Orff system as you see in so many other countries.
The basis of the idea behind the Orff System has to do with children’s songs and it’s very attached to a language and a culture. Carl Orff was German so he used many local nursery rhymes, folk tales and fairy tales to form the Orff system in Germany. It was such a magical system and it worked so well and gave children an early and rich understanding of music, that it spread immediately to other countries.
Very soon there was a whole series of English text books overseen and controlled by Orff himself, and this was followed by French, German, American and Spanish. Up until now we’ve never been able to achieve this in Thailand.
So one of the things that we are doing in BaanGerda is not only giving the gift of music and encouraging musical sensitivity, but also doing research and working very hard to develop the Orff system by using Thai nursery rhymes, folk tales and children’s songs that have been in the Thai tradition for hundreds of years.
Sewing Workshop Teachers
Posted by Mike Thomas on 18th March 2008
An important part of the village is the handicraft and carpentry workshop that provides the parents with an opportunity to work and contribute to earn a living. Khun Narong and Dim have been involved in the textile industry in Thailand for over 30 years and regularly supply silk and cotton products to shops throughout Bangkok.
What is your role at BaanGerda?
Dim: We stay at BaanGerda for 1 or 2 weeks every month, teaching the foster mothers how to make various items such as pillows, hats, bags etc… Our silk comes from a small village in the north-east called Chaiyapoom, which uses traditional production methods and natural dyes.
Where are the finished products sold?
Dim: Some of the products are shipped to Australia where Father Sean from the Born To Live foundation sells them to local shops. We also supply to a company in Europe that deals only in Fair Trade products, which means that we have to meet strict standards for both manufacturing and the welfare of the workers.
How does the workshop help the mothers at BaanGerda?
Dim: When they can work they have a better meaning in life, they won’t think of all the negative things anymore. They can work and have an income and have a way of improving their life. They don’t have to be idle and stuck worrying about their condition. Another important factor is that having a job enhances the self-confidence of the parents which in return makes them better parents. During the holidays the mothers are also able to pass on their new skills to the children.
Why The Orff Method Is So Successful
Posted by Bruce Gaston on 28th February 2008
The reason the Orff system is so applicable and so appropriate in Thailand is because we have the same way of looking at things as Karl Orff did, and that is, you teach children to start with percussion instruments such as xylophones, metallophones and glockenspiels. This means that you use your two hands to make melodies on bars which, if you think about it, is much easier than worrying about where your fingers go. If you look at the history of music all over the world you’ll see that people tend to start playing with two hands alternating back and forth in a kind of hitting gesture.
We take these percussion instruments and bring them together to have a symphonic sound; an ensemble, in which the children, even the very young children can immediately have some success in playing together. The other very convenient point, and certainly the genius in the Orff system, is that if you make the percussion instruments in a way that you can take the bars out, so that with the remaining bars the chance of making a mistake is manageable even for small children. You don’t have to worry like you do with a piano where you have so many black and white keys and much more chance of making an error.
With Thai instruments, the bars can’t be removed so you always have to choose between lots of notes to get the ones that are right. Using the Orff instruments, you take many of the bars away and the children can achieve something instantly. It’s a wonderful way of introducing the children to music and making it successful right from the very beginning, so the very first hour you start studying Orff you can have musical joy.
BaanGerda Sports Day
Posted by Kaew on 30th January 2008
This is the fifth sports day that the friends of ‘kaewdiary.com’ have organized for the kids of BaanGerda. We made the event so they can have the same experience as other non-infected kids.
It started one weekday when I went to BaanGerda I saw the children playing at home and not going to school. I asked “why do you not go to school ?” They answered that today is the sports day in the school and the teacher said that the BaanGerda kids should not participate. I did not know why the teachers had such a bad attitude about HIV.
My friends and I wanted the BaanGerda children to have the same happiness and excitement as the others so we organized our own sports day at BaanGerda. We did not have much money to to arrange the event but the children were very happy to take part in sport competitions, be cheerleaders etc… In the evening we staged a party and the volunteers from the website performed in funny shows for the kids. Now the teachers have more understanding of HIV and the BaanGerda children get the opportunity to take part in the school activities.
The sport event has become a tradition between Kaewdiary.com and BaanGerda and takes place in January every year for two days. The first day has the sports events and a party for the volunteers and children in the evening. The next day in the morning is a Buddhist ceremony with monks. We pray for the children who have died in the past and pray for a good life, good health and good luck.
In the afternoon we follow a Thai tradition which is called BAI-SRI (which actually means ‘lucky’ and ‘auspicious’ rice). In this ritual a little robe will connect the adults to the kids. This white robe represents a holy thread. When we connect it to the children’s wrists we bless them and wish them good health and tell them that we love them very much.
It is very time consuming and tiring to organize this sports event. In the end we know that all the trouble and pain is very worthwhile because it is for the children. At the end of the ceremony we all hug each other and say our thanks, ask for forgiveness and good spirit. We then promise to be back again for many other activities in the time to come.
Children Volunteer in Rural School
Posted by Kaew on 16th January 2008
At the beginning of December I arranged for my friends from my website (www.kaewdiary.com) to take the bigger children of BaanGerda to a volunteer camp in Buriram Province. It’s a volunteer camp to help a local school in an area known as ‘Isaan’ in north-eastern Thailand, 410 kilometres from Bangkok.
The objectives of the project were;
- to help a very poor local school.
- to help kids in poor families (we gave many things like books, pencils ,clothes, shoes).
- to teach the kids from BaanGerda about “GIVING” and working as a volunteer. The kids are becoming teenagers and old enough to understand that good people also GIVE and not only TAKE.
- for the kids from BaanGerda to learn about the difference in Thai culture, learn to live with other people.
I brought some twelve teenagers from BaanGerda to Baan Nong Phet School at Burirum and about 30 volunteer from my website. We used money from the donation in kaewdiary.com
At the camp, we helped to build a terrace with a roof in front of the library. We made a shelf to organise the books in the library. We renovated a hall of the school (it’s a little hall that is used for everything such as eating, meeting, etc…) We renovated a statue of Buddha, and we built a washbasin.
BaanGerda’s kids worked hard but they were happy. They have new friends now. They tried to eat local food and they joined in with dancing to local songs (Cambodian song and dance). I think that the kids get a good experience and good memory from this project. And I hope that when the kids grow up they will work as a volunteer to assist people who need their help. On our way back to BaanGerda we all were very happy.
Profile of Kaew
Posted by Karl Morsbach on 4th January 2008Kaew has been part of the BaanGerda team since 2002 and is responsible for functions, activities and general P.R. She is well-known in Thailand due to her online diaries that chronicle her experiences of living with HIV. She has also published a series of five ‘AIDS-Diaries’ that have become best sellers.
Six years ago, after graduating with a masters degree in psychology, Kaew secured a good job with a large Thai company. It is normal practice in Thailand for new employees to undergo a short medical and HIV test before they can start work. The result was to change her life. The blood test showed that she was HIV positive.
“I didn’t think that I’m in a risk group about HIV because I have only one boyfriend and we have a plan to marry in the next year. My first reaction was to be very sad, afraid and I cried a lot. I didn’t know about HIV/AIDS. I know like many Thai people that AIDS is no way to be cured and it’s a disease that only bad person will get. And everybody is afraid of people who are infected. So I called to the company and lied to them that I got another job, and I lied to my family that I found a company which will send me to work in inland province.”
Within three months her boyfriend was dead. She was afraid to talk about her problems with family and friends because of the stigma and prejudice associated with the disease. Instead, she began writing about her fears and experiences on the internet and soon developed a large readership that sent messages and offered their moral support. Today, her website is a well established institution especially for younger people. For a little annual fee they can register as a member of the website. As a matter of fact, they are regular visitors to BaanGerda and assist with the organisation and sponsorship of many of the activities that you read about on our website.
How did you become involved with BaanGerda?
“At first I start like someone who goes to visit the kids, give some useful things and go home. But then I go every month and invite my friends in my website to come together. We made many activities for the kids, then I became one of staff at BaanGerda.”
How has your life been affected in terms of the stigma of being HIV positive?
“It has affected my life in many ways because in Thailand we still have a bad attitude with people who are HIV infected and there is still a wrong understanding for HIV/AIDS infected people. I have a graduate master degree but I can’t find a good job because in big company they force you to test HIV before you can start work there. And many people are still afraid to stay near those who are infected. Many people still think that somebody HIV-infected must be a bad person.”
Have you noticed any change in people’s attitude here in Thailand?
“I think there is a change in attitude about HIV in Thailand, but it’s a little change and maybe it’s not a real change. You often are told that ‘you can stay together with HIV people’ but in the real life there are still blood tests to isolate people who are infected. But now it is better than in the past because the government provides ARV medicine. It improves the quality of life and helps people to take care of themselves.”
Children Perform at FANC Charity Ball
Posted by Mike Thomas on 26th December 2007The Foreign Anti-Narcotic Community of Thailand (FANC) held their annual ball at the beginning of December, with proceeds going to BaanGerda. The event, held at the Westin Hotel in Bangkok, was an opportunity for some of the children to demonstrate their new musical skills they have learnt this year.
FANC has existed for over 25 years and is made up of police attaches from 20 countries, who work with the local police to fight drug trafficking and other crimes in Thailand. Some years ago, they looked at ways that their membership could make a difference to those individuals whose lives were directly (or indirectly) affected by these crimes. As a result, for the last 4 years FANC has chosen to sponsor the children of Baan Gerda.
Mike Hiller, FANC Chairman, “Many of the FANC members have visited with the children at BaanGerda and were deeply moved by the children themselves and the work being done there. It was the experience of having met the children that led us to inviting them to perform at the 2007 FANC Charity Ball. Not surprisingly, their performance was the highlight of the event…those that attended the ball were as deeply moved as those of us who visited BaanGerda and will likely not forget the amazing children of Baan Gerda.”
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