By Evelind Schecter | Co-Founder, Program Leader
The last quarter brought some of Northern Thailand’s most beautiful celebrations. During the Festival of Lights, Loy Krathong, the children crafted small boats from banana leaves and set them afloat on the river, symbolically releasing past troubles and sending hopeful wishes into the year ahead. Together, we also released lanterns into the night sky, a magical moment shared by all.
For Christmas, children who celebrate traveled up to a Karen hill tribe village for a large gathering of friends and family, filled with music and traditional dishes. Warm Heart also hosted its annual holiday party for staff and their families, with delicious food, performances by the children, and a lively (and carefully organized!) exchange of small gifts.
The nights remain cool, but the days are growing warmer as our students enter the final month of the school year. With guidance from our new farm manager, Ying, the children have been expanding the vegetable gardens, learning new farming methods, and contributing to their own healthy meals. Recent volunteers have spent time practicing English with the children and sharing favorite recipes from their home countries, inspiring lively discussions and map searches to locate faraway places.
We welcomed visiting volunteers from Canada, France, and Belgium, who assisted with biochar production and marketing materials. Our Thai international high school volunteer “Sandee” is traveling with her school program, but spends time on Sundays with the younger children, practicing English via Zoom. We have a new high school volunteer (dada.the.explorer), a student from Myanmar studying in Bangkok, who cycled from Bangkok to Chiang Mai to raise funds for Warm Heart (https://www.instagram.com/p/DShQuXNko-6/).
The high school graduation ceremony will take place at the end of February, with exams completed by mid-March. Graduating 9th graders will sit for entrance exams to determine their next academic track: Vocational, Math & Sciences, or Languages (Chinese and English). Our Grade 12 seniors have already received university acceptances and are now awaiting decisions from their first-choice programs before finalizing their plans. Meanwhile, our staff has been visiting prospective new students as we prepare for the coming school year.
As we look ahead, we are grateful for your support. You are helping nurture children who are healthy, joyful, and learning, and building hopeful futures of their own.
Best wishes for the year ahead,
Dana, Michael, Evelind, and the Warm Heart Family
By Evelind Schecter | Co-Founder Program Leader
By Evelind Schecter | Co-Founder, Program Manager
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
