Written by Carol Acosta, President of the Maechan, Thailand Rotary Club
Submitted by Bill Taylor, International Service Chair, Rotary Club of Edmonds Daybreakers
All work was completed at Wiang Sa and the dedication held on Wednesday, February 17th. We wanted the kids to be present for the dedication and, as it turned out, many of our club members were able to attend as well. There were also dignitaries from the local Tambon (District). It was quite a turnout.
The facilities were dedicated in typical Thai style. Large bags of organic produce from a local grower were presented to each of us in addition to a delicious lunch. We arranged to have ice cream for all the children but first they had to learn and say: “I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream” before they received it. It just added a bit of a fun element to the afternoon. We wanted the kids to have lunch before ice cream so the dedication was in the afternoon.
The dedication consisted of the usual speeches and thank-yous and then the move to the actual purification system and sampling of the water. It tasted quite good. We chose to include several of the children in the dedication picture. The water is for them so…
In addition to the purification system, the project was expanded to include a storage tank, the faucets where the children can fill their water bottles to carry with them throughout the day, and piping and faucets to other points around the campus. I believe we were able, with the cooperation of the school personnel, to accomplish a great deal for the money we had available. I hope everyone else agrees.
The receipts (in Thai) show the costs of the various materials and equipment purchased. The school supplied the supporting frame for the equipment. Also, paid staff from the school supplied labor. Even the children pitched in a bit. It was definitely a group project.
My only regret was that the names on the dedication banner were not in the order I would have preferred. Washington DC Rotary should have been first but I did not have the opportunity to check it out before it was printed. Perhaps their club will not mind too much. Just the fact that there are people in the US who care enough to help a small school in Northern Thailand amazed them.
Please pass on my personal thanks and that of the Maechan club to the Rotarians from the DC club. Needless to say, our thanks go to your Daybreakers club and to the SE Asia Foundation as well. They have no idea how much their grant helped the children of Wiang Sa.
Here are a few photos from that exciting day along with a couple of receipts.
The current exchange rate is approximately $1.00 = 30 Thai Baht. The above receipts account for approximately $3,767. The remaining $1,133 from the $4,900 budget was essentially Maechan Rotary Club money. It was used to fund the storage tank, and to provide a future maintenance fund of approximately $350.
