Taya Starling

For the past 5 or so years now I’ve been dedicating my birthday to charity work rather than a party.  I’ve been so fortunate to get a wonderful response every year from friends, family, and fellow do gooders (yes, real word) & i’m hoping we can take this year’s birthday to all new levels of giving.

For my birthday this year I will be returning to the SriOudom Wittaya School in Singhburi to host a fun arts’ n’craft day with the kids.  I first discovered the school back when Thailand experienced all that awful flooding a few years ago.  The school is run by a temple situated along side one of the rivers whose dam broke causing extensive damage to the school and surrounding community.  Since the school is run by the temple, their survival depends entirely on donations.  At the time, we donated books, school supplies, and other necessities to get the 250+ children back into their classrooms.  Once that was done, my friends and I raised money to build them new & improved bathrooms.  You see these children aren’t locals.  Their parents live hours away in a mountain village where there is no accessible education.  Every semester the monks charter buses to pick the children up and bring them down to Singhburi where they are housed, fed, and educated until summer break when they are returned to their parents.  The teachers & monks at this school are some of the sweetest people I have ever met.  And what I found to be a true testament to their characters is the characters of the children at the school.  Each of them are polite, considerate, kind, and helpful.  The older children help the younger children without having to be asked.  No one is ever reminded of their manners.  And they all seem happy even though they are far from home.

Last visit we hosted a carnival type day and set up different stations with various activities and games for the kids to play.  The school has over 300 students now so we had our work cut out for us.  Thank goodness we had some awesome volunteers along for the ride.  Since it was just before the holidays we had also asked the kids in advance what they’d like for Christmas.  My mom & her amazing friends went out and helped us hunt down every single gift whether it was a remote control car, books, barbies, watches, or coloring books.  It has been one of my favorite trips yet.

The temporary tattoos were clearly a HUGE HIT!

Every visit we also provide lunch for the students and teachers.  Often it’s noodles made by my favorite vendor at our local market.  He and his wife make everything from scratch and journey out there with us to throw together almost 600 bowls of noodles – most kids ask for seconds and eat up every last drop (:   This last trip we did sticky rice with grilled pork & ice cream for dessert.

Back to this year….  This year for my birthday I’m asking for volunteers and/or donations for the weekend before my birthday which is September 15.  On Sunday September 14th we will be taking over the school for the afternoon providing them with both lunch and fun arts’n’craft activities.  If you’re interested in signing up to come along please do so by leaving your name and email address below in the comment section by September 1st  (:

Once we have a headcount on volunteers we will charter buses or vans to transport everyone to the schools.  More details on that to come.  The day typically starts at 7am when we leave Bangkok and we usually return around 5pm.  I realize it’s a full day commitment but I promise you it’s one of the most satisfying things you can do.  The children are so fun and so grateful, it really is an irreplaceable experience.

If you are unable to join us on September 14th because you’re busy, out of town, don’t live in Bangkok, or don’t like children, you can still help me celebrate my birthday by donating directly to the school’s bank account:

BRANCH : 107/8 Moo 6, T. Inburi, A. Inburi, Singburi province 16110

Account No. :             117-1-241658

Account Name :        โรงเรียนศรีอุดมวิทยา (Sri Udomwittiya School)

One of the things I really appreciate about the monks at Wat Chomsri is that they don’t usually accept monetary donations.  They want you to know exactly where your money goes.  When we raised money to rebuild better bathrooms the monks actually had us discuss with the site engineer to determine how much money would be necessary for the labor and materials.  When they told us they needed new teaching supplies, instead of asking us for money they asked us for whiteboards, markers, and speakers to teach the ever growing classrooms.  Whatever amount of money you choose to donate to my birthday cause I promise you will see it in full effect when we’re at the school spending the day with the kids.  Hope to see you all then!

วันเกิดปีนี้อยากจะเชิญชวนเพื่อนๆไปร่วมทำบุญกันที่วัดบางโฉมศรี, สิงค์บุรี, เช้าวันอาทิตย์ที่ 14 กันยายน หลังจากเลี้ยงเพลพระแล้ว เราก็จะเลี้ยงข้าวกับขนมให้กับน้องๆชาวเขา 300+ คนที่พระอาจารย์พามาเรียนหนังสือที่วัด นอกจากนั้นเรายังมีงานการฝีมือสนุกๆไปให้น้องๆเล่นด้วย เช่นเพ้นท์ T-shirt, วาดโพสเตอร์,ถ่ายรูป

ถ้าเพื่อนๆที่อยากจะไปร่วมงานด้วยแต่ไม่มีรถ เราก็จะจัดรถให้ โดยช่วยกรอกชื่อและอีเมลล์ที่ช่อง comment ข้างใต้นี้ ก่อนวันที่ 1 กันยายน เพื่อจะได้ส่งเวลาและจุดนัดพบที่จะขึ้นรถไปพร้อมกัน

ถ้ามาร่วมด้วยตนเองไม่ได้ จะร่วมบริจาคสร้างโบสถ์ให้วัด หรือสำหรับค่าข้าวและอุปกรณ์การเรียนให้น้องๆ ก็สามารถส่งตรงเข้าบัญชีของโรงเรียน

Krung Thai Bank, Inburi Branch

Account No. :             117-1-241658

Account Name :        โรงเรียนศรีอุดมวิทยา