The Stratton ABC Foundation,( registered Charity No; C.M310), in Chiang Mai, is presently looking for Sponsors to ensure the continuation and development of  its work helping disadvantaged children to get a better chance in life.

As well as operating a Childrens Home, with beds for 15 children, (presently caring for 9), the Foundation also has an English Language promotion project which aims to increase the use and standards of English language in local rural schools. Good working knowledge of spoken English can often give someone, who may be short on other academic qualifications, a good chance of a job paying decent money in Thailand.

This project includes a website, www.thaischoolsenglish.org; with sub-sites for separate local schools. The Foundation is currently developing these sites to carry online courses for the children to follow as well as placing volunteer teachers for first hand teaching at schools.

You can see more details of the Stratton ABC Foundations work on its own website, www.thestrattonabcfoundation.com.

The Stratton ABC Foundation is also looking for volunteers who would be prepared to commit to at least one day a week teaching English conversation at local schools in and around Chiang Mai. The Foundation can help with acquiring the necessary visa and work permit.

Also any Schools who may like to link with a rural school in Thailand please also contact the Foundation through their website.

If you can help in anyway, please contact the Foundation through their website.

My good friend Ally has been doing some work for  Panyaden School who are presently constructing an innovative new school for children of  kindergarten up to Prathom 6 ages. This is no ordinary school.

It is being constructed within an environmentally friendly philosophy, using natural and renewable resources.

The main construction materials are Bamboo and Rammed Earth and it is quite something to see.

For me it is a leading example of taking a step back in order to take a step forward to protect the future for our children on this fragile planet.

The Panyaden School has been developed in order to combine the modern day curriculum with the learning of natural wisdom and real life skills within a Buddhist cultural setting.

You can find all the details of the aims and objectives of this fantastic project at the school website.

The school site is situated on the left hand side of the  Canal Road, that takes you out of Chiang Mai city from Suthep Road, shortly after the Samoeng/Hang Dong Rd intersection.

Currently the entrance is via an unmade road, all that will change into a purpose built road system. When you travel down this track, you suddenly come across the expansive site where work is well underway.

The designs of the buildings under construction are a testament to the strength and versatility of Bamboo, an abundant and very cost effective resource in Thailand.

Several different varieties of Bamboo are used depending on their individual characteristics and the job at hand.

All the Bamboo is sorted, straightened and treated at Chiang Mai Life Construction (CLC) nearby which we also visited a little later.

On entering the construction site we were greeted warmly by one of the ‘foremen’ who eagerly pointed us toward some local herb tea brewing on a small fire out side a bamboo house’.

Both Ally and myself partook of this very refreshing brew.

Close to this building was a store holding neatly stacked  earthen bricks and also some prepared bamboo awaiting use in the construction.

One of the buildings looks much larger than the others, it’s the Assembly Hall,  a huge construction, reminiscent of a gigantic pre-historic dinosaur skeleton in its present stage of construction. The natural design with its graceful curves makes it not just a building, but also a work of art, worthy of a place in any gallery big enough to hold it.

Nearby is another building of similar design, somewhat smaller and a little closer to completion.

Towards the rear of the site are the ‘classrooms’. Presently, the main work here is on the rammed earth walls.

During our visit we watched as several teams of workers continually pounding away, with huge wooden and metal tools, at the earth that was packed in between bamboo retainers that will be removed once the wall is finished.

Each wall takes about 4 – 5 days to ram & after that, they need to be left to dry for a couple of months before the bamboo roof is placed on top of the rammed earth load bearing walls.

Sand bags are used to create cavities on their removal later.

Once the ramming stage is completed and the whole wall stands in place the work is far from finished.

Nearby we saw another set of labourers working on a ‘completed’ wall, brushing the rough surfaces smooth.

Behing the main site is a small, specially constructed ‘workers village’, built using the same method employed on the main site. Here you see the tool shed built with Adobe walls.

Bamboo is seen all around the school and its not just for construction. It’s being planted for it’s beauty and various uses that this flexible material can be utilised.

There are plans to have bamboo walkways all around the school, it will be a wonderful place to encourage children to grow and learn .

Planting of trees, bamboo and other plants is well underway and in the future the school will be farming it’s own food in the organic gardens to follow on from the construction period.

Ally pointed out the extensive thinking put into every aspect of this project;

with pipes having been laid all around the site , which will drain away excess rain waters into the lake and basically work as a continual cleaning system for the water contained within it.

I, for one , cannot wait to see the finished School and envy the children fortunate enough to end up learning here.

After a quick coffee at Bugs Coffee, back towards Chiang Mai on the Canal Road, we popped into the Chiang Mai Life Construction, where along with sorting, straightening, and treating all the Bamboo prior to use at the school, this innovative company have experimented with different types of earthen walls to find the most suitable for use in Chiang Mai, with respect to the weathers these walls will have to cope with.

We were lucky enough to be there at a time when the man behind this project, Markus Roselieb from Austria, was taking a group around the complex and explaining some of the processes. His enthusiasm for his project is clear as is his knowledge of the processes in use.

I listened with great interest as he talked about the variety of earthen walls they have tested, including Adobe, Rammed Earth and even Wattle and Daub.

For the Thai climate rammed earth & adobe walls seem to be most suitable. However, Markus explained that Wattle and Daub can only be used as interior/non weight baring walls as they do not have the strength or durability, but are excellent sound absorbers.

Markus explained the importance of protecting earth walls against ground water by raising their foundations above the ground to prevent rapid deterioration.

Today’s visit rates as one of the most interesting days I have had in a long while and one that gave real hope that if more people can follow such examples of environmentally friendly forward thinking, then our dream of providing a better future for our children may well come true.

Ian, bit of a nutter but salt of the earth, good idea mate!

I’ve long said that we have got far to ahead of our selves and there is much about the modern way of life that has been fast destroying our communities. So I am very happy to have heard from an old workmate of mine, in the UK, about his new website which offers a step back from the usual consumerism. Take a step back in time to the days of barter and neighbourlyness. This wonderful site gives a modern day platform for people to ask for help, from people in their community,  in return for either money or like favours or maybe goods of some sort. There is also a swap section.

Its early days for the website and I know that its creator, Ian, wants to expand and improve the concept in time. At the moment it is  UK based but I know that if the interest is there Ian would like to see it go world wide. One of the great things with this site is that it also plans to assist Charities by donating a percentage of all transactions to Charities chosen by the customers.

I think that we all know that, although we would like our governments to do more, if we really want to regain proper civilised communities it is up to us to do something about it. I truely believe that the ideas behind this website offer some assistance towards this aim. Take a look and spread the word:)

Todays post is just to say that life is good. Our Foundation Project, The Stratton ABC Foundation is going well and we now take care of 9 children from disadvantaged backgrounds, all from Northern Thai Provinces.

Today I visited nearby Sarapee, to watch a Parade involving two of our children who attend Mattayom 1 and 2 in Sarapee.

Its a sad reflection of todays society that parents around the world have little time to attend such events and I feel blessed that it is my job to make the time to do so. many children do not understand the constraints put on their parents, by modern day living. I’ m sure, like myself, you can remember the good feeling whenever your parents turned up to see you take part in something; sports day, a school play maybe. That feeling that they wanted to give up their time for you, to take pride in what you were doing.

I firmly believe that if we want to salvage any semblence of civilsed society, governments around the world should move to create a situation where parents are allowed paid time off work to attend such occasions if need be.

Kids are left to fend for themselves too much these days, and the apparent lack of interest in their activities, by their parents, leads to all sorts of problems for society as those children get older.

Thailand, like most countries these days, is battling a spread in the drink and drug culture in the younger generations, and todays Parade appeared to be addressing this issue and promoting healthy lifestyle.

The Parade went from Sarapee Train Station, where I dropped our two older children early in the morning, down the old Lamphun-Chiang Mai road through the first part of Sarapee and ending at Sarapee Pittiyakom School.

It was a lively colourful event with a Marching Band at the lead;

the local Police were represented by some very jolly looking Policemen and women;

 and a few colourful floats following the anti drink and drug theme made for a well worthy Parade.
For more photos of this event please visit our photobucket album here.

If you want to know more about how you could help our Foundation project please follow any of these links;
Our Foundation Shop……here you can buy items produced by the children, such as greetings cards; sponsor a child; or maybe check out
our Wishlist and sponsor the purchase of items we need;…and more

Our main Foundation website.

Our Thai language website which is being constructed by the children themselves.

Take a moment to consider the origins of Valentines Day.

Before the day was high-jacked for lovers, it was originally meant for

close and trusted friends and companions.

So why not send a card to all your loved ones on this special day.

Even better, purchase your cards from The Stratton ABC Foundation online shop.

You will find a lovely collection of designs produced by the children at Stratton House Childrens Home, Chiang Mai.

They very much need your support so make both them and your closest friends happy and order today.

The official Childrens Day is on the second Saturday of January, but it came a day early at Pasak School with a large event held, to which several local schools came to take part.

There was a big turn-out and the many food stalls and attractions were kept busy all the way through.

All the children were very patient, standing in line with their respective schools on the sports field whilst the opening ceremonies were performed.

Once all the opening announcements were finished it was time for the fun to start and the tidy lines became a stampede for the games, on offer under the various marquees and of course, the free kanom.

Throughout the morning there were various performances on the large stage close to Wat Pasak.
It really is a delight to be at such an event and see the effort made by the whole community to make a special day for the children.
In between performances by children, from all the attending schools, there were prizes given away, ranging from boxed milk to big cuddly toys to bicycles.
The dancing shows were fantastic to watch and it was obvious that all the children had put a lot of effort into practising their routines and they should all be very proud of themselves.
I’m sure also that many teachers and parents worked hard behind the scenes with the wonderful costumes worn for the performances.
From the tiny infants, excitedly giggling their way through their acts, to the older kids turning in very laudable routines, they all put in a huge effort and made a great show.
The traditional Thai dancing always holds me spellbound when performed so well.
The girls from Pasak School did a fantastic job with their lively number(watch this performance on youtube).The lead dancer for much of the routine, Best, looked very relaxed and professional and has that killer smile to top it off.And I can tell you that that smile is natural, brightens my day everytime I go to teach.
Hope you don’t mind girls, but my personal favourite was the traditional dance and drum number. In the heat of the day I think these boys deserve a medal for what was clearly quite an exhausting routine for ones so young. The lead Drum boy pulled off a wonderful flowing performance as did the mock fighting dancers with their cymbals.

All the children appeared to have a great time.

 The Bouncy Castle was very popular.
In the marquees there were stands where the children could aim at targets with catapults;

knock cans down with balls;

throw hoops over bottles or roll metal balls onto targets.
There was a large marquee for the infants with lots of colouring books and lots of adults there to help and make a fuss of them.

 I also saw children playing some sort of board game that looked similar to scrabble.

The kids were treated to a fly over by a motorised paraglider,(not sure if it was arranged or not).
There was so much fun and excitement to enjoy that alot of children were ready for home by 1pm as the heat got ever more intense.
It was clear that the children in this friendly community all had a wonderful time as do thousands of children throughout Thailand during this great annual event.
Personally I think this day should be adopted worldwide…cliche or not..the children are our future.

This a huge event, very popular with the locals, with hundreds of  stalls where you can find food, clothes, toys, etc.

There are also many ‘fairground rides’ , as well as several stages with live music acts.

Our children had a great time looking around this fantastic spectacle.

They had all received a little pocket money to be able to buy snacks or drinks and then we allowed them to choose a few fairground attractions to enjoy. They all did very well, considering the vast variety of stalls and tempting things, in not asking for too much.

During their time there they enjoyed rides on a merry go round and a ‘Big’ Wheel, and spent time in the Bouncy Castle and House of Horrors.

Tai and Dtu, the older boys tried their hand at bursting balloons with darts and Dtu managed to win himself a cuddly Panda, which he gave to his sister, May, who has also joined us at Stratton House.

The most popular event of the evening seemed to be a snake show we came across by chance.

Tucked away behing the food stalls young Jack noticed the snakes being prepared and pulled us towards the show.

I’m not quite sure ow I felt about watching the first section of the show which involved a boy, of about 12, baiting a very large snake, which I believe was a Python. The snakes very large fangs could done some nasty damage had the boy made a mistake.

Later in the show and older guy performed with a large Cobra, sometimes appearing to hypnotise it and other times outright baiting it to attack.

Certainly not something I want the kids to try at home!

We were told that they had 5 siblings and that their parents needed to work in Chiang Rai.The struggle to provide for the whole family and the wish for at least some of their children to have a better chance led them to contact us.
Whilst we were there a neighbour came to ask if we could help his son, Tai. Tai is a quiet boy, a keen artist we have discovered, and it appears that the main worry for the father was that they live in an area where it is common for teenage boys to slip into bad ways and he desperately wanted to keep his son away from this possibility.
With the evening closing in it was decided that we would visit the other children the next morning and Boon and myself went and booked into a small guesthouse in Phua.
With a seven o’clock start the next morning, we first met up with our liason lady back at the first village before heading off to Tung Chang, another 30kms down the road, and up into a nearby Hill Tribe village.
This was the most difficult part of the trip as the family concerned were asking for placements for  girls.
At present, whilst we are still in the registration process, and so without major sponsors, we have had to limit the placements we offer right now, to ensure that budget pressures do not become to great to quickly. With the two girls we had already agreed placements for we only had one more placement to offer for now.
We explained this too the family and let them know that there will be further possibility for placement once registration is complete and we can hopefully find companies that may support us.
They then had the difficult descision as to which child would come with us.
It certainly doesnt take long to make a decision on offering placement in such villages, when you see their living conditions.
Although these villagers clearly have pride in there homes and everything is made to look as beautiful as possible many houses have now proper flooring and where we were, one very basic toilet is shared between several houses.
It was decided that 12 year old May would come this time with the possibility of her friend joining us later in the year.
Also from this village we met 16 year old Dtu.Due to his families circumstances he has not attended school for the last year. With no schooling and little work prospects his family asked us to help.
It was a tearful morning as decisions were made and children boarded our bus for the long haul back to Chiang Mai. Nu and Soms mother travelled with us to see the home for herself before returning to Phua the next day.
And so we move forward to 2010 with a much extended family and hope that more of you out there find us and find it in your heart to help in anyway you can.

For more photos please visit or photo album here.

Last night was the first night of the ceremony, which involved several Monks from many different Temples in and around Chiang Mai. We took the children from Stratton House up, knowing that many of their school friends would be there.

I thought that we may see the start of the ceremony, but discovered that it would not start properly until 9pm, and by then we had returned to Mae Salab so the kids could get their sleep.

Still they had a good 2 and a half hours playtime with the other children there and May and Yong made merit by putting money in the collection bowls.

 This is a particular method of merit making and the smallest denomination coins are placed symbolically into each of the many bowls laid out on the tables.

To take part you pay 20 baht for a bowl of the small satang. There were other ways of giving, such as the slot machines that when fed played recordings of Monks giving blessings. There was also a catch net held by a group of straw village folk.

This morning was time for villagers to come to make merit by offering food to the Monks and listening to the blessings.

 All the school children were involved.

 Our lad, Jack, had taken 4 packs, prepared by Wasana, our house mother, and shared them with some friends who had less to give.

The Monks chanting was very relaxing and for a while I sat in quite deep meditation.

I am not sure how many days this ceremony will run for but was interested to see the temporary accomodation for the visiting Monks.

Very simple cubicles constructed with rough wooden poles and brown paper, straw laid out inside for sleeping on.

There was a big turn out and I felt lucky to witness this cultural event.

At the end of the mornings ceremony all the people stood in line, forming a pathway and waited for the Monks who walked through collecting the food offerings.

For more photos please visit our photobucket album here.