El Shadai Orphanage

[villagefarang]

Now I could be mistaken but that guy in the red hat looks like a guy who gets around a bit and showed up at the Expats Meeting last Saturday, with his better half.

[kandahar]

You're not mistaken. He is mister social. Nice guy and his lady is nice too.. He's a hasher and so is she.

[jubby]

You're not mistaken. He is mister social. Nice guy and his lady is nice too.. He's a hasher and so is she.

He was once sat minding his own business at one of the Hashers and some guy said to me, Is that VF over there.

Seriously, I'm not jesting. Its the truth. You guys look alike from a distance. remember when you had the Goatee beard VF !

[villagefarang]

You're not mistaken. He is mister social. Nice guy and his lady is nice too.. He's a hasher and so is she.

He was once sat minding his own business at one of the Hashers and some guy said to me, Is that VF over there.

Seriously, I'm not jesting. Its the truth. You guys look alike from a distance. remember when you had the Goatee beard VF !

Yes I remember the goatee but I was never that thin. Probably had something to do with us having the same hair stylist instead. Anyway he is obviously a handsome man, as they say. Do I need to apologize for any consequences of mistaken identity?

[scorpio1945]

You're not mistaken. He is mister social. Nice guy and his lady is nice too.. He's a hasher and so is she.

He was once sat minding his own business at one of the Hashers and some guy said to me, Is that VF over there.

Seriously, I'm not jesting. Its the truth. You guys look alike from a distance. remember when you had the Goatee beard VF !

Yes I remember the goatee but I was never that thin. Probably had something to do with us having the same hair stylist instead. Anyway he is obviously a handsome man, as they say. Do I need to apologize for any consequences of mistaken identity?

More a compliment. If you are you are the guy to the right of me at the Expats, you have several pounds, inches and less years on me. She is definately my better half. I try to be sociable. She really is. Bring the Ninga next time.

[jubby]

You're not mistaken. He is mister social. Nice guy and his lady is nice too.. He's a hasher and so is she.

He was once sat minding his own business at one of the Hashers and some guy said to me, Is that VF over there.

Seriously, I'm not jesting. Its the truth. You guys look alike from a distance. remember when you had the Goatee beard VF !

Yes I remember the goatee but I was never that thin. Probably had something to do with us having the same hair stylist instead. Anyway he is obviously a handsome man, as they say. Do I need to apologize for any consequences of mistaken identity?

No , there was Relief ;-)

[villagefarang]

You're not mistaken. He is mister social. Nice guy and his lady is nice too.. He's a hasher and so is she.

He was once sat minding his own business at one of the Hashers and some guy said to me, Is that VF over there.

Seriously, I'm not jesting. Its the truth. You guys look alike from a distance. remember when you had the Goatee beard VF !

Yes I remember the goatee but I was never that thin. Probably had something to do with us having the same hair stylist instead. Anyway he is obviously a handsome man, as they say. Do I need to apologize for any consequences of mistaken identity?

More a compliment. If you are you are the guy to the right of me at the Expats, you have several pounds, inches and less years on me. She is definitely my better half. I try to be sociable. She really is. Bring the Ninja next time.

In deference to my riding partner, who took a fall the other day, I left the black stallion at home in the stable. Didn't want to make him feel any worse. He may be riding by the next meeting but I'm questioning my interest in going to the next few meetings.

[cyberbitz]

Myself, friends and a church have been supporting the El shaddai orphanage for 2 years now. I am flying over soon to have a look. Can anybody give me recent developments there?

Cheers - Henk

[lannarebirth]

before you open your chequebook always to see if all is real .Check these out.

Our Head

The leader of El Shaddai , Patty Wolf has completed the discipleship of youth with a mission and gathered rich experience in their service in the area of church planting , the helping relationship and in different Evanglisationsmethoden in countries such as Borneo , China , Korea , Hong Kong, Japan and Malaysia. For 10 years, Patty , lives in Thailand. About four years she has left the service of the guardianship and direction of the first El Shaddai home on while the adoptive parents in Canada. "My dream is to see a continued multiplication of small homes, "said Patty , " focuses on developing the character and the faith to " Daniel's " train , innocent , integrity women and men who are equipped to shape this nation Positions in government , business and politics.

http://www.efg-voelk...id=33&Itemid=13

I for one, will not give money to people brainwashing vunerable kids.

Shame on these people.

Is there something really bad in the link you posted? I didn't open it but from what you copy and pasted it sounds like a very nice organization, and i'm an atheist. I attended 13 years of parochial school and it was the best education available at the time and I benefitted greatly from it. Don't let your own prejudices keep you from helping others.

[sunholidaysun1]

I dont know about this place either but then again its not an every day thing to go looking for kids orphanages. My personal experiences of poor families and children with no parents isnt so uncommon here. Children I know of whos parents have passed on for what ever reason have been taken care of by other family members or even passed on to other

Thai couples who cannot bare children themselves and have taken on the role as unofficial adoptive parents, without going through the adoptive channels as we in the west would have to do . I even know of some girls who have given birth at the age of 15 and 17 and the children taken from them immediately never to be seen again, passed on to Childless Thai couples who take on the role as the real mother and fathers.

The next point i wanted to make was about religion. Buddhism is the primary faith of Thailand and sadly bible bashing preachers are coming here and converting Thai's who know no better than what they hear and the benefits they get for having to attend religious meetings.

One family I know , the father converted to Christianity but his wife refused. Their 4 children have to attend Church every Sunday and occasional evening meetings as and when , there are also Christian camps for the kids when the school holidays are on. What do the kids get out of it ? Ask them , but what I do know is that each of their children get PAID 500 bht per Term for attending. That is 2000 bht for the mother and father to help them raise their children and that is one of the only reasons they are sent , purely for that money .

I hate the idea of brainwashing kids but understand the poor families to send their kids just for that extra cash several times a year.

Also , in one of the mountain villages I visit now and again , donations are given by the people of Taiwan,which consists of money being sent to the village chief who uses it where its needed. Clothes are also send once or twice a year and there are plenty for everyone . What does the village do in return ,they teach the children Chinese as a language other than Thai , Akha, Lisu , Lahu or whatever. All are treated the same in the village as all benefit from the donations.

There is also the Christian element in the village as well , with a very small church built several years ago , again they get the benefits also of the bible bashers .

Kids should be kids and when they are old enough to follow and accept a faith then so be it but its not for me as a parent to push religion down their throats , in time they will decide for themselves. I just wish that poverty could be eased through normal natural humanity and generosity rather than have the dark side being sown .

As for charities in Thailand , I am very skeptical , I know of one or 2 very dubious charities here that have funding through normal channels here and through American postal addresses. Those that I know of seem to do very very little but those running these places live extremely well , with the occasional photo and press release of their so called good deeds , all may I add to suffice those who give generously but never attend .

Those who are genuine in what they do have the shadow over them because of the crooked dealing of some . I wish all were real and heartwarmingly good as this place seems to be , but I dont know other than what I read.

Please have a read of this:

http://annettejevans.wordpress.com/2009/09/26/when-an-orphanage-is-just-a-home/

I would like to know more about this place as well but I would also like to know if any of these children ever get adopted and if not why not ?

Sorry for the long read but this is only my thoughts and my opinion whether it be good or not .

[mcgriffith]

Thought-provoking post and an interesting link re: El Shadai, SHS1.

Thanks for that.:jap:

[Lizard2010]

SHS1

If you want to know more about the Orphanage go to these sites.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g297920-i9940-Chiang_Rai.html

http://elshadaiorphanage.giving.officelive.com/aboutus.aspx

http://www.charitieswithinreach.org/about.html

I had to Google to get the results as i deleted them last year.

The orphanage is supported by the guide Jermsak.

The only reason i asked the question here is that all i ever heard was Jermsak the guide for Chiang Rai and he was the only contact for the orphanage from the Tripadvisor website.

You can look at the location as following.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=102422258087313895472.000466b6884458b352d35&ll=19.905977,99.833622&spn=0.046888,0.089521&z=14

Some of the Thai Visa locals in Chiang Rai have visited the orphanage.

But you must contact them first.

Some people can see this as unusual, it is your own personal interpretation on this.

I personalty do not have any problems with the orphanage.

[kandahar]

Sunny, if you WANT to know more about this place, go see it and visit with the kids and the parents who raise the kids. Don't wait for someone to post something here. Don't go to the various websites with opposing views represented in rhetoric. Do you really want to know if any of the kids ever get adopted and if not, why? Easy to find out.

Lizard 2010, please don't say you have to call ahead before you can go out there. You don't. That kind of message is, as you said, open for interpretation. No need to bother with interpreting it. It isn't true. Maybe someone wrote that on the Internet, but it isn't true. You can arrive any time and visit with whoever is there. Calling ahead only informs you as to whether or not the kids or parents will be home. The kids get transported to school and to other things sometimes, so, if you just show up whenever you want (and you ARE welcome to do that), you may not get a chance to visit the kids. The one thing I noticed between just showing up and calling ahead, is that the kids are in their best clothes and have scrubbed faces if you call ahead. I think that is a pretty common practice with most families, throughout the world, ins't it? It sure was in my family, when I was a kid. The only purpose of that is to put the best light on the place. They certainly don't try to show a view of the place that will bring your pity and and cause you to want to give more.

If anyone withholds support from the place because of the religious element there (they are a Christian family), then that is up to them. Your money, do what you want. However, to withhold a toothbrush, a bar of soap or a pair of shorts from these kids because of something you read on the Internet is ridiculous. What a shame to punish a youth because you feel so strongly about what a naysayer had to say about the situation, when it is very easy to go there and find the answers yourself and to become involved in the kid's development and welfare yourself. They are actively seeking help with English tutoring for the kids. There are other "ins" available, if you really want to know what is what and all of them involve contributing to the successful development of kid's lives WITHOUT giving one baht to the family.

This mother and father took this task of raising children because of their compassion for the kids. At some point, someone else found out about them and used their situation to raise some money. Whether all of that went to the family, I can't say. But someone did do a lot of work to get the family on the Internet and into the public view. It has helped the family. But the family does not ask for anything themselves. They don't write that stuff on the website. Outsiders do. If you visit there, you won't be asked for anything. However, if you ask the family what they are in need of, they will tell you. They aren't proud about accepting help. But the kids come first, so they will tell you what items the kids need.

The family does not seek children in order to raise the numbers. It is just a well-known fact amongst the poor parents in that area that if they have a child they cannot take care of, for whatever reason, they can drop the kid off there any time, day or night, and know the kid is going to have an education, a place to sleep and food to eat. Not all mothers in that area have family to go to when they get into trouble. Many have left their homes or villages and have moved to that area seeking better economic conditions. It doesn't always work out. I see leaving the kids with the 'big family" as a better thing than dropping them off on the streets of some town and just letting them fend for themselves or be taken advantage of by criminal elements.

BTW. There are lots of other families like this one. This one just got lucky enough to have someone else take an interest and make their situation public. Unfortunately, with that exposure, there also comes some who would rather beat them down and do all they can to convince others to withhold support, all the while having never visited the place. And perhaps, money is being raised in the name of this family by not-so-well meaning people. That happens. I don't know all of the details about the different organizations who are "claiming" this little family. I could care less. If any group is exposed as thieves, they will only find another family or home to be the face of their criminal activities. But the little family itself is a success story of two people who decided that they and their own children could do without some things so that other children could have a decent life.

Edited March 6, 2011 by kandahar