How Dee Is Your Jai?

[Noel]

Charity begins at home is the mantra of some.

In as far as the Camillian Centre is home to many unfortunates, I wholeheartedly agree!

For those of you who have not been following the Dying Girlfriend? thread on the Pattaya Forum, the Jaidee Appeal supports the kids at the Camillian Centre in Rayong who have been orphaned by and/or born with HIV.

The latest fundraiser is in memory of a Thaivisa.com member’s (richardb) ex-girlfriend Aom who sadly passed away at the Camillian Centre on the 12th of September 2005, having finally succumbed to the unforgiving AIDS syndrome.

To learn more about this year’s main fundraiser please go to 2005 JAIDEE APPEAL JW DRUNKATHOLON: IN MEMORY OF AOM

The appeal is currently being actively supported by Bahtbus.com, Thailand-UK.com and, as of recently, Thaivisa.com thanks to Ken and mpdkorat.

To give anyone interested an insight into how some of the previous monies raised by the Jaidee Appeal have been used, please read on…

The genesis of the CAMILLIAN CENTRE GARDEN OF EDEN

The Jaidee Appeal for the Camillian Centre came into being on the 31st of January 2001.

Although the initial 1,000,000 Baht target was seen by many as pie in the sky, history shows their doubt to have been ill founded.

The initial response to the appeal was beyond all expectations.

All and sundry were making donations ranging from a few hundred Baht to many multiples thereof.

Thanks to the generosity of one member who made a substantial donation, the idea of having the Jaidee Appeal monies partially used to fund some ‘concrete’ addition to the Centre came to mind; an extra building for the kids was the first thought.

Father G immediately warmed to the notion, but explained there was no room at the Centre itself for such expansion. He did, however, have another idea: he had long been thinking of something along the lines of a ‘half-way house’.

He envisaged such a facility as catering for young mothers and their children who were in the earlier stages of HIV/AIDS. Under the right supervision, such sufferers would be able to live a productive life away from the Centre whilst also freeing up space for those in greater need.

He also foresaw this to be a place for recovering patients before returning to society.

To cut a long story short, a house was identified that fitted all the criteria: reasonable external garden area, proximity to the Centre, a main road, shops, local hospital, schools etc.

The house in question was a ‘non-performing loan’ or more accurately, a repossession due to default.

The place was ideal and thanks to Father G’s negotiating skills, the price was right. We began planning all the work that needed to be done and itemised the necessary furnishings and equipment that would be required. Unfortunately, at ‘one minute to midnight’ the deal fell through.

That week Father G happened to be talking to a wealthy Thai lady who had previously shown interest in the Centre. When Father G just happened to share his disappointment at losing the property, the lady told him that she had some land that the Centre could have for free.

By ‘some land’ she actually meant over eleven rai or some 18,000 square metres!

The land was very close to a main road and fitted all the other criteria.

That was the beginning of Father G’s ‘Garden of Eden’ dream becoming a reality.

Father G wasted no time in writing up a formal project proposal as he would need to get approval from the ‘white frocks’, as I somewhat irreverently refer to his superiors.

Approval granted, work commenced to clear the land which was no mean task involving earth movers, drainage work and so forth.

Almost two years ago, a pal of mine and fellow supporter of the Jaidee Appeal, Tom Grieve, offered to fly me over the development in his Ultralight aircraft so I could take some photographs.

Tom and Father G the day Tom gave free flights for the kids

Great idea, great pilot, shame about the photographer…

My only excuse is that given the speed we were going at, bouncing and banking all over the shop, as soon as the green focus light came on my digital camera, we had already passed the target so I had to ‘guess’ in advance.

The pics below, whilst being of embarrassingly poor quality, will at least give an indication of the site in the early stages of its development:

The house farthest away of the two is the ‘Baan Jaidee’, the first dwelling to be built at the ‘Garden of Eden’

Below is the best pic I could get of the ‘Baan Jaidee’ after about ten abortive fly pasts and much abuse from Tom:

It was much easier on the ground…

Since then several more houses have been built in the name of other individual charitable organisations:

At the heart of the development is a central meeting facility which also serves as a dining area.

The last I heard there were over thirty adults and children staying at the Garden of Eden. The adults who are all well enough do a limited amount of work such as tending to vegetable gardens etc.

Although I have not been over to the Garden of Eden for a while, Father G tells me that they are now producing fruit and vegetables beyond the Centre’s needs so are able to sell the surplus.

There is still a great deal of potential for the Garden of Eden as there is a large area yet to be cleared and developed.

Pictured below is one of the recent arrivals at the Garden of Eden:

If you would like to help the kids by making a donation, please click here