On the 20th of April 3 Dutch ladies: Lydia, Anita, and Jedidja arrived in Chiang Rai to run a summer camp. Here is a report of their experiences.
We tremendously enjoyed hanging out with the girls at Baan Phak Phing during the summer camp!
The first day began by making sock puppets that the girls later used during their English lesson. It was super cool to see how creative everyone is.
Thereafter the girls were split into three different groups. Lydia did all kinds of creative things with the girls like painting and making necklaces. All the girls were very proud of their creations.
Anita taught the girls English through games and songs. They learned new words by sticking sticky notes on kitchen utensils and machines. At the end of the two weeks we got to hear everything they had learned in the final performance.
Jedidja taught the girls how to play the recorder. She was amazed at how fast they were able to pick it up. Without being able to communicate using language it is still possible to learn to play a musical instrument. It was great to see the girls so enthusiastic and to be able to hear everything during the final performance.
On the Dutch holiday called Koningsdag (King’s day) we had a big celebration at Baan Phak Phing. Flags were painted on faces and everyone put something orange in their hair. We had a lot of fun playing Old Dutch games with the girls and to finish it all off we had Dutch pancakes made by Peter and Tatjana.
We are thankful for all the people who gave towards this camp because this allowed us to take the girls out for dinner to Thai barbeque (หมูกระทะ) with loads of food and ice cream after. We also got to take the girls to a just recently opened waterpark nearby and they had an amazing time.
Another day the girls took us with them on a trip to the local zoo and one of the many waterfalls. The water at the waterfall was cold but everyone still went in for a swim.
Each day the staff prepared an amazing lunch for everyone to eat and most nights we got to join the different houses for dinner. This was a beautiful opportunity to get a taste of life at Baan Phak Phing.
We had an awesome time here, enjoyed everyone’s company and got to see the delighted looks on the girls’ faces.
A heartfelt thank you to everyone who supported us with finances and/or in prayer.

There is a lot of work to do in and around House of Refuge and this year Peter has a young lady helping him out 2 days per week. She knows how to work hard and they have been able to get a lot done in a short amount of time. In the same way the projects that need to be done for safety and hygiene are getting done now as well. Right now they are working on making new doors for the kitchen cupboards because the previous doors were rotten all the way through. Wood also attracts termites and that is something you don’t want in your kitchen. Aside from doing all these jobs it is important to realize and remember why we do this work. We live here in Thailand because of the girls and it is important to be constantly aware of this and spend time with the girls. Every week we eat at one of the three houses so we can spend time with the girls and staff. It is always a good time and helps us keep our goals in sight.