She studies Thai language, Math's, Science, History, Geography & Art & the two fee paying subjects-English & Computer science. She likes playing volleyball and her hobbies are doing homework! and watching TV.

Rungnapa wants to be an artist when she grows up and her teachers say she is a good all round pupil, but particularly artistic. She produced my Christmas Cards in 2005 & 2008.

She is sponsored by John & Vivien Spenser (UK) & Bernard & Cathy O’Dea (UK).

Erawan Khwanyuen, born on 18^th September 2000. (Aged 8)

She has just completed her first year at Aokapor Primary School. She is a charming little girl who has gradually become more relaxed around foreigners after her voyage to Phi Phi Don with her mother and sister on board s/y Seaglass owned by her Sponsors John & Vivian.

Ja Da Sanguansin made cakes from bananas and coconut and sold them in the market on Phi Phi Don. When the first wave of the Tsunami hit she went to search for her daughter in the market area but the second huge wave carried her off. Kanjarat, her daughter had been playing with another little girl who was also swept away, but she was plucked out of the water by a local man and carried up to higher ground.

Both Ja Da's children are living with their maternal grandmother, Wanna Phewdee and attend Aokapor School.

Rattapon studies Thai language, Science, Math's, History, Geography and two fee paying subjects English & Computer science. He plays football and his favourite English team is Liverpool. When he grows up he would like to be a footballer.

His teacher rates him an average pupil, but with very good behavior.

His sponsors are Stewart & Sharon Thompson (UK & USA). Stewart was a Director of Chelsea FC before the Russian bought the Club, and he has given Rattapon a Chelsea shirt with his name written in Thai. (For the uninitiated, Chelsea won the English Premier Championship 2005/2006.)

Kanjarat Sanguansin, born on 12 January 2000.

(Aged 9)

Kanjarat was pulled out of the water so is lucky to be alive and she is a very lively chatterbox.

She explained to us that Allah has no head. We believe that someone told her that Allah had saved her life and she being submerged amongst the debris probably saw the torso of the man who did save her life, but his head was above the water.

She is now at Aokapor School. She says she wants to be a swimmer when she grows up.

 Her sponsors are Mario & Debby Budwig (USA)

Katsidee Gonkawriap aged 11.

All his papers were lost on Phi Phi Don so we do not know his birthday yet.

He lives with his aunt Nittaya Gonkawriap who was his mother’s sister. Katsidee lost both his mother and sister. It was his sister that Kanjarat was playing with when the Tsunami struck. His father is a longtail boatman who has lost his job on Phi Phi Don and is out of work.

Bang Duc was a longtail taxi driver who owned his boat. On Boxing Day he was bringing 40,000 Baht (£560), which were several months' earnings back to his wife in Koh Yao Yai. When his body was found someone had stolen his money. He leaves a widow, Arunee Naweewong with two young daughters.

Niracha Padungpon, born on 16^th August 1996. (aged 12)

She studies Thai language, Math’s, Sciences, Art, History and Geography plus the two fee paying subjects English & Computer science. Her favorite subject is art and her favorite sport is football! I expect she has watched “Bend it like Beckham” which is popular as in the movie, Jasminda (being Indian) looks very similar to Thai girls. She wants to be a teacher when she grows up.  

Ed & Helen Muesch, owners of Yacht “Tahlequah” (USA) who nearly drowned in Phi Phi Don, are sponsoring her. .

She is a delightful little girl who is attending kindergarten at Aokapor School.

Her sister Niracha did not want to look after her on the Christmas boat trip so Neramon aged 5 stayed home, but we will ensure she is included next year.

Stephen & Marie-Helene Hobson are sponsoring her (England & France).           

Apinyar Nowpai born on 19^th October 1994. (Aged 15)

She lives with her Grandmother as both her parents are dead. She studies everything at Aokapor School, but her favorite subject is English. She likes reading and plays volleyball.

She wants to be a nurse when she leaves school. She is seen here during the Christmas boat trip in December 2008.

Kanokwan Tainapio born on 6^th April 1995. ( Aged14)

Both her parents are deceased so she lives with her grandparents. She studies everything at Aokapor School, but likes reading Thai stories. She also takes English & Computer Science She likes TV watching football.

Seen here brandishing a large water pistol at the Christmas party December 2007.

Sponsored by Barry Cager (England)

Suwana Rongrat (aged 19) is a good student at Aokapor School and her best subjects are Math’s & Science. Her father died when his fishing boat sank and her mother is an invalid and can hardly walk.

Suwana is taking a two year Diplomacy course at Aokapor now she has finished High School. She has to stay on Koh Yao Yai to take care of her mother otherwise she could have attended university in Phuket.

John & Judy Rogers are sponsoring Suwana (England).

Jittree & Nottaree Wichien twins aged 11.

Their father was badly injured in the tsunami on Phi Phi Don and was in hospital for over a month. He had the concession for collecting the rubbish for re-cycling and has been unable to work ever since. He is unlikely to be able to work again even when Phi Phi Don is eventually rebuilt.

The twins attend Aokapor School and it was the Headmaster who suggested them for sponsorship although their mother is alive she has little chance of earning a living in Prunai.

Nottaree is sponsored by Margy Holliday-Smith (Aus) & Jittree is sponsored by John Crisp (Aus)

We visited the school and met her teacher to get the background story. Her father has gone and her mother lives with another man who works on a construction site and apparently he is a heavy drinker.

Onanong lives with her aunt Payorm Yupapornsopa and her uncle together with two cousins. We visited the house with Onanong's teacher and found that it was a pleasant family. The aunt makes sandwiches & snacks which she sells at the school.

Onanong is being sponsored by Carol Sara (UK).

Nattawut Maneechot (aged 12)

Nattawut attends Banket-Ho School in Phuket and we met him with his two sisters and the School Director.

They all live with their grandmother and we went to visit their home. His grandmother works as a cleaner and earns 2,500 Baht a month. Siripon his sister aged 13 is also sponsored. Nattawut is wearing the Irish RFC shirt given to him by his sponsors. 

Nattawut is sponsored by Sean & Brioni Barnes (Ireland)

Hiram Pormjan (aged 14)

Hiram lives with his mother and 11 year old sister and has not seen his father since he was 5. He is a very bright student and attends the Phuket Wittaya High School which is considered the top state school in Phuket and with a high standard of entrance.

He has to work hard to keep in the top class of his intake in 2007 and is having extra tuition in Science, Maths & English.

Sponsored by Martinspeed Ltd. (UK)

Siripon Tewsakun (aged 14)

Siripon is the elder sister of Nattawut who is already being sponsored by Sean & Brioni Barnes. She is very bright and pretty and has just finished her second year at High School, the Kathiu Wittaya School.

She lives at home with her Grandmother, and her brother Nattawut. Her grade is good at 3.5

Nallisara Pumpuek (aged 13)

Nallisara and Wallisara live with their grandmother and both sisters attend Baan Kettho School. Their father disappeared and their mother left home eight years ago and has not been heard or seen since.

Because her grandmother is 70 years old and very frail their uncle helps support the family. He has a son aged 12 and has worked for ten years at the Meridien Hotel. Nallisara has a good grade at 3.57

Sponsored by Breda & Hugh Mackeown (Ireland).

Wallisara Pumpuek (aged 12)

Both sisters live with their grandmother because their mother left home when Wallisara was only 3 and hasn’t been seen or heard of since. Both sisters take part in a dance troupe and my family saw them performing at a local hotel on Christmas Eve 2007.

Wallisara said she could swim, but nearly drowned in my pool at Christmas so will be much more careful in future.

Wallisara also has a good grade of 3.5. 

Sponsored by Stuart & Avril Musgrave (Ireland).

Sittichai Vijitnawee (aged 13)

He attends Aokapor School in Prunai and lives with his father and third wife with two small children and his elder brother from his father’s first wife.

He plays football for his age team at school often playing teams in Phuket and he learns Thai boxing. He is a likeable chap with a ready smile and in April 2009 his sponsors were able to meet him and he is pictured steering “Melabel” in December 2008.

Sponsored by Andrew Laing (Scotland) & Diana Carter (New Zealand).

Jutarat Buranarom (aged 15)

She is attending Tessaban Government School in Chantaburi and lives with her brother and elderly grandparents as both parents are dead.  She has been living with her grandparents for the last ten years.

They came to Phuket in April 2009 and joined in all the activities with some of the other children. She participates in a lot of school activities and likes dancing

Her Sponsor is JoAnn Bonefaas (Netherlands)

Jirayu Buranarom (aged 14)

He also attends the same school as his sister and he is in the 8^th grade. He hopes to take a computer course at school. His favorite subjects are Thai, English and Social studies.

His grandfather aged 72 is only able to work part time doing various odd jobs in the community.

Khun Arunee, my Assistant was friendly with the children’s parents when they were alive and so has kept in touch with the family ever since. He also stayed in Phuket in April 2009 and joined in all the activities.

His sponsor is Nick Laing (UK).

Sponsorship Scheme.

The arrangement is for a sponsor to provide 30,000 Baht a year (£560, US$890, €670), 2,000 Baht is drawn each month by the parent/guardian and goes towards food, school uniforms, books and all the other things children need and 500 Baht will be retained by the bank until the child reaches 18.

The Siam Commercial Bank has opened an account specifically for this purpose and they have agreed not to make any bank charges. It helped greatly that all sponsors paid annually in advance. The designated parent/guardian can collect the money monthly.

The sponsors receive an annual school report translated into English and periodic reports from us with recent photos. We try to arrange one outing a year for all the children and reports are sent to the sponsors.

Family circumstances may change, a widow may remarry, an unemployed father may work again, a child may leave school early, etc. A sponsor will be informed of any significant change and can review the situation accordingly.

For the sponsors and families there is a “Letter of Agreement” in English & Thai stating the terms of the sponsorship, amount per month, personal particulars of the child, identity number, date of birth, addresses, etc. This is NOT a legally binding document but an act of good intent.

Anyone willing to sponsor a needy child please contact Barry Cager on:

barrycager1@yahoo.co.uk

Because of bad weather before Christmas and the difficulties of getting children from different schools in Phuket together on one day we had to wait until the year end exams were over.

The delay did not seem to bother them and the 8 of them joined Melabel at the Yacht Haven Marina on 19^th March. It was a perfect day with sunshine and flat calm seas, but we made them all wear lifejackets just in case.

We went first to one of the Hongs which are volcanic islands where the roof has collapsed leaving a lake in the middle and can only be accessed by canoe in this case via a 100 metre dark tunnel full of sleeping bats. 

The girls enjoyed it less than the boys.

Next we went to a deserted island for snorkeling in clear water with plenty of coral.

As none of the children had ever used a snorkel before there was a pretty steep learning curve, but anyway all had fun.

For lunch we chose a Sea Food Restaurant on Koh Yao Noi that encourages boats by building a jetty at which we could tie the dinghy. Many of the bays are too rocky for Melabel to come close to shore and there is also a 3 meter tide.

After a sunny day we outran a thunder storm in the afternoon to return safely to our berth without getting drenched.

Everybody posed for a group photograph.

Jutarat & Jirayu Buranarom live in Chantaburi so Khun Arunee invited them to visit her in Phuket. We decided they should enjoy their stay and invited some of the other children. Our first stop was the Phuket Aquarium.

Next we went to visit the Zoo and the children soon made friends with the resident Orangutan. The zoo Authorities were extremely helpful and only charged us a fraction of the entry fee.

The crocodile’s mouth seemed a suitable place to pose especially as we were about to see a show where the trainer actually puts his head in a crocodile’s mouth. We were all astonished and had not believed it possible to train crocodiles.

Next we went Ten Pin Bowling. As none of the children had ever done this before we had a practice session before the real contest with 500 Baht per team member as a prize.

Rattapol, Nattawut, Siripon & Katy were the winning team.

Finally it was the Go-Karts. The Management again was very helpful and gave us much longer time than normal at less than half price.

For the boys this was the highlight of the day and even the girls enjoyed it-albeit in a double Kart.

Jutarat is driving with Siripon as a passenger.