House of Blessing Orphanage

February 24, 2008 | Filed Under Chiang Mai, Orphanage, Thailand | 3 Comments 

We wanted to share our time with you from the House of Blessing Orphanage. They have 121 children and about a dozen staff. The vision of this orphanage is different then most. Their goal is to raise these children to be missionaries back to their own country. They want to teach them skills so that they can survive after they are adults. It’s really an amazing outlook on this situation. The older children help take care of the younger ones. They treat it like one big family and all think of the leaders as their mom and dad and each other as siblings. Therefore, none of these children are available for adoption. That would really defeat the whole goal of their mission. With that in mind know that these children do not have much, but they are happy, loved and cared for. Of course they always need more funding. When we arrived, we asked them what they needed pictures of. They told us that they needed pictures of the jewelry that children make to sell on the website. There are many different trades that they teach the children. Such as motorcycle repair, jewelry and sewing. They then sell these items to raise money for the children. I spent time taking pictures of jewelry while Chris documented the children for their website. What sweet images he was able to capture.

Here is an important picture to me. We are staying with our family who has been here for 29 years. I am completely in awe of their devotion to the Thai people. They have been wonderful hosts and translators! Their hearts are just so big. Right away when the Tsunami hit, they were in the south helping to rebuild. Mike has been coordinating groups and helping in rebuilding homes in the south. They have finished over 100 homes. Those families are the ones we’ll be documenting this coming week. I truly feel challenged in my life by seeing their passions and drive.

Here is one of the children. She was so sweet and hung on us as we tried to leave.

I asked why some have short hair. Here it is a way to distinguish which grade you are in. You start out with short hair and the older you get the longer your hair can be.

The children link together rubber bands to play Chinese jump rope.

The girls are playing another game here. We are not sure what it is, but they look just adorable huddled together with the light streaming through their hair.

Here is a sweet portrait Chris was able to capture of this little girl. I just love what her face shows. Such contentment and peace. She is safe, learning and growing. Life is not all what American’s think. It’s not about plenty or want, but sometimes just about safety.

After taking pictures of the jewelry, I turned around to grab this picture of Chris.

I could not have said it better myself.

This is another couple that just amazes me. Aoum and Cat have been married for just four months now. They’ve been working and this orphanage, where Cat’s parents lead the home. They live there and are always with the children. I don’t know many newly weds that could make this devotion to giving to others. What a lesson in being a servant they are.

Baby Bai Tuay

February 24, 2008 | Filed Under Chiang Mai, Orphanage, Thai life, Thailand | 1 Comment 

I have been working this afternoon on images from the orphanage. I will update you more later tonight on those images. Right now, I just wanted to leave you with this image of baby Bai Tuay. She had just arrived to the orphanage the day before and is such a sweet heart. She has a sad story of a seventeen year old mother that was in prostitution. She handed over her baby and signed all the papers, which is really good. Now this beautiful little one will be able to stay here and grow up into a wonderful woman. More on this unique style of an orphanage later tonight….they are not available for adoption. What a meaningful image to see her safe in the arms of care.