School holidays in Thailand

Five rascals

The school holidays have begun and there will be a lot of kids to keep occupied and happy at Sarnelli House in Nongkhai, north east Thailand. The 165 children who live there were born with HIV and have to take anti-retroviral drugs everyday, but this does not stop them from having fun.

Redemptorist Fr Mike Shay who runs the centre writes: "School is out, and the kids are all over the place. Climbing mango trees; trying to pull down coconuts, biking, swimming and going on mini excursions whenever the chance arises."

The hot season has also started so there is nothing nicer than a dip in the irrigation canal in Pi Si Tong. The canal channels water to irrigate rice paddies and is always flowing freely as it's pumped from the mighty Mekhong River.

All the old bicycles have been repaired and the tyres pumped to bursting point, the kids ride off noisily from Sarnelli House. Its 12.30 and the midday sun is hot. Some of the kids are doubling their friends on the bike and their feet pedal furiously to keep up with each other. Luckily the dirt road is flat but there are pot holes to navigate and oncoming motor bikes to dodge. The kids ride three abreast across the road shouting and laughing at each other. At the corner of a rice paddy and a corn field the kids turn right and then cycle along beside the irrigation canal which is half filled with clear running water. Immediately, the bikes are dropped and there are squeals and screams as the kids jump in fully clothed. They play and run and laugh, and a few neighbouring village kids come to join in.

Someone arrives with their motorbike and a bucket and the kids fill the bucket with water and pass it up for the bike to be washed. After 30 minutes of fun the kids pick up their discarded bikes and, dripping wet, they cycle back to Sarnelli House arriving with their clothes dry and ready to raid the kitchen for some sticky rice. If this is a sign of the days to come then there will be plenty of happy, exhausted kids enjoying their school holidays!

Sarnelli House is supported by the Thai Children's Trust. Supporter Simon Day is aiming to complete an Iron Man contest to raise funds for them. He will be swimming 3.8k's, then cycling 180k and to top it off a 42k run! If you would like to sponsor him go to: http://ctt-news.org/67W-ETHX-KOK9T-5QB92-0/c.aspx

For more information on the Thai Childrens Trust see: http://ctt-news.org/67W-ETHX-KOK9T-5QB92-0/c.aspx