All the 65 children here are part of my family and this is my life and not a job
Interview with Rotjana Phraesrithong
on Mar 22, 2009 As a director of a Tsunami Relief Orphanage, Rotjana finds her fulfilment and meaning in life, helping one child at a time. A blessed home that has secured its fair share of supporters, it has come a long way from its humble beginnings. Rotjana herself has come a long way since her husband left her and having had battled breast cancer in 2007.
Why did you set up the Baan Tharn Namchai Orphanage?
I came here after one week in Tsunami and all the children are sad and they have no parent. I stayed in a tent with the children and they did not want go back then. They had nowhere to go as they lost their base and family members. Firstly, we only planned to stay here for just 2 months. Right after the Tsunami, 17 children stayed in the tent but about a hundred kids would play with us but return home to their parent during the night. The kids end up staying here for 2 years in a tent before a shelter was built. The Baan Tharn NamChai orphanage was set up by Duang Prateep Foundation and I am from Duang Prateep Foundation and have been with them for 30 years. I started out as cleaner when I was twelve and those were hard times for me. My family was very poor and I would really like me to get an education. So I worked in the day and sponsored myself right through till my graduation at a teacher’s college. I worked as a kindergarten teacher at the Foundation and also did some work for a puppet theatre. With the puppet theatre group we travelled to Laos, Cambodia, Burma and Malaysia. I was playing for the Hill tribe for the people in Northern Thailand as well. I love the arts and storytelling and acting. I suppose the children here love me because sometimes I am a nun to the children and a monster who disciplines them at the same time . It is the mix of tough love so that they can grow stronger and better.
What was some of the barriers that you have to get over?
My commitment to the children took over my personal life and my husband said I was working too much and left. But I love to devote my energies to the children and everything I do I do from my heart. I love them as a family and my only wish is to carry on my work for the children and the poor. My daughter is 8 years old now and I had breast cancer in 2007. I had one breast removed and Peter from Hands across Waters and Angie from the Buddhist foundation in Singapore helped me out with the cost of the operation. They wanted me to take care of myself and I love to see the children as I am like their family. After chemo, when I had no hair, one girl even shaved her head to keep me company. I did not do much but the people believed in me and my work. Many people donating money would like to know where the money goes too and they trust me. They believe that I work for the children and I don’t know when and how long I live. If my breast cancer comes back my doctor can take care of it I am not worried. Everyone dies and before I die I would like to do good things.
What do you ultimately hope for and want for the children here at Baan Tharn Namchai?
I want good education for the children. About 40 kids orphaned from Tsunami Relief and 25came from broken families. Take for example, Pon’s father (pointing to a little girl) died from HIV and her mother is very sick in the hospital. She is healthy and HIV free and is ok. I am happy that my father and mother sent me to Duang Prateep for education at the age of 12. I started working as a cleaner there and sponsored myself through work and study. When I worked in Bangkok many children don’t want to go to school because they are quite distracted. Children here like to go to school because there is not much else to do in the village. I like to build up the children and improve their lives. Just like the Japanese Art classes that they have just experienced, it really likes to broaden their horizon and expose them for different kinds of art. I am slightly worried about the older girls because they might have boyfriends. They might not want to go to school because they want to spend some extra time with their boyfriends instead and be distracted.
What is the toughest part of the job as a director of this orphanage?
Getting sponsorship is the tough one. Our biggest one is Hands across water and they donated about 10 million baht to build this new wing for the girls. But I can really proud when the children would like to continue education. I expect to be working here for a long time as this fills my life.
How different is this current posting from your previous job as a kindergarten teacher?
At the foundation, I was a kindergarten teacher for almost ten years. If you work as a teacher you leave at 3pm and the children go home to their parents but here it is for 24 hours. We had good help from Hands across water and they sponsored some land. We planted bananas, rubber, durian, mangosteen, longan and rambutans and it will tae 3to 4 years to yield but at least we can start to have a form of sustainable income. We have already started to tap the rubber. The Thai children’s trust sponsors the food monthly and it cost 100 baht per day to feed and school one child. If they happen to stop sponsoring our children for whatever reason then at least we can sustain ourselves through the plantation down the road. The land belongs to the Prateep Foundation and it spans 35 acres but the proceeds go to the Baan Tharn Namchai Orphanage. All the staff has been affected by the Tsunami as well. Out of the 22 people who work here with children only 4 are not affected. That is one of the reasons why we are so successful. One in particular lost her entire family, her children, husband and parents and in fact they are inevitably connected to the children. They act like suggorate family to each other and you can really feel the love here. They are my family.
