March 12, 2006 –

The student dormitory in Mae Nam Khun has been home to forty kids during this past year. The facility that started out with simple bamboo and grass structures a few years ago is on its way to becoming the centerpiece in the community. We are so grateful to the EWB team for helping us meet this great need. Plans are now in place to complete the second half of the dormitory facility that got hung up when we bit off more than we could chew. But we praise God that the caravan of the poor keeps moving ahead, even though at times it seems like it moves forward only by inches! Yet that has been our experience throughout these years. In between the initial dream and the eventual new reality, there is the incubation period. Sometimes a project gets put on the back burner for an indefinite time before it comes into being.

During the next two months we will be preparing temporary housing for at least twenty new students. The dorm parents have indicated that we will definitely need more space as they have had many new requests from parents. The same need is being felt at the two other student dorms that we are running. Thanks to this student housing program, there are now over 100 students who are getting a chance to attend Thai government schools. The next item of need that we want to work on is to see if we can put together some sort of student sponsorship program. While the parents are already contributing as much as they can towards their children's food expenses, there are many other costs that they are unable to meet. Please be praying with us about this worthy need. At this point $10 to $15 per child per month could cover the extra needs of these students.