I’m in my 2nd week here now and am settling in well. I know almost all the girl’s names now! I’m enjoying it here. With the background that the girls here have come from, you would expect being here to be very intense! But it isn’t at all! The shelter is full of love, fun, and laughter! The girls are really great! They love being able to go to school and learning, and are really making the most of the opportunities available to them here. They have great aspirations for the future. Some want to be doctors, nurses, chefs, 1 girl wants to be an activist like Mickey (the founder of COSA) and another wants to go to Ethiopia to help the children there!

I love seeing the way the girls here look out for each other. They really are like one big family and are very caring and loving to each other. A few days ago, one of the girls wasn’t feeling well and I went in to check in on them when they told me. Around 10 of the girls were on her bed, all trying to look after her! Some were rubbing one hand, some rubbing the other hand, some rubbing her feet, and others her back, stomach and head! It was so lovely to see! A new girl joined the shelter last week and she was just accepted as a new member of the family.

In terms of what I’m currently doing here, as well as teaching the weekend English classes for the girls, I am now also teaching English to adults in the community 2 nights a week. I also helped to run a computer class for the girls a few nights ago. A lot of the free time in the day when the girls are at school is spent planning lessons and activities for the girls. I am currently also writing a proposal for a business workshop I want to run for the girls, and am working on a project with one of the old volunteers to create postcards and calendars featuring the girls here to sell to raise money for the shelter and help raise awareness about the organisation. In addition to this, the girls here all have sponsors who contribute to them financially as well as writing to them. The funds they contribute are used for getting the girls Thai citizenship, for their school fees, and their general living costs. We send quarterly updates to each sponsor about how the girls are getting on so we are currently working on writing those updates. The volunteers here are also jointly responsible for making sure the girls are ready for school on time and have eaten breakfast, supervising their outings, helping them with their homework, disciplining them if they break the rules, and making sure they go to bed on time.