At last it was time for Siam Care 2015, the seminar where
everyone got together for the day, including UK donors, trustees, other donors,
the Thai CEO and Thai Board, speakers, Thai sponsor children now studying in
college and several like-minded organisations.
I really learned a lot from all of the speakers, although some were more
harrowing (the UNODC for example) because there was video footage of some
abused children, the police dealing with the cases and the cultural barriers to
reporting and appropriate management.
I have posted the programme on Facebook and live tweeted the
topics covered yesterday @BarbaraHA with the hashtag #siamcare2015, if
you’d like to have a look. In summary it was a comprehensive look at
abuse including trafficking , sex tourism and cyberabuse (shame on the UK! One
UN slide highlighted how the UK was responsible for 30% of the sex tourism
offences which were uncovered and dealt with in one recent 10 year period. There is absolutely no excuse anyone could
come up with and the international news reinforces how huge and endemic the
problem is in the UK as the horrific cases of
high profile entertainers’ and politicians’ are slowly being revealed
and at last reported .
Siam Care UK donors provide scholarships for young people in
three centres in Thailand, and help to fund home visits, counselling and
emotional support for anyone on the programmes.
Siam Care also provides crafting opportunities, and the chance for
programme participants to train as volunteers and gain valuable independence
skills. Everything is intended to help
young people have a better future, with safer life choices. It is a great thing to learn how many of our
young people are now staying in education, and what their longer term plans
are. Two fellow speakers Rebecca and Ilya took the following two souvenir pics when I was presenting, and Khachik the last two! Always a blessing to know that I still can present and have a bit of a smile on my face at the same time..
After the seminar we collected our haut couture items and
are very happy with them, we ate our last spicy Thai dinner for this trip, and
I had my 6th Thai Yoga massage in as many days. I will miss this intensive physio! But I am quite ecstatic that such reliable
and skilled work can be carried out with such concern and commitment at such an
easily affordable price. I will always
remember Lillies, and their staff La and Ong who worked so hard to remove any
blockages, and that took a lot of intuitive work and time!
Wednesday finished with packing, and an early morning alarm
set for 4 a.m. How quickly the week has passed. Next up is an adventure via
Columbo in Sri Lanka to Abu Dhabi to re-embark the ship in Abu Dhabi. Bye for
now xx
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