School Begins

This is now the 4th week of school for us at Dong Dok, though it is the first full week we've had yet! Two weeks ago we had Thursday and Friday off for Teacher's Day, and last week we had Wednesday and Thursday off for the Boat Racing Festival. I've also been to Thailand the past two weekends to take visit the state-of-the-art hospital in Khon Khaen there (no worries, I was merely the traveling buddy, not the patient).

Perhaps one of the most exciting parts of the past few weeks though was yesterday... Bei and Thuai, the two little neighbor boys from the house across the way, had their first day of school. We've been hoping for a while to help them find a way to go to school. So the other day, Sone and I stopped by their house and asked if they would like to go to school. Their mom gave permission and so we went to the school to inquire about it. Monday we went shopping for school clothes and school supplies.

Here's Thuai trying on a shirt at the market.

 Nouy and Sone helped the kids put all their supplies together in their bag.

Sone was being the exemplary "ueai" (older sister) teaching the boys how to behave at school and take care of their supplies.

 Thuai on the first day of school. He's such a cutie.

 Bei all dressed up in his uniform.

 Sone and I dropped the kids off for their first day.

 I felt so bad though because the two days that we went there, all the kids were gawking at us. I'm assuming it's because I'm a falang (foreigner), but I think it made the boys feel really self-conscious. Bei has been to school before, but I think the teacher said he only came for one day and then quit. I'm so hoping that they will continue going to school and learning because without education, and basic literacy skills, there's really little they can do (except get into trouble). So, our hope is that we can encourage them in their studies and help them to continue going until they feel comfortable. Today they ate lunch with Nouy and I, and after Thuai had shown off his counting skills, he told us a kid hit him at school. I'm hoping they don't get picked on because they are poor and their family situation is a little strange.  They are so precious, and I haven't been able to reach out to them as often as I would've liked, but I'm thankful for this opportunity and would ask you to be lifting these cuties up to the Father. That He would have His hand on their life, and that He would give Sone and I wisdom as we seek to help them as much as possible. They don't even have electricity at their house so if they don't study before it gets dark they can't even read their books or practice their writing. We're going to look into the possibility of running some electricity from our place to theirs so they at least have a light at night or something.

Anyway, that's my news for now. Here's a super cute pic of Thuai and Bei... :)