Chiang Rai

So this is my new home!

 IHF Chiang Rai is much smaller than IHF Kenya. It's home to 16 children - most of whom are in their teens. The kids all come from the hilltribes in the borders of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos. Most of them are from the Lahu tribe - which has it's own language and customs very separate to the language and customs of Thailand. For our children, Thai is their second language, English their third - so communication with westerners is difficult!

The center is richer than the center in Kenya. As there are fewer children it's less of a challenge making sure all are sponsored and so the center has a big enough budget to afford everything it needs. Also, as Thailand is a tourist and backpacker destination, the center is very popular with short term volunteers which helps both in terms of income and workforce!

Chiang Rai itself is a decent sized town with shops like Boots and EVEN a Tesco lotus. My head nearly exploded in Boots when I first arrived. I just needed to buy some soap. I walked into Boots and it was basically a shop full of soap. Even after only a month in Kenya I had been so used to not having choice or access to luxuries. A shop full of soap was a little much to cope with. Thankfully it was a few weeks before I ventured into the new shopping center not far from the center which has a Maccy Ds and a Starbucks...