Connie's Home - A Group Foster Home for Children

While Thailand is experiencing it's first normal tourist season since 2020, fully opened without restrictions, as of January 1, Connie's Home has also started a new year of activities with Connie and Richard having recently returned from a long overdue visit to the United States.

We received a new baby, actually just before Christmas. A baby brings plenty of entertainment for staff and children during the daytime hours, but our night shift staff have to adjust to more overnight work responsibilites.

With tourism coming back strong, more businesses are open and that gives us more opportunities for the weekly outings. We recently went to a large park with lots of fish in the pond but it was a holiday and no one was there selling fish food. The children love watching for, and feeding, the fish. This photo was taken at the cafe by our home which is situated on a pond with plenty of fish and also a few geese, not shown.

If you are not already following us on Facebook and would like to see occasional updates from Connie's Home please click on the link provided or copy this link and paste into your browser and ask to join the private group.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/171656899516487

Thanks for helping to make these experiences possible through your GlobalGiving contributions.

Links:

• Connie's Home Facebook group

We have the privilege of meeting many very special families when they visit Connie's Home to connect with their new children. It's fair to say that the new parents experience many emotions and some express their gratitude verbally. But, our latest adoptive father took the time to prepare and read the following to us as we stood in the parking lot (with tears) before saying goodbye. We are so thankful to our supporters who enable us to do what we do for wonderful families such as this.

"I just want to say thanks for bringing <our child> to this moment. Most of us meet adversity at some point but for <our child> this started as soon as life started. I imagine the other possible paths that lay ahead of him at the start of his life, few would likely have been positive. We’ve only been with him a short amount of time but I can see that the kindness of your family is reflected in his health and happiness. We will give him opportunity and he has our love. Having spent time with you all or Y’ALL it is apparent that you have provided opportunities where there have been none for a community. And hope where there has been no hope. It is truly heartening in these challenging times to know there are good people like yourselves doing good things. I finish with the Maori proverb; What is the most important thing in the world? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata. It is people, it is people, it is people.

Kawp Khun Krab"

Connie and Richard left Chiang Mai near the end of the rainy season in Thailand to visit family in the US for a couple of months. At the time of departure, the Connie's Home playground area was saturated and some areas were flooded, with nowhere for the water to drain. Fortunately, the rains have stopped and the water has receded over the past few weeks.

In between rains, we managed an outing to a resort with a large botanic garden, several live animals and play areas for the children. A new 'friend' arranged for our staff and children to visit and have lunch free of charge.

If you are not already following us on Facebook and would like to see occasional updates from Connie's Home please click on the link provided or copy this link and paste into your browser and ask to join the private group.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/171656899516487

Thanks again for helping to make these experiences possible through your GlobalGiving contributions.

Thailand is open and adoptions are proceeding at record pace for Connie’s Home. We recently had 5 adoptions in 4 weeks with 3 children going to Europe and 2 to North America. A typical year would see 2-3 children leaving our home so it was an emotional month, especially since some of the schedules were made under COVID restrictions and gave us limited time with the new adoptive parents. Connecting children with their new forever families is, of course, are primary reason for doing what we do but that doesn’t make it any easier.

One of the rewards of fostering is the connection with adoptive families. Some are able to maintain relationships such as at the foster 2 children who met up in their new home country after having been adopted out within a few months of each other.

Sometimes the AuPairs who trained at Connie’s Home connect in the US with friends they made while serving at our home. Sometimes they even meet friends of Connie’s Home in the places they are assigned to work, reminding us that it’s a small world after all. (Hope the song is stuck in your head for hours!)

Tourism is coming back to our area and lots of shops are reopened, giving us opportunities for more variety on our Friday outings. We recently visited an indoor play area that we had not been to for many months. We also did some ‘window-shopping’ at an outdoor shopping mall.

If you are not already following us on Facebook and would like to see occasional updates from Connie's Home please click on the link provided or copy this link and paste into your browser and ask to join the private group.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/171656899516487

Thanks for helping to make these experiences possible through your GlobalGiving contributions.

Our last report was titled "Final COVID-era report?" with a question mark. I guess the answer was "not quite" final. But, Thailand is further relaxing travel restrictions, increasing the likelihood that more adoptions will be completed this year. That is our hope anyway. We have confirmed travel dates for 2 families with a chance that at least 1 more family may add a child to their household this year. One boy will have a new brother and 2 sisters. The other boy will have a brother. We don't know about siblings for the 3rd hopeful adoption yet.

While we're still cautious about our weekly outings, avoiding crowded places and preferring outdoors, we had some excitement that came to Connie's Home. A motorcycle club from Pattaya, Thailand tours the country every year and chooses a project to make donations to. We were the fortunate recipients this year, with gifts of toys, wall fans and several large boxes of diapers. Many thanks to the Black Sheep Motorcycle Club of Pattaya, Thailand.

Our first AuPair trainee from 2004 raised funds for us through GlobalGiving by running 21 miles to recognize the work of Connie's Home which started 21 years ago and also by running throughout December. Thanks Rung for your love and support! Keep on running!

If you are not already following us on Facebook and would like to see occasional updates from Connie's Home please click on the link provided or copy this link and paste into your browser and ask to join the private group.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/171656899516487

Thanks again to you all for supporting the ongoing work of Connie's Home, bringing joy to families around the world through international adoption.

Links:

• Link to Connie's Home on Facebook

Thailand has reopened their airports to vaccinated tourists from many countries. We hope that means adoptions will resume on a more regular basis.

We’ve had one more adoption since our last report. It was not a typical transition where we would spend 2-3 days and share a couple of meals and visitation times with the adoptive family. In this case, at around 4 a.m., we met a social worker (see photo) from the government orphanage who took the little boy on a 10-hour road trip to meet his new family in Bangkok. We were thrilled to hear from the new parents that the adjustment is going well.

Due to recent outbreaks of COVID, we have not been taking the children out to many public places. Connie is very good at keeping the children entertained (and educated) at home as you can see in the photo where they are learning the letter ‘G’ while wearing sun ‘G’lasses.

We have found a few opportunities to go out safely and see the world outside the children’s home. We visited a factory outlet mall that has walls decorated with superheroes. We were invited to visit a friend’s apartment swimming pool for a refreshing time in the sun. And, finally, we walked around the outside of the Chiang Mai Night Safari to see some of the animals, including the birds shown here.

Thanks for helping to make these experiences possible through your GlobalGiving contributions.