Khon Kaen

Thursday July 8th
Khon Kaen, Thailand

Today I woke up to the sound of motorbikes and people outside speaking Thai...hours before my alarm. I was so excited I couldn't sleep! After we had breakfast we explored the area around our hotel and found some Buddhist temples.









We left Bangkok and flew to Khon Kaen at 12:40. Jain met us at the airport. He is going to be with us all week translating for us (When he isn't translating for teams, you can find him in Phrae. He also does a lot of pictures and videos for all of the Children's Homes).

After checking in to our hotel we walked a few blocks to Ban Maeta Khon Kaen. It is a home for children who are HIV positive. We saw the buildings and had a little orientation with Kingsley and Grace. Kingsley and Grace are volunteers with Mercy International. They are from Australia and have the coolest accent. As soon as our orientation was over the kids started coming home from school. I don't know who was more excited, us or them!

We played soccer and other games with them like tag, duck-duck-goose, and water balloon toss! After we could run no more, we all sat down on picnic mats to eat sticky rice with sweet chili sauce, chicken and a variety of fruits, vegetables and fun fruit drinks.











We had some entertainment afterwards from the Palm Valley team acting out funny skits and doing some crazy songs. The kids laughed and enjoyed every second of it! At the end I was part of an impromptu skit, complete with Thai conversation and sound effects from Nelly and Jeremy that had everyone laughing.



We prayed with the children and then enjoyed some more time playing, laughing, taking pictures and making memories we will never forget.














-Tiffany