“Humanity is one people. We all belong to a single tribe.  There is no 'our people' and 'their people' there is only humanity. There is no 'them' there's only us.”   Anonymous.
 
Fund raising event at Luna Outdoor Cinema
Thai orphanage for
Burmese refugee children
 
Come along and help raise much needed money to help an orphanage in Thailand for Burmese refugee children at a movie night at Luna Outdoor Cinema Leederville with food, wine and entertainment supplied in February. In order to raise the minimum of $7000 to cover the clothing and to supplement the costs for ongoing food supplies, we along with various sponsors are co-ordinating a fund raising event to raise the money. Please note that all funds raised go directly to the orphanage.
 
Admission will be $40 per person and will include:
* Movie - To be announced soon...    
* Pre movie snack of curry & rice with papadams – courtesy of Gourmet Cookies and Pies
* A glass of premium wine from Peel Estate winery.
* Pre movie entertainment – an acoustic set by local band to be announced.
 
The orphanage is found in a village on the border of Thailand and Burma in mountainous jungle, 45 minutes from the nearest town. The children have sad and desperate stories of survival, having escaped Burma then losing their parents in doing so. Either they had been killed on the journey to Burma or they had died in the refugee camps in the Thai border.
 
The orphanage is run by a Thai Buddhist nun Mashe Pimjai, and supported by a Thai Catholic nun.  Mashe became involved, as these children had sought her out and they kept coming. She now looks after approximately 50 children and does what she and some of her trainee nuns can to educate, feed, house and teach life skills to these children. The orphanage is currently supported by a Perth organisation, with approximately $400 per month. This is less than half of what they need to survive.
 
Until recently they have been guaranteed supply of their staple rice, however this donation is currently insecure. With the current price of rice and other food staples increasing globally, this is quite concerning. The urgency is with the recent cyclone in Burma it is expected an increase in refugees will escape across the border increasing numbers in the orphanage. Currently the orphanage needs funding to cover clothing for winter for the children and ongoing money to cover the shortfall for basic ongoing costs.
 
The orphanage
The orphanage is found within mountainous jungle 45 minutes from Sankraburi, a border town near the ‘Three Pagodas’ in Kanchanaburi province in North Western Thailand. The orphanage started in 1998, after Burmese child refugees from the Mon and Karen hill tribes visited Thai Buddhist nun Mashe Pimjai whom was caretaking a Buddhist Monastery with a monk near the Sankraburi town.
 
The children needed someone to help them as they were orphaned as a result of violence caused by the Burmese military regime within their villages or from fleeing Burma to escape to Thailand. Currently the orphanage caters for about 18 boys and 28 girls with ages that range from 4 to 14 years of age. At the orphanage the children and fed, housed and given a basic Thai verbal and written education. The children arrive from Burma without any Thai language skills, so must be given some basic language skill in order for them to survive in the new country.
 
Proudly sponsored by: