SPONSORED by the Danny Clearman family of Arkansas, USA Mon is becoming such a beautiful young lady. She is very active in taking care of the kids and preparing the meals here at TOLO and is an accomplished musician as well as singer and plays keyboard for Hope of Buriram Church. Mon has a good grasp of speaking, reading, and writing English. She is an excellent student as well. She recently won a first place gold medal in computer competition with 15 schools participating in the event. She began attending Kanocksin Phittayakhom School in June 2008 and is currently in grade 11 and hopes to further her education by studying computer science. Mon is truly a champion in the making.

Nam's parents were from Chieng Rai. After divorcing and marrying other people neither parent was willing to take her in, and so she was sent down to Ban Yoeie Sakae District of Buriram province to live with her aging and feeble grandmother. Her school principal Ajarn Juta, who has been a good friend of mine for several years spoke with us at the orphanage and with Nam's grandmother and it was mutually agreed that for her benefit that she would join us here on April 12, 2008. If we had not taken her in she would have been forced to leave school as her grandmother did not have the means to send her on to secondary school. She is fast proving to be a bright, charming student, with many new friends and admirers and one who is prospering at her new school environment. The teachers at her current school (Dreikom) have all commented on what a fine student she is. She one day hopes to become a doctor. Nam is quite helpful with the younger children and helps out a lot with preparing the meals and get school clothes ready for the other younger kids daily. Nam definitely needs sponsoring and will be well worth the cost. Superstar, champion in the making. Won't you consider helping her achieve all she can be?

Sam loves to make us laugh. He definitely loves to join in all the fun. Sam is a budding sports star and enjoys playing soccer with all the volunteers. Sam learned how to swim from volunteers Katie and Allison from Connecticut who took him to the pool nearly every day, along with Fil, Fern and Eileen. He dives and now swims like a fish. He loves school and reading books with daddy before bed. He especially likes Dr. Seuss books and no wonder, so does daddy. He constantly reminds me to remember to pray for one of our sponsors Michael who is stationed in Kosovo. Sam speaks English albeit not perfectly but he is easily understood. Full of boundless energy, a constant joker and athlete in the making, and a real schemer and negotiator when trying to secure treats for all the kids. Sam was 22nd in his class last year . Too much energy and hard to sit still. HIs best buddy of course is his brother Fil. Sam is in grade 3.

Taan (older sister of Dtoy) was born to a mother of only 19 years. Their father had a drinking problem and abused their mother. This past April he set their home and clothes on fire at which point their mother (the older sister of Mon)brought them here to live at the orphanage. Their mother has now relocated to Bangkok and keep in frequent contact by phone. Dtoy is a dancer and a talker! Like her sister Taan is always laughing and dancing. The two run and play with the other children as though they have been here for years.

Tawnee loves to sing and listen to music. She is lead singer at Hope of Buriram Church and has a very lovely voice. She enjoys writing to friends and penpals. She is very good at speaking English and even a little French. Tawnee is quickly becoming a whiz on the computer and Internet. An artist by choice, Tawnee is quite popular among her classmates at her high school, Buriram Phittayakhom where she is in 11th grade. She is known by her friends as ultra girl. Her wall attests to it as she has created a lovely mural of her super hero ultra man holding hands with her own creation, ultra girl. This year she has a gruelling schedule: Tawnee is studying French, Chinese and Physics as well as English and is carrying a super load at school with 9 different subject areas and attends classes daily from 8 a.m. to nearly 7 p.m. She hopes to pursue a career which will utilize her language and computer skills which according to her dream would be a position in the Thai embassy in Paris or in the French embassy in Bangkok. She most assuredly dotes on her cats. She also won third in Buriram province for singing at the Fantasia 10 week Music Festival Competition and a second place in English language for high school students in grade 11 for the province(75 high schools altogether competing).