This was probably one of the most fun and certainly the most colorful day we have had at Somwang so far!

As we had been repainting some of the floors during the last week, we tried to come up with an idea of how to use up the remaining paint to not let it go to waste.

Very soon we figured that the outside facade could use a makeover and thought it would be great to have the school's name painted on there. But that alone wouldn't help us to get rid of the paint...
With the wish to involve the kids in "decorating" their own school we thus finally came up with the perfect idea: have them dip their tiny hands into the paint and cover the outside walls with prints of their hands.

As we ourselves failed repeatedly at staying clean when we painted the rooms, we got a little worried about the kids: we already saw the paint all over their hands, colorfully sprinkled floors, new clothes, makeup and hairstyles. Thus, we figured we could just buy them plain white shirts that could get dirty just in case... But who were we kidding: could you ever expect a kid to wear a white shirt with paint all over his hands and resist the urge to paint himself or his friend?? NO!

And thus the paint party began!!

Needless to say we had a blast! Unfortunately we couldn't prevent the kids arms and bodies from getting all colorful as we soon realized that the paint went through the shirt.. at least that meant they could marvel at their body paint now too. It was so great to see how proud our kids were after they pressed their hand onto the wall and seeing how everybody wanted to get a print on his shirt from everyone just filled our hearts with joy. And of course we participated as well.

Why are we telling you all this? Simple. It was one of the best experiences ever and we were glad to be part of it, and we wanted to give you all a chance to be part of it too.

P.S. only one kid had partially yellow hair at the end of the day and we declared the shirts to be their new "uniform" for Wednesdays.

Metta.

We are excited to announce that Somwang School finally has its own little library.
Though it is still in its initial phase, we have managed to get a bunch of books in Thai, Shan and English. On the very first day that the library "opened" the kids were super excited and some of them even spent their lunch break reading instead of playing. It was just great to see them so engaged and immersed in the books, either reading by themselves or with their best friend.
We hope that these books will help them to continue to learn and explore the world and all its magical tales and creatures.

As this would not have been possible without the great support from our friends at the Round Table 1 in Luxembourg, we would like to thank them again!

If you wish to help us give these children the childhood and education they deserve, please consider making a donation. Just hit "DONATE" and it will lead your right there.

Thank you all so much!

Metta.