Can you see what it is yet?

Right then, I have finally got some painting pics!

The first picture is of Sen. He's one of the cleverer guys that we take...apparently he was completely normal up until the age of 6 when he got an injection (I'm not sure what it was) and that has caused him to be the way he is today. He can read and write a little bit (he went to school before the injection) and he seems to know what's going on pretty much all of the time. One of the biggest issues with Sen (other than his physical and mental disabilities) is the length of time it takes him to do anything...everything is done is super slow motion...when I was giving English lessons he was the only guy who could say "banana"...it took him about a minute to do it but he could do it!


The picture below is of Nin. I think that he is the most intelligent of the guys we take - he's the best at all of the games we play, that is, he understands the rules and is improving his tactics all of the time...at the moment he wants to learn chess, which I think is good for him in some ways (he enjoys the learning process) but I'm trying to get him back to playing chequers because he was starting to get pretty good at that.

In terms of painting, his technique is pretty good - especially when you consider that he only has limited movement in one arm...he's the only one so far who has seemed to understand how to mix the colours...a lot of the others do mix them but it tends to be all of them together...making brown! Also, as you can see below, Nin has moved into an abstract phase - I think he got inspiration from Chork's first effort which you can see further below.

So, as you already know, the guy below is Chork...he is quite easily the cutest guy we take, it's really cool when he starts getting excited and says his own name over and over (I'll try and get a video of him, and some of the others for that matter)...as I described in an earlier post, he has pretty severe learning difficulties and so doesn't really understand concepts above a certain level, for example when we're playing group games he knows that that is what we're doing and he tries to join in, but he doesn't really know how to play...

It's quite strange actually...I was thinking the other day that for some of the people at the home, it really is the best place they could be...Chork is a good example...at the home he has all of his friends and he has responsibilities - among other things he helps to push some of the other guys around in their wheelchairs when they have to go somewhere. Also he has people like us to give him stimulation and affection. I think that this is a much better situation than being in a house where you are resented, as would probably be the case in Thailand. I should mention that the conditions on the ward where Chork lives are relatively good - half of the guys have their own beds and a bedside cabinet (with a lock) where they can keep their belongings. It is quite colourful and the staff there treat the kids quite well. It really is an example to the other wards in the orphanage as to how things should be. Unfortunately his ward is the exception rather than the rule...

I mentioned in an earlier post that it might be quite nice to sell some of the guys' paintings so that we can have some money for activities and the guys can get some money for themselves...Well I was thinking that maybe some of you guys might like to buy some - what do you think? I'm not really sure how all of the logistics would work yet but I would probably either send the pictures to you (along with a photo of the painter) or give them to you upon my return...We would then ask that you give a donation directly to us (of an amount of your choosing) so that we can guarantee that it goes to the guys...if anyone would be interested in this, then drop me an email (or leave a comment) and I'll look into getting something sorted...

Right then, I think that's enough for one day...this weekend a few of us are going away to Kanchanaburi...I feel like I could do with the break at the moment as I'm pretty tired...I'll get some pictures of the bridge over the river Kwai (which is apparently pronounced so that it rhymes with "way")...you might not want to see them - but I'll get them anyway...

Take care.