One Treasure At A Time: Somchai

In no particular order and one at a time, I thought I'd introduce you to the children of Hot Springs Orphan Home. It was one of the priorities of my time there last month, to get to know them and bring back as much of my knowing as I possibly can. Feels like such a big thing to do, to try to describe all the complexities of what's gone on in my heart. But, at the very least, I can give you a bit of a glimpse into the lives of the individual children.

Here's Somchai. Somchai is a happy, confident guy, 10 years old. His nickname is Nong, but for some reason, he and Entorn both, seemed to be called by their given names more than their nicknames.

Here's a little aside. The reason nicknames are so popular in SE Asia is that it is thought to protect the child from evil spirits. Apparently the evil spirits are easily confused. The child is given their name at the naming cermony, but is called a nickname thereafter so the spirits don't notice and won't bother them. While our Hot Springs kids are being raised in a Christian environment, the tradition of nicknames is very much part of the culture. During my time there, I got to know the children by their nicknames mostly.

Back to Somchai. He's got a great sense of humour, Asian style (which I still don't entirely get but which I enjoy just the same). When I was there I observed him interacting with all his brothers and sisters with a lot of energy. That's a nice way of saying he likes to tease. But he's never mean about it.

It took him (and the other boys) longer to warm up to me than the girls, but when he did, I felt like we were good buddies. He really enjoyed working on the wooden crafts I'd brought, and spent a long time painting his helicopter. In a more relaxed mood when he was hamming it up for the video camera, he did some "rapper" kind of moves and seemed to be really good at it.

He likes this really spicy dish called papaya salad. It's served mostly at "fast food" places, and I tried some and....it's HOT! I guess it's the "happy meal" of Thailand, because a lot of the kids told me it was their favourite food.

During morning and evening devotions, Somchai is right into it, singing and clapping with a lot of energy. It's hard to know exactly how any of the children feel about their family, but my observsations would suggest that Somchai is very well adjusted and is enjoying life at Hot Springs very much.

I miss him.

I miss all of them.

I'm finding it rather distracting.