Kids Club and other updates

So today I went with Coleman and Carter (son and daughter of John and Kim Quinley) to Step Ahead's kids club. It was supposed to start at 10 but when we arrived at 10:15 no one was there. I found out Thailand goes by "Thai time." (Being 15 min late to an event is normal.) Ja, the lady who leads the kids club, showed up about 10:30 and gathered together about 20 kids from the Klong Toey slum. These kids were a lot of fun. They drew pictures and Ja brought make-up for the girls to play with. At first I didn't know how to say anything to the kids and they pretty well ignored my being there. I asked Coleman if the kids did high fives and he said yes. I also asked him how to say very good. He told me to say di mak. So I started telling the girls di mak about their make-up and the boys di mak about there pictures and then offered them a high five. Soon one of the girls started trying to put make up on my face, and that is when things picked up. Next thing I knew I was running from ten girls with make-up brushes. I managed to avoid a lot of the powder but by the end my shirt and face had taken a toll. I also found the kids liked to be picked up and spun around and to be quickly lifted high in the air. I played with legos and tossed paper airplanes with the kids. We had a lot of fun. I learned how to ask their names and how to tell someone my name. You ask what a persons name is by saying chun alli and respond by saying chun John. Though I learned some of the language and had Coleman help some with translation I was still told by one girl that I was a silly foreigner who didn't know much Thai. She proceeded to smile, give me a high five, and laugh.

I wish I had brought my camera. There were so many photo opportunities. The kids club meets every Saturday so I will be able to go back. I also found out that the Quinleys really want to start a soccer program for the children living in the slum. Step Ahead had a soccer camp not to long ago and 60 kids showed up. That got Mr. Quinley thinking about starting a league because he has experience starting an American football league for one of his sons, and he was talking to some big names in the soccer scene in Bangkok and they agreed to sponsor the equipment needed. When Mr. Quinley heard I play soccer at Covenant he decided he wants me to head up starting the program, in addition to the work I will be doing with Step Ahead's microfinance program. So that will be getting started in the week to come. I will keep you updated on if that progresses into reality. I visited the microfinance office two days ago and met the staff. Most of them only speak Thai though I was able to talk with a few in English. I think I will primarily be working to implement new loan tracking and business modeling systems at the main office. Mr. Quinley has mention that I might go down to Klow Lak for 2-4 weeks to see what Step Ahead is doing there and possibly to Pattaya for 1 week to take surveys of the potential client base for microfinance if they start a branch there.