Girls from SOS Children's Village Chiang Rai cleaning banana leaf for…
Thai dessert for New Year's celebrations
- Lisa
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Girls from SOS Childre's Village Chiang Rai cleaning banana leaf for wrapping Kanomthien. This is a traditional Thai way to wrap food. Kanomthien is a dessert made from flour, coconut and green beans. It is wrapped in a banana leaf in the shape of a pyramid which is made from flour and cooked in the oven.
On the theme of Thai cookery, I found a great sounding dessert that is traditionally made for New Year's celebrations.
Mothers and children at SOS Children's Village Chiang Rai made the Thai dessert "Kanomthien" as part of their celebrations of the New Year. According to traditional Thai beliefs, eating Kanomthien at New Year brings good luck in the coming year.
On 31 December the children and mothers at SOS Children's Village Chiang Rai had a busy day. They were helping each other to make Kanomthien. Everyone, including the small children, had a chance to mould the filling into the banana leaves. They thoroughly enjoyed themselves. The amount of filling the children placed in the banana leaves was not the same each time, but helping out meant that the children learnt about team work.
Once the dessert was ready, the mothers and the children went to the nearby temple to offer Kanomthien to the Buddhist monks. After this, it was the children's turn to savour the dessert. Kanomthien can be stored for about a week. The children enjoyed their favourite dessert after school for quite a few days.
To cook this mouth-watering Thai dessert you need the following ingredients:
Flour, coconut flesh and brown sugar The filling can be sweet or savoury, depending on taste: Sweet - green beans, coconut flesh and sugar Savoury - green beans, coconut flesh, pepper, salt and garlic
Sieve flour until it mixes well. To prepare the savoury filling first boil the coconut flesh separately. Then put the coconut, green beans, pepper, salt and garlic into a pan and fry until they mix well. For the sweet filling, first boil coconut and brown sugar together. Then add green beans. Cook until it is mixed. When the filling is ready, mould it into the shape of small balls and place this in the sieved flour. After this it is wrapped in a banana leaf in the shape of a pyramid. Now put the Kanomthien in a pot and cook it in an oven. Kanomthien is served warm and two cakes are usually served together on a plate. Enjoy!
- Mary
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The Family Support in Flores, Indonesia.
In 2005 SOS Children's Villages Indonesia launched its first support for families at risk of abandoning their children the aim is to support families so they can stay together.
SOS Children's Village Flores now has 15 houses, accommodates 146 children, 15 Mothers, and 4 teachers. Altogether there are 205 children at the SOS Village and Youth Facility Flores, consist of 99 boys and 106 girls.
The level of education of children from SOS Village Flores ranges from nursery to college. Most children attend schools at Maumere Town located 14 km away. Only 12 children attend a school called SDI Patisomba, located 1 km from the Village. Everyday there are 2 vehicles which bring the children to schools, consist of a big bus and a middle bus and a public car. For higher graders they go to school twice in a day. In the morning they study regular lessons at schools and in the evening they have to attend extra curricular classes at school so that the educators from the SOS village often find difficulties holding activities in the evening. So far activities at the village are scheduled based on the free times children have.
Health condition is generally good. To avoid the spread of illnesses called by mosquito bites, fogging is done routinely. For children who suffer from light illnesses, malaria or flu, Dr. Fatimah is always on duty to help them. Usually the polio clinic managed by Mother Lina provides the medicines. Recently we got donations of malaria medicines from Ms. Indra.
Activities
1.Sewing activities which were stopped in June and July, have been started again. Now several children are busy sewing bed sheets and pillow cases for 3 new Family houses. Weaving activity is stopped for a while because one of the attendants is now having his/ her apprentice in Ujung Pandang.
2.Workshop is stopped temporarily. Some male teenagers were busy helping to fix children rides at the nursery school.
3.Farming goes well especially for certain houses where the mothers encourage their children to grow vegetables so that needs for vegetables can be fulfilled without buying from outside. Mr. Yusuf and some 6th graders are also busy growing vegetables.
4.In the beginning of this rainy season, all gardens are planted by Mr. Lukas and Bruder Hilla and teenagers. They plan to grow nuts and vegetables. To shade the areas they will grow 1000 papaya trees. As fertilizers, Bruder Hilla teaches teenagers the make fertilizers with the hopes that all the needs for fertilizers will be fulfilled by themselves.
During holidays children held kinds of competitions such as:
-Volleyball, for example west houses played against east houses.
-Free writing contest, for children from grade 4th to Senior High Schools.
-Story telling contests, performed in front of other children.
-Karaoke contest.
-Soccer competitions for girls. During the competitions there was an accident. Wanti's big toe was broken after it was hit accidentally by Ina.
Gift distribution for the winners was held in August 17, 2007. At night the children burnt the campfire and they sang a Happy Birthday song for the country and for a Father who had his 56th Birthday on that day. After congratulating their Father, children performed some songs and dances and they closed the program by distributing gifts.
Other activities:
-Social Service, to encourage children to involve themselves more as church members. The teenagers participated in a voluntarily collective works to build the church parish house and to clean up the chapel called Kapela Stasi Patisomba.
-A Visit to a museum at Ledalero. Children were led by Pater Ansel Dore Dae on tours around the museum. They saw historical remains at those Museums. Children were all very enthusiastic and happy.
-Building a hut for the father of Odi and Reksi. The teenagers from the Village especially from the Family House number 15 under the leading of Mr. Lukas, Mr. Yusup and Ms. Agustina, went to Nita Village, located around 24 km from the village. Odi and Reksi's father, who suffered from mental illness, was placed in stocks (his legs were locked between two pieces of woods) by his family and he was put outside the house with no roof above him, so he felt hot in the afternoon and cold at night. Considering that condition, SOS Village Flores volunteered to build a small hut to protect that poor man from the heat of the sun and from the wind at nights.
Studying is done after praying time in the evening. All people from the SOS Village pray together at the hall every evening at 18.00. After that they study together. They are divided into 4 rooms and they are tutored by Aunties and Educators. They study until 20.30.
For the house which gets the turn to hold Family Conference, the children don't need to join the studying hour.
1.Spiritual activities: Once every month, a mass is held at Pendopo. For weekly Mass, children, Mothers and Educators attend a mass at Patisomba or at Nangahure Church.
2.Kamis Ceria (Happy Thursday). Every Thursday children take a walk and visit a beach.
3.Sabtu Gembira ( Happy Saturday). Once a month, every forth week, an art stage is held, where children can dance, sing and enjoy steamed bananas and tiny sea fish chili sauce.
4. Sports, every Friday and Saturday children are coached by Mr. Hanis Kellen, a sport teacher from one of elementary schools at Maumere.
5.Only for 6th graders: every Friday and Saturday they get extra courses from Mr. Agus Puli. Mr. Agus Puli has helped the SOS Flores for more than 10 years.
To strengthen the sense of togetherness and as refreshment, mothers held a picnic to Kelimutu Lake. They spent one night at Nasaret Inn in order to do some recollection time under the leading of Father Gaspar.
During Christmas and New Year 2008 holiday, teenagers went picnic to their hometowns and other children went on holiday with their SOS mothers. After they returned from their holidays, together they celebrated Mother's Day, Christmas and New Year and also the 13th Anniversary of the SOS Village Flores.
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