Welcome to the November 2005/January 2006 Sri Lanka and Thailand Diary!
Following Children's World mini-Tours of performance and games to Sri Lanka in March and May 2005,a team from Children's World International set out again for Sri Lanka on 15th November and presented shows, games and workshops in camps for 3 weeks, working with children who had been affected by the Boxing Day 2004 Tsunami. Some of the team returned to England on 8 December and some transferred on to Thailand to continue the Tour there, with more performers arriving from England and elsewhsere, and only returned to England on 3rd February. (2 more CWI mini-Tours will be taking place in Sri Lanka in March and July - this time working on the East Coast - and there will also be a CWI mini-Tour in Aceh, Sumatra in April - keep an eye on the webpage to catch their diaries!)
Arabella Churchill sent regular reports on the November/January Sri Lankan and Thai Tours, that appear in this diary. The dates on the right lead to that day's diary.
Read an article with pictures from the Phuket Gazette here: Phuket Gazette.
See a Thai TV interview with Arabella and Haggis here, and a feature on one of the schools visited, including shots of the workshops and show here. These are in asf format and can be viewed in Windows Media Player or Real Player.
(Download Real Player by clicking on the logo)
The photograph shows the CWI team in Thailand in December 05. From left to right:
Haggis Mcleod (juggler extraordinaire, who performed in the show and ran juggling workshops)
Jake Goode (great acro, juggling & comedy performer, "Geoffrey" in the show, who also ran the spinning plates workshops)
Arabella Churchill (Director of Children's World International, bossy organiser and badge machine maestro)
Jo Galbraith (Lovely, funny,"Daisy" in the show, who also ran the ribbon-twirling, diabolo and hoola hoop workshops)
Jessica Churchill Mcleod (sound girl par excellence, avid badge-maker and superb all-round helper)
front row: Rooben Galbraith-Goode (Jo and Jake's son), whose "walking suitcase" part of the show never failed to please
The basic Thai team had been previously joined in Phuket by Steve Groh (American circus skills workshop leader) and later in Khao Lak (briefly) by Lee Hayes (great American juggler from Amsterdam), and for the last 2 weeks of the Tour Paul Molyneux (with his brilliant crystal ball manipulation) and Trent and Martha Arkley-Smith (who provided fantastic music for the show)
(In Sri Lanka - must find a pic of us all together - the basic CWI team was Arabella Churchill, Paddy Hill and Charlie Miller (Children's World's two Chief Workshop Leaders), Jo "Daisy", "Suitcase" Rooben and Holly Whitmore. We were also joined by volunteers John Holmes and Natalie Bull and by many different Impakt Aid volunteers at different times, notable among whom were the lovely Jane Hamilton, and the wonderful Sri Lankan Shane, who served as our guide, translater and who was superb in every way.)
BOTH TOURS, DESPITE ENDLESS DIFFICULTIES AND NIGGLES, WERE ENORMOUSLY SUCCESSFUL - MANY THANKS TO ALL OUR FUNDERS WHO MADE THIS WORK POSSIBLE AND WHO ENABLED US TO TOUCH THE LIVES OF MORE THAN 14,000 CHILDREN!
Special Thanks also to:
In Sri Lanka: Pam and Gerry Porodo, Aruni, Kumi and Shane of Impakt Aid, Eshan and the Trustees of the Teardrop Relief Fund, the Mount Lavinia Hotel, and our tireless full-time volunteers John Holmes, Natalie Bull and Holly Whitmore.
In Thailand: Linda Cruise, Somchai, San, Mr. Wee, the Tsunami Volunteer Centre and El for setting up gigs for us, and the wonderful Sheraton Laguna Hotel, for giving us free accommodation during the Phuket leg of the Tour, which really helped CWI's finances.
PADDY HILL AND CHARLIE MILLER ARE AT PRESENT (7 MARCH 2006) IN SRI LANKA WORKING WITH IMPAKT AID ON THE WEST COAST AND IOM ON THE EAST COAST - READ THEIR DIARY BY PRESSING ON "CURRENT SRI LANKAN TOUR - MARCH 2006" to the right.
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