ANNUAL DONATION DRIVE
By: Evangeline Tan-Alvez
Anne Frank, in her diary, wrote, “No one has ever become poor by giving.” These words came to life when the Ekamai International School family united in the joy of sharing despite the ongoing pandemic. Even before the call to donate was communicated, some had already dropped their help and support to the annual winter gift-giving drive.
For decades, the senior class has initiated this coming together to help; however, this year has deprived them of the strict safety restrictions to gather and travel. Amidst the Corona risk, EIS, through the espouses of the office of the Student Administration and the utmost support of the Leadership Team, braved the lengthy and hilly road to the largest city of the north – Chiangmai.
This year three beneficiaries received your donations of clothes, food, safety kits, stationaries, to name a few. Mr. Phrommin Sereesitritthikun, School Director of Chiangmai Adventist Academy, was overwhelmed with the donations delivered to their campus on December 21, 2021. “We are so grateful that each year, EIS would always make us part of their giving. Thank you so much,” he beams with gratitude. The Asian Child Foundation, also in Chiangmai, was the next stop. Mrs. Buaket Adams who owns and manages the foundation where abandoned and unwanted children are dropped off, welcomed the team from EIS with the warmest smile. The students performed a welcome song expressing Christ’s birth that had everyone in complete awe and silence. “Thank you. It lightened my burden. There are days that I want to stop because every story of a child is sorrowful, but when I think about how God provides and loves organizations like EIS, who keep on supporting, my missionary journey continues. I grew up poor, and I thank God that I can help twenty children now who were abandoned. I am a Seventh-day Adventist Christian who was used by God to courageously open this foundation that started with one child who required multiple surgeries to survive,” shared Mrs. Adams in between tears.
Lastly, the team headed to the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) Thailand, also located in Chiangmai, to hand in boxes of donations. Mr. Elvis Walemba, Program Director of ADRA Thailand, conveyed his gratitude on behalf of the agency. ADRA is a global humanitarian organization of the Seventh Day Adventist Church. ADRA Thailand was established in the early 1980s and began programs mainly in assisting refugees from Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar with health care and basic human needs. As the program expanded, ADRA included poor rural Thai people outside the refugee camps, and development projects started alongside relief assistance projects.
