What a crazy year 2020
What a year! We had big plans for this year until the Covid-19 outbreak changed everything! 13 volunteers and 8 team member where locked in the project and we were not allowed to go into the city, only 2 people were allowed to go shopping, our temperature was monitored every day and one day we had the head of the police, the immigration officers, the ministry for health and the Governor in our project. Some of the volunteers ran quickly out of money but due to your donations we were able to not have to send them back to Italy or the United States. A different kind of charity work and the Mindfulness Project. We became a refugee camp. Now provincial borders are open and all volunteers and also all team members are gone home. We try to survive, keeping with only 2 people the whole land going, trying to save what we can save. Thanks to your donations we were able to buy some protection rubber cement paint for our toilets and showers and so far the structure is ok during this rainy season, beside one room who has damage. We have much more time now than usual and right now the majority of our energy goes into helping the Child Help Foundation/Orphanage to survive, too. The Thai people were scared to go there, so they were lacking donations tremendously and could not even pay water or electricity bills any more. Also we are in the process of starting a reforestation project with our monastery together. Even though we were only two people, we did a lot of work in the garden. Thanks to your amazing support, we repaired the watering system on the project land and did much more watering systems on the long term volunteer land. Also we started to do hot composting to make new top soil and supercharge the gardens. We were able to buy metal to make an experimental worm compost bin. We started raised garden beds with proper material and now experimenting with Bamboo. That will be exciting! We also bought quiet some more fruit trees and it is amazing to see (and eat) all the fruits we planted last year. Because of no volunteers we have now the whole freezer full of bananas! Also we did a lot of maintenance work, having to repair the water tower, electricity and other facilities. The bad news is, that because the project land is mostly empty they broke into our tool-shed, ripping the whole door out of the frame. But luckily we transferred most of the expansive equipment into our private home, so the loss and replacement was not too much. So stay tuned and we will keep you updated and thank you million times for your support which makes us survive. Next year is going to be super exciting, because we are making a film right now against the terrible air pollution in Thailand and we want to start the reforestation project with the monasteries. Also the local dog shelter asked us for help and consulting, so we are going to expand our charity work, because they have more than 600 rescued dogs of which many are disabled, due to car accidents. It is going to be a really touching new field of activity. I want to close with a super big thank from the bottom of my heart. We are so super touched how much help and donations we receive and it makes me cry to think about your loyal support over the years. Without you we would not have survived this year and also the coming year, without you. Thank you in regards of all the plants, animals, the environment and all the child foundation orphans. Hope you all can navigate through this crisis with an open heart and we wish you and your families health and happiness. May all living being be full of loving kindness May all living being be healthy and free of physical pain May all living beings be calm and relaxed and without fear May all living beings be happy, content and free
Anja, Adrian, Christian and Kerri