[cooperspooky]

Since I was only bringing one piece of luggage I loaded up a second one with coloring books and toys to bring to an orphanage. The problem was when I got to Patong I had a hard time finding out who to give them too. I ended up talking to a Thai bar owner who brought me to a school in Kamala that was rebuilt after it was demolished. It was an interesting afternoon. They have pics up on a chalk board of what the school used to look like before and after and some of the rebuilding effort. One of the facts I learned was how "lucky" it was that the tsunami happened on a day when the kids weren't in school. I'm not sure how the kids get taught because there were no desks or chairs. Everyone was on the floor. What these places seem to need is money not toys but oh well. I thought I was an idiot for bringing toys when I could have just bought them in Patong cheaper but I was surprised at how expensive the toys were and what little selection they had at Ocean Plaza. If I had to do it over again I would just take a taxi down to a fishing villiage and walk around and pass them out. I did that once pre-tsunami and couldn't believe the living conditions that people and children were in.