On a beautiful August afternoon I drove my motorbike in front of Nandachart school in Hang Dong. The school is bilingual with teaching both in Thai and English, and they have pupils from preschool up to 12-13 years. The area was really nice with chickens, rabbits, geese and tortoises that the pupils looked after. After admiring the beautiful yard with little classroom houses I went into one of them with Emma, our volunteer, who is teaching English and Math in the school. I was there to tell to the kids about homeless dogs, needs of s dog, about the work we do at Care for Dogs and how to be safe with dogs.

The children were lovely, 5-6 years old, very active and enthusiastic young ones. Many of them had a dog at home, so they knew a bit about the subject already.

We talked about homeless dogs that they see on the streets, and I even told them about spaying and neutering which is very important for reducing the numbers of dogs without a home. I think that this subject was maybe a bit too difficult for them to understand though.. How to be safe with dogs-colouring poster was a success and the kids loved to look at the details. Afterward we took some colouring pencils of these “How to be safe with dogs” -pictures and had a good time when the kids sat by their little tables and did their artistic magic colouring the pictures. I had a great time and the children were so lovely and enthusiastic although some of them didn’t even speak or understand English very well! They really liked the big soft toy dog I had with me and were just so sincere with their emotions and attitudes. Hopefully we are helping to raise awareness for a new generation of animal lovers to take care of animals in need!

Hanna

Care for Dogs is looking for volunteers to keep our animal awareness education –program going, so if you like children and dogs and even have some experience with teaching (not obligatory), contact me by email or phone. We get regular contacts from school (both Thai and international) to give lessons about dogs, and we have school groups visiting the shelter and run also temple dog programs. All materials will be provided, and we are supporting our educators. Together we can raise awareness and educate the future dog owners and decision makers to make a better life for dogs and animals here in Thailand! My contact details are: hanna@carefordogs.org, 0847 5252 55 (Education coordinator for Care for Dogs)