‘A boy and a Tiger’ the opera composed by Gaston, will be premièred at the Thailand Cultural Center on 28th and 29th November. Tickets are available from thaiticketmajor.com

The show now includes several children from international schools in Bangkok and The Mercy Center in Khlong Toey. Local skateboarders perform tricks on specially designed ramps that have been incorporated into the elaborate set design.

An independently produced film will be released next year chronicling their journey since the first music lessons, as well as their lives in Baan Gerda.

The children will also be travelling to Khon Kaen for a special performance on December 11th. In contrast to the bright lights of Bangkok, this show will be held in the middle of the countryside in one of the poorest areas of Thailand.

Are you a photographer? We would love to have some well-taken pictures of the shows in both Khon Kaen and Bangkok. Let us know if you can help! (contact us)

As the day of the concert approached it was obvious that things weren’t ready; the children were frantically trying to learn new parts; people were scampering around making the props and the costumes had still to be made. They would take to the stage without even having a dress rehearsal.

Set amongst the city’s towering skyscrapers, the beautiful gardens of the Ambassador’s residence provided the perfect backdrop for the opera. Despite our uncertainties, Bruce and the children managed to pull off a great show which was well received by the 100 VIP guests.

Commenting afterwards Dr Schumacher said “A wonderful experience! The children performed as if they are on stage every day. The scenes were colourful, alongside a fanciful set, props and costumes, leaving the whole audience stunned. It was so entertaining, and so professional, quite to the contrary of my expectations. You could tell the audience were captivated. I’m delighted that the embassy residence hosted the world première of this performance. I’m also sure that the opera with the children of Baan Gerda will be a special highlight for the Bangkok theatre programme. Those who don’t see it are really missing something!”

View more photos from the performance

What started as an activity initiated by a group of enthusiastic runners has developed into a serious sports challenge. For many years now, the management of Amari Watergate Hotel in Bangkok have organised the annual ‘Midnight Run’ along the streets of the city centre. In the beginning, the number of people participating was a humble handful of enthusiasts. However, the tradition soon developed and last year as many as 3000 started the race and almost an equal number managed to complete it. Participants can choose between distances of six and twelve km.

This year the race is on October 11th and the organizers are expecting more than 4000 runners.

BMW Thailand is the main sponsor of the event and many other companies take the opportunity to show their commitment and help make the event possible. Numerous attractive prices are donated for a tombola after the race.

As in previous years, proceeds from the event will go to help HIV-infected children in a royal project and also to BaanGerda. Last year, a few of our children attended the preparation for the midnight event and it left a lasting impression. This year they want to actively participate and insist that the Midnight Run is not only for adults.

For many months they have been preparing under the watchful eye of BaanGerda staff. They can’t wait to go to Bangkok on October 11th. Take a look at the video to see their unusual training methods…

There are many degrees of side effects which can occur very early on in treatment, or appear after several months or even years. Most side effects experienced from ARVs are quite mild, and often will resolve themselves. Headache, skin rash, fatigue or diarrhoea are common examples. Usually the symptoms are noticed in the early stages of treatment, or after a change in drug regimen.

Other side effects are more serious and will require swapping one or more drugs after consultation with a specialist. Anaemia is common with one drug, neuropathy (numbness, usually in the hands and feet) from another. High cholesterol and lipodystrophy (where body fat is transferred from one part of the body to another) are also frequently observed. However some drug reactions are severe and can be fatal if not recognised in time. Usually it is impossible to tell in advance who will suffer these side effects. For this reason, the staff at BaanGerda need to keep a careful watch over any children who have recently had a change in their medication, and the house parents are also instructed to look out for any suspicious symptoms.

It is a sad fact of life that many of our children have experienced such poor health in the past that they will tolerate considerable discomfort before complaining. Whilst we try to make our children feel as normal as possible, it is our responsibility to teach them to recognise dangerous symptoms which may arise from drug side effects.

Throughout the month of March the children talk of little else. They pack their bags days in advance, and when the day of departure arrives the buses set off at 4am, but you can be sure that with all the excitement hardly anyone manages to get any sleep before that. They arrive before lunch, sleepy from the long journey, and desperate to go and play in the sea.

Much has changed since our first visit when we were unable to disclose that our children were infected with HIV for fear that we would be turned away. Many resorts didn’t want to accept us when we mentioned that we were bringing HIV kids and ultimately it was decided to keep it secret. By the time our resort discovered they had HIV, the owners had become so fond of the kids they didn’t turn us away. Instead they gave us a cheap room rate and plenty of extra treats for free. Each family stays in a simple bungalow with one room for the children and another for the parents for 3 fun-filled days. Not only that, we have also observed that those children who have persistent HIV-associated skin problems show much improvement after a few days at the beach, perhaps due to the salty water.

It is as a result of the kind support of friends of BaanGerda that each year our children are able to enjoy what is a big highlight of the year.

It is believed that a healthy HIV infected child requires approximately 10% more food intake than a non-infected child. A child with clinical symptoms of HIV (opportunistic infections / HIV wasting etc.) however requires up to 50% more food. It is our responsibility to ensure that our children get sufficient nutrition to ensure they develop like normal children. We find this now takes up a larger proportion of our monthly budget .

We are delighted that a team of nutritionists from the Thai Red Cross HIV Research Centre and Mahidol University in Bangkok have decided to undertake a study of the role of nutrition in HIV children at BaanGerda. After two preliminary visits to assess the height, weight and food intake of the children, the team are now working on various approaches to ensure that the nutritional needs of our kids are being fulfilled.

BaanGerda is an ideal location for such a study because we have records about the physical development of our children going back several years as well as clinical data for each child. The team will be working with our cooks to adapt menus for healthy high-calorie foods; our parents to encourage their involvement in their children’s eating habits; and our kids to teach them the importance of eating healthy food.

We will be making regular reports on the progress of the study, but for now our children seem very happy to know that one of the team’s recommendations is to eat plenty of ice cream and milkshakes!

The basis of the idea behind the Orff System has to do with children’s songs and it’s very attached to a language and a culture. Carl Orff was German so he used many local nursery rhymes, folk tales and fairy tales to form the Orff system in Germany. It was such a magical system and it worked so well and gave children an early and rich understanding of music, that it spread immediately to other countries.

Very soon there was a whole series of English text books overseen and controlled by Orff himself, and this was followed by French, German, American and Spanish. Up until now we’ve never been able to achieve this in Thailand.

So one of the things that we are doing in BaanGerda is not only giving the gift of music and encouraging musical sensitivity, but also doing research and working very hard to develop the Orff system by using Thai nursery rhymes, folk tales and children’s songs that have been in the Thai tradition for hundreds of years.