A very special family holiday

Jean Khan, a journalist and resident of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, has been a sponsor with Plan for over fifteen years. Accompanied by her daughter Yasmin Khan and son Jonathan DeCarteret, Jean travelled to Thailand in June 2008 to meet her sponsored child for the very first time. This is her story.

"Bhatsorn was just a toddler when I first began sponsoring her. At that time, Plan said sending her and her brother Abhirak to school would be difficult for the family to manage alone, and that the family's combined income was 'barely sufficient to cover their food, clothing and housing expenses' in their rural Thai village.

Today, she is nearly 18, is still in school and wants to be a nurse.

Bhatsorn even decided to change her name a couple of years ago and is now known as Thanyalak, which means 'happy and full of life'. Her family has prospered and I wanted to visit to tell her how proud I was of her and her family.

Planning the trip seemed a daunting affair but we were assured by Plan that it would all be worth it in the end and how right they were! It turned out to be the trip of a lifetime.

On the day of the visit, a translator from Plan Thailand met us at 9am and, after visiting the local Plan office, we were driven to Thanyalak's school where she is in the eleventh grade. This turned out to be a real VIP tour and, as word got round that we had arrived, the cameras came out - along with the smiles and bows, salutations and group photos.

We were ushered into the director's office where we were offered tea and soft drinks. Then we were shown round the classrooms. We could see how Plan has made a difference throughout the school - particularly in the library, computer suite and medical bay.

The director summoned the head boy over to practise his English with us and a couple of other students strode up and asked us firmly "where are you from?" We talked about Manchester United and Chelsea and universities which was most impressive, and our interpreter Nongnoot helped when we got stuck for words.

Then it was on to Thanyalak's village to meet her mum Riam and her extended family, stopping on the way to buy some chicken and sweets for the afternoon meal.

To eat, we sat on a mat on the floor of their house, cracking jokes as best we could and generally being quite boisterous. I noticed they had a framed picture of me on their shelf which was very humbling.

The gifts we had brought from the UK for the family were opened - an England shirt for Thanyalak's brother, a tablecloth and placemats for Riam, and trinkets for Thanyalak. Other relations and village friends including Thanyalak's grandfather Ubon, grandmother Chan and Plan community volunteer Udom, joined us.

We went for a walk and stretched our legs in the fields where the long-eared cattle were chewing the cud. That's when Thanyalak suddenly announced 'that's my cow!' and we realised she could speak good English.

We also learned that Thanyalak and her brother lived with their mother while their father, who used to earn a living locally by rice farming, now worked away in another province as a driver and returned only periodically to sow the rice and see his family. Consequently, we did not get to meet him.

Having been to more impoverished communities in Asia, I was glad to see Thanyalak and her family have a relatively decent standard of living and schooling, and that she wants to carry on studying and go to university.

It really was the happiest day. We chatted and laughed as though we had known one another for years and there were tears when we said goodbye. They invited us back next year and the year after, and the year after that, and I hope we will meet again.

Plan is a great charity whose work benefits everyone concerned - the children, their families and communities and the sponsors. If anyone has any doubts about going to see their sponsored child, don't delay until the eleventh hour like I did. Do it as soon as you can!

Visits are so rewarding and interesting, and everyone gets so much out of it."