26 Dec 2009

THAILAND / TSUNAMI +5 ORPHANS

Since the tsunami, UNICEF and its partners have made major efforts in Thailand to put in place systems to protect orphaned children and to ensure that they receive the care and support they need. UNICEF

Posted at: December 26, 2009 12:01 am

Duration: 02:15

Available in: SD

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Full script

STORY: THAILAND / TSUNAMI +5 - ORPHANS 
TRT:  2:15 
SOURCE: UNICEF 
RESTRICTIONS: NONE 
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / THAI

DATELINE:  13, 17 SEPTEMBER 2009, KRABI & PHANG NGA PROVINCES, THAILAND

SHOTLIST:

1. Various shots, Pimolpan Srisook (9 years old) at home with her aunt washing dishes 
2. SOUNDBITE (Thai) Sanit Boontam, aunt: 
"She was just two when her mother died, and she became scared of everyone. At first, she even refused milk but when she saw my two children hugging me, eventually she wanted to do the same." 
3. Various shots, Pimolpan giving massage to her aunt. 
4. SOUNDBITE (Thai) Pimolpan Srisook, orphan: 
"I often help my auntie do the dishes. And I also know how to cook an omlette." 
5. Various shots, Pimolpan in class at her nearby school 
6. SOUNDBITE (Thai) Pimolpan Srisook, orphan: 
"I like school very much and maths is my favourite subject. I have lots of friends there and I enjoy playing." 
7. Various shots, a memorial to the victims of the tsunami 
8. Med shot, Pimolpan and aunt walking to local store 
9. Various shots, sequence of buying milk and sitting down with friends and neighbours 
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Nantaporn Ieumwananonthachai, Child Protection Officer, UNICEF Thailand: 
"We will also cover the rest of the country. So children anywhere in Thailand will benefit from it." 
10. Wide shot, Pimolpan playing at home with her cousins

STORYLINE:

Helping out her auntie with the household chores - nine-year-old Pimolpan has suffered in her short life the kind of unbearable loss, no child should have to bear.

As a baby, she lost her mother to HIV-AIDS, and then the tsunami took her father's life.

SOUNDBITE (Thai) Sanit Boontam, aunt: 
"She was just two when her mother died, and she became scared of everyone. At first, she even refused milk but when she saw my two children hugging me, eventually she wanted to do the same."

Gradually, with time, she has come to regard her aunt's family as her own at the small village house they share in Phang Nga province.

SOUNDBITE (Thai) Pimolpan Srisook, orphan: 
"I often help my auntie do the dishes. And I also know how to cook an omlette."

And as she has become more settled, so she has thrived at school.

SOUNDBITE (Thai) Pimolpan Srisook, orphan: 
"I like school very much and maths is my favourite subject. I have lots of friends there and I enjoy playing."

Since the tsunami, UNICEF and its partners have made major efforts to support children in these tsunami-affected areas. Social workers are recruited and trained at the community level to monitor the well being of the orphans situation and to ensure that vulnerable children like Pimolphan receive the care and support they need.

And the systems put in place to protect vulnerable children here, are being scaled up to support children on a national level.

SOUNDBITE (English) Nantaporn Ieumwananonthachai, Child Protection Officer, UNICEF Thailand: 
"We will also cover the rest of the country. So children anywhere in Thailand will benefit from it."

A fitting living memorial to those who died.

For Pimolpan, five years on, even the pain of her loss is becoming bearable.