It is always a pleasure to see the Qantas Cabin Crew Team walk once again through Mercy’s doors. Longtime, stalwart supporters and sponsors, the QCCT has become part of the Mercy family, and we were so glad to have them here for a week of activities.

Monday started bright and early with a tour of the Mercy headquarters and a welcome from our executive director, K. Usanee, and Father Joe. Then it was off to the Mercy Farm to help with projects such as planting seedlings and painting trellises. All through the hot afternoon, the team worked, punctuated with breaks for games of tag, picking cherries, exploring the chicken coop, and sipping some refreshing chrysanthemum juice. In the evening, we celebrated with a display of Thai dance from the children and a Songkran ceremony. Each child dipped a silver bowl into a basin filled with water and flowers and poured a little over the hands of each Qantas guest, receiving a blessing in return. Then came a long dinner of hotpot and many delicacies, prepared by our hardworking chefs, and there was laughter and music long into the night.

The rest of the week was full of many activities, visiting the Beat Active center for a fun day of adventure, making papaya salad with the Janusz Korczak students, another day on the Mercy Farm, and home visits to community members, bringing noodles, rice, oil, other essential items, and gifts of hand-crocheted toys. 

Thank you to Captain Rob, Brad, Ricardo, Bootz, Simone, Eryn, Trish, Noreen, Hong, Junko, Shintaro, Lisa, Nui, David, Terry, Sandra, Bryn, Bon, Lusinda, John, Chris, Kim, and Yvette. It was so wonderful to have you here once again; we appreciate your thoughtfulness, energy, and generosity. We look forwards to seeing you again in November! Until then, safe flights!