For more than a year now we’ve been helping ten or so vulnerable families. Our support has provided much needed aid for them while they’re getting official status with the UN and awaiting resettlement to new countries.
In the last update I mentioned the desire to create some income generating project to help support the families and over the past few weeks, a small group of determined volunteers has been forming to make sure this project comes to fruition.
Ben Viapiana draws the outline of the first sample notebook.
Among the volunteers is Ben Viapiana, who runs a company designing custom jeans in Bangkok. While jeans may be his forte, Ben has a gift for designing and making all sorts of things. Over the weekend he gave the first vocational training workshop to two of the families.
We provided all the materials and Ben taught them book binding, starting with how to make a simple notebook. Other volunteers participated learning the skill along with the families and helping make sure everyone understood and followed the instructions. The result was a few pleather notebooks and a homework task requiring everyone to craft something more difficult before the next workshop.
Book binding 101: A vocational workshop to give craft making skills to vulnerable families.
While the end goal is to eventually generate funds to support the families, there are other important benefits to this sort of project. For instance, the project would provide families with some sort of skill they could take with them once resettled in another country. There’s also the psycho-social benefit of having a sense of purpose and being rallied behind a task that will serve to improve the mental health among these families who aren’t allowed to work to support themselves.
[See more pictures on the In Search of Sanuk Facebook page]
There’s still a long way to go to make this into something that pumps funds into the project, but I’m happy to have moved a few baby steps closer and thankful to everyone working to help us create some sustainability.
-Dwight
Photo credit: Kim Wied
Chris says:
9 August, 2011 at 4:53 pm -
Sounds like you are making some good strides to really providing livelihood sustainability for these families. I can’t wait to see how it progresses!
No Leftovers » Video of My Custom Jeans Being Made in Bangkok says:
30 August, 2011 at 9:59 am -
[...] Ben is also playing a crucial role in helping build a livelihood project for poor families, read more here. [...]
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thetravelguy says:
11 September, 2011 at 3:56 am -
This is a wonderful idea..The books look awesome!!!
Dwight Turner says:
17 September, 2011 at 6:02 pm -
Thanks! Keep checking back. We need to work out some kinks but I hope this project will keep improving. Lots of things happening, but expect another update on this Livelihood project in October. -D
mark says:
19 March, 2012 at 2:54 am -
how can i help ?
Dwight Turner says:
19 March, 2012 at 12:49 pm -
Always looking for fundraisers and supporters. See our ‘donate’ page for a few different options on how to give. Email us at info@insearchofsanuk.com if you have questions.