Microfinance Helping Women in Bangkok Step Ahead of Poverty

This week I’m happy to share a guest post from Marisa Deyoung, who volunteers for Step Ahead, an organization mentoring micro-entrepreneurs in Bangkok’s largest slum community, Klong Toey. Serving with Step Ahead in Thailand and previously in Northeast India has helped put a face and family to poverty for me. These experiences have also helped [...]

Continue reading...

Hospital Woes

I’ve made more trips to the hospital this past month, than I have in three years of living in Thailand. As a stern reminder of what it’s like to live in poorer Bangkok communities, two of my students have been the victims of motorcycle accidents because of reckless driving. The first of the accidents happened [...]

Continue reading...

A Reminder of World Refugee Day 2010

This upcoming June 20th is World Refugee Day and people are organizing celebrations all over the world. To make sure we’re able to extend the sponsoring of food supplies we began last month, I’m organizing a small event to raise money to support them through the summer.  Here are some facts about refugees and a [...]

Continue reading...

Voluntouring in Mae Sot: A Little Ice Cream Goes A Long Way

I hope you all enjoyed last week’s video and photo update. Here’s more: There are forty-one children at Future Light Children’s Home. We spent the morning playing games and doing art activities. The kids never grew tired of running around or hanging out with their new friends from Bangkok. Had any of them truly been [...]

Continue reading...

Picking Up the Pieces

Much of the tension has eased in Bangkok and I’m feeling much better. Thanks to everyone who has expressed  their concern. Things are getting back to normal, but for how long? As people begin to examine what led to the events that brought Bangkok to a halt, some have correctly identified the role of charitable [...]

Continue reading...

Smiles & Trials

I am probably not in the best mood to be blogging about anything sanuk. I have contracted some sort of wimpy cold. The kind of sickness that doesn’t completely debilitate you, but keeps your nose snotty enough to be generally unattractive to present company. Doesn’t help that today I ventured out into the smoky city [...]

Continue reading...

What is Sanuk? Answers from Volunteers and Supporters

Thanks for your responses on National Volunteer Week. Especially to Charlotte who wrote to say that in addition to her regular volunteering gig, she went to the Bangkok airport with supplies and toys for people who had been stranded by flight cancellations in Europe. There are more people out there like Charlotte who are doing [...]

Continue reading...