Saturday afternoon was a great Children’s Day celebration with the Yommarat community.

A pair of awesome volunteers, Pilar and Nicole, organized games and crafts for the kids and about 15 other volunteers who joined.

Watch the video below (Or click here: In Search of Sanuk Children’s Day 2012 in the Yommarat Community)

Volunteers got lots of hands on interaction with the community’s kids, parents, grandparents and passerby’s who heard all the fun we were having.

The highlight for me was being able to help seven families by giving out gift certificates to a local supermarket where they can purchase food and clothing. Actually, we worked with the community to identify ten families who were in need. Since we didn’t have a big enough budget to help everyone, volunteers and I decided to choose the top 3 neediest to sponsor throughout the year. You’ll be hearing more from us about those three families as we get to know them.

Remember your donations will allow us to help them throughout 2012. Make a contribution here.

[Note: See the details on our donation page for US citizens who want to give a tax deductible donation.]

In the next update I’ll describe our fundraising needs for the year and a plan to keep you up to date on how much aid we’re distributing to help families in Bangkok.

What are the biggest needs in your family?

-Dwight

On the contrary, I don’t have a fraction of the faith the people I’m helping possess.

I’m NOT a NGO. 

There’s no staff, no backup plan, and without the support of a handful of personal friends—no budget.

And I’m definitely not a hero. 

Showing up with food, water and help with rent doesn’t mean I have super powers or even make me particularly intuitive.

I’m a lot like you. 

I don’t fit so easily into people’s boxes and grow tired of explaining why. I love wearing lots of hats, but I’m truthfully not as good at multitasking as I’d have people believe. And I make things complicated because I so highly value simplicity. Hence, why I’m so stubborn and hate asking for help.

Luckily for my endless limitations, my talented friend Tara Milutis has created a touching mini-documentary to help explain what In Search of Sanuk is all about and why I need your help share and give in support of my project to help at risk families.

Please watch below or access it here: In Search of Sanuk Documentary – Helping At Risk Families in Bangkok

-Dwight

Later we gave a few select kids a special opportunity to take language and drama courses at tutoring centers. Finally, we’ve been working in partnership with KIS International School and have been benefitting from the best of both worlds.

End of the year Saturday School Pool Party

The kids get the attention and support they need to learn, from teens and teachers who volunteer from the school, without the huge expense we incurred from the private programs.

If you’ve missed the updates about our Saturday program, you can catch a quick glimpse of what we’ve been doing on our In Search of Sanuk facebook page. 

Finally the year end close to this project has come and we decided to celebrate with a pool party. Odd only because a few weeks before, several of the kids evacuated their homes not long before they were flooded. So in addition to celebrating the completion of the first stretch of Saturday School, there was a need to de-stress by being rowdy in the pool.

Flood Frustration Free and Being Rowdy in the Pool

It worked and flood frustrations were quickly forgotten.

Thanks KIS International and all the teachers and volunteer students who made the program happen by giving time, support, facilities and supplies.

Thank You Card from our Kids & Volunteers!

Here’s a photo the volunteers helped the kids to create to say thanks to everyone who gave to support food for lunch.

Finally thanks to Bangkok Patana School, who found out what we were doing and gave a donation to help us cover transportation for all the kids.

We’re hoping to get things going again in the new year. Until then, thanks all and look for the next update about getting more support for the families we help.

-Dwight

All photos compliments of volunteer photographer Pooja Kishnani (click here to see more photos from our party).

The kids in our scholarship program have finally finished all their classes.

After spending two years working in the communities, we ended our volunteer project and decided to select kids to send to private tutoring. In particular, we focused on girls, providing tutoring scholarships for 17 girls and 1 boy. They’ve all finally finished their coursework.

In Bangkok, private tutoring is a norm for middle and upper class families. Parents send their kids to classes in all sorts of subjects, but many spend hours learning English. We had both a group doing a beginning English course and group of girls we sent to singing, acting and dancing classes.

Access to extra opportunities to learn are not normally accessible to children from poor families. One example is a girl named Om, whose report card is pictured below. Despite being one from one of the poorest families and only attending 10 out of 15 of the classes because of having to care for younger siblings (which is a miracle in itself), Om showed plenty of aptitude and out performed many of the other kids. There are many others like Om. Beyond book knowledge, I hope through these classes we’ve instilled confidence and the desire to learn despite the challenges they must overcome everyday at home.

Om, a girl from a really poor family shows promising results.

I’m proud we were able to expose the kids like Om to more than what they’re getting in government schools. However, because of the expense of the scholarships we won’t be continuing the program. There is potential to revive the program in the future is there are companies who want to provide classes to underprivileged kids and are willing to cover more of the costs or offer more substantial discounts.

Even though the scholarship program won’t be continuing, we’re not done working the kids. At the moment we’re working on building a revamped volunteer program in partnership with an international school. The girls who received the scholarships will be the first to participate in the new program, which will focus on English literacy.

Thanks for reading and supporting these kids.

-Dwight

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

“A baby in these parts can fetch as much as twenty thousand baht ($500)”

I want to start the year by again calling your attention to the situation on the border of Thailand. Friends of mine over at Rubber Knife Productions recently took some time out to do a pro bono documentary there. They chose to tell the story of Children of the Forest, a large project aimed at helping people who live in the lawless land between a war being waged in Burma and Thai immigration check points. This is where many fall victim to trafficking or worse horrors. The documentary they made is about 15 minutes long and I encourage you continue to share it after watching (click here if the video does not appear).

I’m proud we started the year by sending $730 to Children of the Forest on behalf of the Cyril Duncan Siam Children’s Foundation and strongly encourage you give and add COF to your list of deserving organizations.

So things are already on track for a very busy and special year. I’m still getting thanked by the families for the Christmas we game them and I want to continue to pass on that gratitude to you. Thank you! Our work in Bangkok with needy families will continue and we’ll be adding two more families to our list this month (making a total of eleven). More info on them and our ongoing weekend volunteering coming soon.

-Dwight

Photo credit: Brianne Hoyt-Stern

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 me understand that if we provide opportunities, people can go beyond being dependent on aid. Let me share the stories of two women from the community where I work.

Twenty years ago, Feung’s daughter left home. Feung and her husband were left to care for Naen, their granddaughter. However, soon after Feung’s husband died, Feung was left to care for her granddaughter alone. Feung sold her Thai curries and food to order in the markets of the Klong Toey slum community, but due to borrowing from a local moneylender, she faced an interest rate of almost 20% per month. She struggled to make ends meet and faced constant threats if she could not repay the loan on time. A little over a year ago, Naen gave birth to a baby girl, Sofa, making Feung a great-grandmother. Today her story isn’t one of struggle, but  of hope. Feung and her grand-daughter care for baby Sofa together and do not have to face the stresses of borrowing from a moneylender to run her business because Feung is now a Step Ahead member. Step Ahead is proud to stand with such an amazing woman who refuses to relent and looks forward to helping her provide a future for her grand-daughter and great-grand-daughter.

“We should never lose hope in helping the poor overcome poverty, we only need to rethink our ways and recognize they already have the skills.” -Marisa

Khan Keawkam never borrowed from a moneylender nor faced a twenty percent monthly interest rate. However, like many Step Ahead members, each day was still a struggle. As a widow, she was left to provide an income and take care of her son and five grandchildren. Her grim situation changed when Ms. Khan Keawkam became a member of the Step Ahead’s micro-enterprise development program. She took her most recent loan, 3000 Baht ($100), enabling her to continue running her peanuts stall in the market and provide opportunities for her children and grandchildren to study that they would not have otherwise. Just like Khan Keawkam, many members of of Step Ahead’s micro-enterprise development program not only experience a change in their personal lives, but in the lives of their children, grand-children and community!

Step Ahead is busy with a range of programs they’re offering around Thailand. They include teaching Thai/English to children in southern Thailand and Bangkok’s Klong Toey community, and employing women to make leather purses or tote bags in Pattaya and southern Thailand. That’s just a quick glimpse of the endeavors the Step Ahead Foundation focuses on, be sure to visit their website and contact them to get involved.

The first of the accidents happened when a student named Tham was struck from behind by motorcycle while she was walking. The impact sent the nine year old flying into a nearby wall.  The concussion she suffered caused her brain to swell and she spent two days in the ICU. When her condition improved she was moved into a crowded hospital room where we were finally able to visit. There we talked with her some while she peered at us through the only eye that wasn’t swollen shut.

Not long after Tham was hit, we learned of a more tragic accident involving a student in Yommorat, the community along the railroad tracks. Usna (oohse-na), one of our regular Saturday kids, was on the way home from school when her and her brother took a motorcycle taxi. She was unaware the driver was drunk and when he failed to stop before the oncoming train, the tail of the bike was clipped by the train and the children were thrown off. One of Usna’s legs was caught underneath the train and had to be amputated below her knee.

Tham has since been released from the hospital and rejoined us on Saturdays. Everyone is glad to have her back, especially her friends and classmates who visited and decorated cards wishing she would get well. She’s not as energetic as before, but still just as sharp and shows up to class in a skull cap while her hair is growing back. For Usna, there’s a much longer road to recovery ahead and she will likely spend more than a month in the hospital. Despite the circumstances, however, everyone has been impressed with her toughness. Which is important as she must cope with more physical challenges such as the healing of her wound, a skin graft, and eventually learning to walk with a prosthetic limb.

Two bright students from two different communities. They don’t know each other and aren’t in very close proximity. Yet, their neighborhoods are plagued by the same issues. Sad, unfair and enraging, these aren’t the types of stories I like to share, but they do offer a glimpse into the difficulties of growing up in the communities we’re serving and exemplify why these children benefit from any love and encouragment we can offer in our time with them.

We’re doing more to help Usna and her family during her hospital stay. Because we don’t want to see her fall behind in her school work, we’ve hired a tutor to come and teach her a few times a week. We’ve also given the family $100, a small gift to help with incidental expenses (the majority of her hospital bill is covered by the Thai government). If you’d like to help, make a donation like normal, but email me (insearchofsanuk@gmail.com) directly to let me know it’s for Usna and her family.

~Dwight

[200,000] is the population of nine refugee camps on the Thai Burma border. This is also the same number of Burmese refugees, including ethnic Shan, believed to be living outside the camps in Thailand.

• Flashback to Chris’s tale of “Helping Nu Nu Help the Kids“ about visiting Nu Nu, who has given up resettlement in order to provide care for a growing number of orphans in at a refugee camp in Northern Thailand.

[100] is the estimated number of Burmese who are arrested daily and held in Bangkok’s Immigration Detention Center.

• Read “The Best Way To Go To Jail in Thailand“ for an account of being a volunteer visitor in a Bangkok jail.

It is estimated that [80%] of refugees are women and children.

• At the end of May I took a trip to Future Light Children’s home in Mae Sot that houses and educates forty-one children. Here are photos and video from the trip and more information on how you can get involved.

It only takes hearing from [ONE] friend who is a refugee to understand the impossible situations they have survived and become inspired to act.

• You may remember Ryan’s story of fleeing with his family to Thailand, where they lived for about four years before they were able to reach the US. Ryan recently received his GED and hopes to soon be living his dream of attending college.

Remember it costs about $15 to give a families food supplies that will last two weeks. Please take the time and make a donation that will allow us to support a family in need. Thanks and if you’re in Bangkok and want to join our event find out more here.

~Dwight

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 tired, they surely would have been enthusiastically replaced by another brother or sister. By mid afternoon the play time had been converted into a group effort to do chores. The combination of the chores and the stifling Mae Sot heat made the kids yearn to go bathe in the nearby river.

“You know before the water is blue. But today, the water bad. Very brown. The rains not come.” This observation from one of the older boys didn’t seem to disparage his younger siblings at the orphanage. They had already jumped into the river from the rocky shore of the muddy Irrawaddy, not hesitating to begin bathing and playing. I looked up at the movement across the waters, examining the boats who were loudly vacillating between Thailand and Burma. The children, like the boats, are caught in a stateless limbo because of decades of conflict in Burma and Thailand’s muddy policy on refugees and migrants.

The children get three meals of day. A basic meal made of mostly rice and the vegetables that they grow behind the house. So when evening finally came I grinned and proposed to the house dad, Goin, that we sneak away right before dinner and get ice cream for all the kids. He agreed and off we went on his motorbike speeding towards town, but stopping once for gas just outside of Mae Sot. We took off once again to hunt down a bucket sized quantity of vanilla-raspberry swirl ice cream, but the bike stopped again–this time unexpectedly. Mai pen rai–or ‘nevermind’ in Thai I thought. We will work something out I rationed. Maybe someone will offer us a ride I thought, still being hopelessly optimistic. I will just call my team back at the orphanage to pick us up.

No, no, and no answer.

A mile later, still walking alongside the busted motorbike we had almost reached a bike shop that was already closed.

If nothing else was in our favor, the fact that a shop with a tub of ice cream was still open when our taxi arrived brought relief. Goin and I walked back in through the orphanage gates two and a half hours later. Everyone had already forgotten about dinner and kids had gathered singing and dancing their hearts out before bed (see a brief video clip here). Preoccupied with their singing, they didn’t notice the ice cream, the missing bike, or the overwhelming sense of relief we felt upon returning.

That night we scooped ice cream into cones, bowls, cups, and finally bare hands as kids made their second and third rounds for the treat. I can’t recall an instance where ice cream ever tasted so good, nor where the joy it spread was so abundant.

Feels great to have had the opportunity to spend with the kids of Future Light. This week we will be donating $1000 to them on behalf of the Cyril Duncan Siam Children’s Foundation. They are currently rebuilding their house and school and could use the support. If you want more info on making a donation yourself or voluntouring at Future Light you can contact them on facebook (or by emailing futurelightkids@gmail.com).

-Dwight

“Dream Big, Work Smart, Start Local.”