About
Preventing, Restoring, Building, Uniting, Sustaining. As we grow, we learn and we act to empower those we work with in Thailand and Burma.Following
1 month working with team members and projects in Thailand and… back to Australia!
How quickly 4 weeks pass and experiences become memories. Not just memories. Fiona and Melanie are wrapping up the last weeks of their 6 month participation with Openaid and their commitment to helping the poor and empowering women and children susceptible to abuse is so strong.
Watch their blogging this month :)
Project coordination in Thailand is managed by team members including me!
Team members travel thousands of kilometres by truck every month and spend countless hours nurturing relationships, managing assessments and evaluations, and designing new initiatives with locals.
Working with Openaid is very, very challenging and always exciting. We travel everywhere across northeast Thailand and in many other places too. In Chonburi, in villages and schools, we spend a lot of time and also in Chiang Rai.
The program is helping a lot of people and I will continue to learn and grow at Openaid.
Ai
Although Burma has signed international conventions and treaties, the ruling Junta continues to dishonour pledges to improve its treatment of citizens and carry out democratic reforms. The junta continues to persecute ethnic minorities, pushing villagers and families to exodus their homes across the Thai-Burma border. Since 1962 Burma has been controlled by military rule and Aung San Suu Kyi continues to be held along with over 2,000 other political prisoners.
Openaid continues to support villagers in Burma and ethnic minorities exodusing across northern borders. We support women and children who have experienced overwhelming acts of sexual violence, forced labour, torture and forced relocation.
Increasing pressure on Burma is the responsibility of Governments, International Tribunals, and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. For Openaid the challenge remains to consistently honour innocent victims and crys for help, bringing support and resources to improve lives.
For others, like me, involved with women and children dying of AIDS, caring for people facing death is not easy and especially when they are in pain. We have many friends in Thailand dying of AIDS and we are determined to ensure that dying is not without comfort, care and support. A friend is in great pain at the moment - we appreciate your prayers and support.
Justin
Justin has delayed immediate commitments in Melbourne this week to stay in Thailand until next week. If you would like to contact Justin, please email office@openaid.org.au
There are children running around everywhere, human and animal faeces everywhere, poverty everywhere, drugs and sex everywhere and a general sense of sadness is introduced to our days. This slum (Soi 7) has approximately 100 inhabitants, but many of them come and go as does the drugs, sex and crime. Children’s rights are completely ignored in most cases; children are beaten, treated poorly and sexually abused from a young age. In a place like this it is difficult to think of ways in which to help. Drugs, sex and crime is such a large problem, it is far bigger than what a small organisation can fix. Open aid has therefore focused on the children of the slums, establishing the Saturday program so they are able to get a small respite from their daily challenges. The reality is very sad for these children.
Openaid has just finalised the support for another extremely needy family. A new sewing machine will be bought in order for a mother (Saifon) to support her family. Her son is given, at most, 2 months to live. The community is there to support the family, but financially their entire income is spent on transport to and from the hospital. The new sewing machine will provide the family with more reliable and higher incomes (the family will no longer have to pay high rent on the old machine). It is the ability to change a family’s life like this which is why Open aid is such a great organisation. The family will be supported both financially and emotionally in the following months. Unfortunately we can’t create miracles so the reality for this family is the death of their son. Openaid will be able to ease the pain in a small way for this family.
We had an early start this morning to get out to Houy Mara, the last school we would present at during our month in Thailand. The girls this morning presented themselves as highly enthusiastic and motivated. We on the other hand, really needed the glass of coke we were so kindly offered, to get us started.
The focus for this round of presentations has been on imagination and goals. More specifically, Fiona and I have been talking about the importance of education and good decision-making for young women, something we hopefully know about. One of the aims during our visits to the schools has been to show girls how to visualize their goal and outline the steps necessary to achieving that goal. This can be something as simple as connecting the dots on how to get from first school to second school, which provides some perspective on why it is important to do well on your exams.
Growing up in Australia, we have opportunities handed to us on a plate (complete with a side order of instructions on how best to take advantage of what is on offer). For many of the girls here, options and opportunities appear less obvious and we have tried, with the assistance of our lovely Thai interpreters, to show the students different possible choices. The girls in my small discussion group were quite inspired: I had three future teachers (big heart to them), a vet, a doctor and a future president (or as Kit translated: “She wants to be like Obama”).
Although for many of these girls, attending university will be unachievable, Openaid’s support to four girls at this school may bring them one step closer to achieving their dreams. The school has four concrete tanks, each with a different type of fish, the profits of which go to support the girls. The project provides an income supplement, which will help them with their immediate needs so that they can stay in school and focused on their studies, rather than work. It is great to see that the money goes to support such worthy recipients!
I am sad that this was our last presentation but so happy that we finished on a positive note!
On to Bangkok tomorrow…
A new home- a new beginning, some hope for the future. Many families live in dwellings that have been made with whatever materials they can get their hands on. In March, Open aid hopes to build 3 more houses for vulnerable people within the community. After seeing firsthand many of the dwellings that families (often of large numbers) live in, it is clear that funds for new homes are extremely important. $1000 for many people in the western world is quite a small amount, but here in Thailand, that amount (enough to build 3 bedrooms and a kitchen and bathroom) is unthinkable for many poor families.
The building of these houses also brings the community together; Open aid encourages that these homes are built by the village members, which will increase community togetherness. I will absolutely look forward to seeing the finished product for these 3 families and I have no doubt that these homes will completely change their lives.
Openaid gains entry to local communities through contact with the schools. In visiting the schools and teachers – often well-respected and well-connected members of a community – Openaid staff get to know the local families and in particular, those considered most at risk. A significant issue relating to poverty is that it tends to be socially isolating and individuals often find themselves having to fight alone for their needs, without the support of neighbours. If you think about it, it doesn’t make sense for a person with a strong support network to be poor, does it? One of Openaid’s primary goals in combating poverty is to facilitate a community response to assist local families. Direct support and progress are, in most cases, only possible with the support and approval of community leaders, such as village leaders, principals and teachers.
Ban Nongkhanuen is a small friendly school, located approximately 25 minutes from the city of Khon Kaen, in central Issan. Local Openaid staff don’t have a personal connection to this school or this area but recognise that the earning potential of Khon Kaen, like Pattaya, could be attractive to young girls.
One family in particular has been brought to the attention of Openaid and we arranged to have dinner with approximately 30 people from the village on Wednesday, in order to see what we could do for them. The parents and their two young children, a boy and a girl, live together in a small wooden shack, raised off the ground on stilts. In the cool under the house, a dog is sprawled on her side and her puppies play around her. The parents both work as day labourers and their income can fluctuate, depending on the season, though averages at approximately 60 baht per day. During our visit, the father comes home from, where he has a job sorting stones nearby, and their son Aon, 11, is in primary school. Their mother, who usually works in the fields, happens to be home on the day we visit. Of great concern to the family is the safety and welfare of their young daughter, Aom, 8, who displays behavior similar to that of a child with autism and requires supervision.
Openaid has selected Aom’s family to be provided with a house: one main room and two sleeping rooms, with an attached toilet (lean-to). The home will also be connected to electricity. The aim is to improve the security of the family home, and especially provide a safe place for Aom to play, shower and sleep.
We are pleased to that our dinner with the village and community leaders led to a successful outcome and building a house for Aom’s family was quickly approved! Many of the local men volunteered two days of labour to assist with the building and the village leader asked how soon she could order the materials!
It is this kind of outcome that Openaid is always looking for – community responses for communities!
We would like to take this opportunity to thank members of the Wellspring Community Church for their valuable contribution to the Baan Or Fish Pond Project, which aims to provide additional income to very poor households, encouraging these families to keep their daughters in school and provide long term opportunity for these girls.
Thank you!
What can you do with AU$1,000?
Take a trip to Queensland, splurge on a new gold ring, buy a new computer at the local Harvey Norman store.
If you had $1,000 in your hands, what would you do with it?
I want to give you this opportunity to build a house for a family in Thailand and help bring their children out of poverty.
$1,000
You too can help girls like Duen and Aom and their families, giving opportunities they need to lift themselves out of poverty.
Email me today at office@openaid.org.au
Justin
The most important thing for this organisation in 2010 is to find sponsors and continue to deliver very strong programs. Yes, we are doing inspiring work and team members are visionary and champions for the cause. Most of all we need sponsors. We offer really distinct opportunities to fund fantastic projects and many options to receive information that matters most to you.
Let me give you one terrific reason to help Openaid raise money
30,000baht (AU$1,000) to build a new house
How about building a new house for Duen and her family? Young children like Duen in poverty in Thailand are typically vulnerable to sexual exploitation and long term threat from sex traffickers. Duen’s family migrated from Laos and like so many young Lao people in northeast Thailand, her family is extremely poor and quality of life is very low.
We are working with Duen’s school and community. To build a new house and toilet for Duen’s family, ultimately, will open the door for Duen’s family to have a house certificate that becomes so very important for Duen in Thailand to continue proper education and gain knowledge.
In a really complex world, it’s so nice to say that projects like this are really not expensive.
Here’s a look at what we can do in March
1) If Openaid can raise 90,000baht (AU$3,000) we will build 3 homes for 3 families
2) 15,000baht (AU$500) will start a fish project in Nongkanoun school to support 5 young girls to continue their schooling
3) 20,000baht (AU$700) is needed to buy weaving equipment to enable Bun to earn 100baht p/day. Bun and her husband are desperately poor and their son is dying of a rare blood disease. Their daughter Neuy is 11 years old.
4) 10,000baht (AU$350) will fund a new mushroom crop to support 4 girls in Khlong Kho village, Chonburi Province.
Every little bit helps to make a difference to children and families less fortunate to have the basic necessities that most of us take for granted
Meeting with village leaders last night and sharing a beautiful meal…
We discussed their views and expectations in Openaid participation in Nongkanoun school and community. The entire evening was a success. Leaders and community members expressed their joy and excitement as they discussed their feelings and hopes for participation with Openaid in 2010 and beyond.
