You can't expect children to learn if they are cold and hungry. And so, before we even BEGIN to attempt to raise funds for the new refugee community school at Parahita Htoo, we have to meet some basic needs: Food, bedding, warm clothing, things to cook with and basic personal hygiene items.
Let me backtrack, a little.
A large group of displaced Karen refugees have crossed into Thailand and have been receiving some basic schooling in most basic bamboo shelters. 289 children, to be exact, with various grandmothers, old wounded men, widows who lost their men in the 70 plus year long civil war and young women who were raped. Let it be said that this group is in no way different or more special than the several million people who have already walked across land-mined borders and into Thailand in the past seven decades. This group, like all the others, has been barely existing and been barely tolerated, living rough in jungle dwellings and doing what they can to survive.
Recently the Thai government has mandated that it is a hygiene and covid risk to have so many refugee children crammed into one small space. And so land has been donated for this nomadic community at a remote location called Parahita Htoo near the Burmese border and, early in 2022, we will start raising money to build a school and start creating organic employment options to begin to sustain a community. Because without a way for the grandmas and the widows to earn a subsistence livelihood, people will not stay and will move away from the school and the opportunity that education affords the children.
Which brought us to last week. My Thai business, Pure Thai Natural Co Ltd hosted an online event on mainstream social media, inviting people to sidestep Black Friday and give instead of buying and accumulating.
You can read more about the event here: Be The Change Black Friday
The generosity has been amazing.
In just 7 days, I had SO MUCH STUFF dropped off at our office! This is just PART of what was donated, and gifts and bags are still coming in. It SEEMS a lot, till you appreciate that 289 children plus a roughly equal number of grandmas, mothers, old men and babies have to share it too.
And so last night, while other people were relaxing over a sundowner cocktail or beer after a long day at work, my colleague Johny and I were packing up his truck to begin schlepping the first truckload up the mountain - a 6 hour drive from Chiang Mai, where I'm based.
The photos don't do it justice and there are more donations than could possibly cram into one Toyota Fortuner with the seats down; we will have to make a second run soon.
The nights have suddenly grown much colder - down to around 15C in the city here in Chiang Mai and down to single digits in the mountains overnight. Please scroll back up to the first image in this blog and imagine sleeping there in a thin tshirt, with no blanket and with a chilly draft coming up through the floor.
And so we begin helping to create a more permanent community for the refugees of Parahita Htoo by First Things First - some clothes, a few blankets, donated food and money and some basics for cooking and hygiene. The education, food gardens and employment will come next.
As the sun goes down on another very cool evening here in the Thai mountains, we're beginning the task of budgeting and planning for a permanent school building and the educational materials these children will need to have a chance at a better life.
Looking forward to continuing to share this displaced community's journey with you.
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