Community Projects
Previous / Running Projects
Piloki Village: Homestay Tourism and Fish Raising Project
Ecological Farming
Dairy Goats Lending Project
Molaka Village Women’s Weaving Project
Future Projects
NHE Vocational School
Piloki Village: Homestay Tourism and Fish Raising Project
Piloki Village is one of the villages in this western part of Thailand that was affected by the building of the dam. This village is only accessible by boat and at the nearest point it would take a hour to reach the place. As a result of this economic and social isolation, poverty, disease, and lack of health care and education have threatened the health and family stability of this community. The village is a mix of Karen, Mon, Thai, and Burmese ethnic group. We have set up a fish raising livelihood project funded by BCTFN (British Community in Thailand Foundation for the Needy)
Fish Raising Project, A Volunteer Report:
2008
At the end of July 2008 we traveled to Piloki to deliver the nets. We had a total of 25 nets so we had to construct a raft to carry them, as well as all the equipment we needed, up the lake. The going was slow (over ten hours in total) but we made it to Piloki. We spent the night there, and the next day worked along side the fishermen to get the nets started. Now, August 2008, we have traveled back to Piloki and delivered the baby fish and smaller nets. We are still planning another 25 nets in the future, so that the people of the Piloki community have a total of 50 nets available for fish raising.
2007
On Monday August 6th, 2007 we loaded up a barge with materials for the fish pen building project, including 72 bags of fish food, yards of netting and string, 6 large plastic barrels and a metal frame consisting of 8 metal rods. Because we needed the barge to carry all the materials our journey was 3 hours from Thongphapum instead of the usual 1 hour the regular boats take. However, the weather held out on us and we had a quite scenic and beautiful 3 hour ride with limestone mountains surrounding us and tiny villages in our periphery. We did not arrive in the village until fairly late in the afternoon on Monday so we just unloaded the materials and investigated the village a bit. We ended up staying at the local pastor’s house after being fed quite a feast.
The next day we had a town meeting with the people of Piloki in the morning to discuss plans for the fish raising project and the homestay program. Through this meeting concerns, comments and suggestions were aired on both sides to ensure that both of these programs run as smoothly as possible. At this meeting it was decided that the villagers would grow a fish similar to red snapper instead of the originally planned catfish because the former is more profitable and easier to sell in the local markets. That afternoon we set to work measuring out the netting and cutting the appropriate lengths. The work was split into two teams: the inner plastic netting which has smaller holes and will hold the fingerlings initially and the outer rope netting which will hold the fish once they get bigger. The team working on the inner plastic netting created a rectangular shaped box and worked in pairs to sew up the seams with rope. The other team worked on feeding rope through the outer netting and sewing up seams as well. We worked late into the afternoon and had another delicious meal that night.
On Wednesday morning we worked on finishing up sewing all the seams and started putting together the metal frame. For the framing work we relied mostly on the locals because they seemed to be seasoned pros and knew exactly what to do. We finished up everything and launched the finished project on Wednesday afternoon. Although the numbers varied, we had about 15-20 people from Piloki village helping up with the fish nets and without them we could not have finished so quickly. Because the Piloki village is situated on the banks of the dam, the local people seem at home on the water therefore I think this project will be really good for them. They will be relying on their local resources to make this project successful and generate income. The biggest challenge they will face in the future is reducing the cost of feeding the fish as store-bought feed can be quite pricey.
Homestay Tourism
To assist this village economically, we helped the village organize a homestay tourism program so that they can generate their own income within their own village. Tourist who are looking for a quite and beautiful place with very friendly people will find this village a good place to explore. Go fishing with the villagers, learn back strap style clothe weaving, learn Karen style cooking, teach English in the primary school, explore the 200 feet high waterfall, and more….We urge you to come and visit this village.
Pictures are here.
Ecological Farming
Ecological farming is another branch of activity for Baan Dada Children’s Home and Community Services. A comprehensive farming system with agriculture, diary animals, mini forestry, mini ponds (water catchment) has been set up to support some of the daily needs of those living at Ananda Vidyadharma.
Among other things mung beans, long beans, bananas, avocados, star-apple, orange, soursop, pineapple, papaya, root-crops, sinequellas, cho-om, jackfruit, mango, rambutan, coconut and ylang-ylang (a flower tree to extract perfume oil) are cultivated here.
In the future, more medicinal plants will be grown as well. At the moment, we are only growing neem (for blood and skin problems) and lagundi (for fever and aches).
Dairy Goats Lending Project
This project involves purchasing and lending goats to families in nearby villages. There was an initial purchase of six nanny goats and one male goat. Of these, the male goat and many of the females were lent out to willing families in a nearby village. There, the females are being impregnated. After the offspring are able to take care of themselves, the goats will be returned to Baan Dada so that they can be lent out to another village. This process is repeated continuously, resulting in an ever increasing number of goats for the local residents.
Excess male goats can be sold, if desired, and nanny goats can be used for milk production. At first, this milk can be used for personal consumption. Once milk production exceeds the needs of the recipient families, Baan Dada will start acting as a collection point. This milk can be sold for profit. Some of the milk will also be purchased by Baan Dada, to be consumed by the children living there and at another home in Sangklaburi.
The project targets local widows and mothers/housewives to receive, care for and be responsible for the goats. It chooses women with the capacity to care for the goats, and who are not currently engaged in any kind of profitable work. These women have the free time needed to raise, breed and milk the goats, as well as the need for some extra income.
The first community which is benefiting from this project is the remote and isolated village of Molaka. Most of the villagers are landless, and either working for very low wages or are unemployed. The residents of Molaka have received 7 nanny goats and one billy goat. They are taking care of the goats in turns and benefiting from it as a collective.
This project’s main objective is to act as a relief program, but it does not merely provide relief. It also provides a means for families to start up a small-scale business, while providing the foundation with an increasing capacity to include and help local families. The only input from the families involved is effort in caring for the goats.
With your support, we would like to extend this project to other surrounding communities in the future. If you are interested, then please refer to contact us.
Pictures are here.
Molaka Village Women’s Weaving Poject
Please see our photos of the woven goods:
- Photoalbum and more pics
- Thai Weaving Enterprise Blogspot
The Weaving Enterprise began in late 2005 to employ poor residents of a nearby village. The women weavers use traditional handwoven techniques to produce shirts, shoulder bags, purses, change purses, and wallets while the men weavers produce large and small handwoven baskets, mini-takraw key chains, and table decorations from locally-sourced bamboo. This is a completely separate project from nearby Baan Unrak, Home of Joy. Proceeds return to the weavers directly, with 10% going to support Baan Dada and the 60 children who live here.
The Weaving Enterprise currently employs Karen ethnic minority weavers from nearby Molaka village.
The workers are paid 90 baht per day, which is above minimum wage for this area and enough for the worker to support their children if their spouse is unemployed. We consider these fairly traded products as the workers receive a fair price for their labour, they work in safe, clean conditions, and they use democratic, participatory strategies in maintaining the enterprise. No children are involved in this work.
The objective is to raise the standard of living of Molaka village, and in the future, other villages in this area. As well, it seeks to raise awareness about the plight of Karen and other ethnic minorities living in rural areas of Thailand.
SUPPORT THE WEAVING ENTERPRISE
Our products are colourful, inexpensive, and come in many sizes and designs. They make wonderful birthday and Christmas gifts. Please consider buying them for your family, friends, teachers, students, classmates, or co-workers today! You will be directly helping to improve the quality of life of some needy families in this impoverished area of Thailand.
To order, contact Lindsay Marsh at lindsay@volunteerinthailand.org
VOLUNTEER FOR THE WEAVING ENTERPRISE
Do you know of a shop near your home that sells ethnic, fairly traded handicrafts from developing countries? Please forward their email and mailing addresses to Lindsay Marsh at lindsay@volunteerinthailand.org
Even better, approach the shop manager about the details of this project yourself and ask them to consider importing these products. This type of volunteering will help the project tremendously. By promoting our woven products to clubs, religious groups, sports teams, or other associations you may belong to, you will helping us to reach new markets, directly benefiting both our weavers and our Children’s Home. Thank you for your support!
NHE Vocational School
In this area, there is an enormous need for a vocational school, due to political reasons and cultural changes. The people in this area, the so called hill-tribes, are not fully recognized as Thai inhabitants and therefore don’t have the same rights as the Thais. To protect the social, political and economical well-being of Thailand they are not allowed to leave the area without permission of the government. Most of the children don’t have the legal papers to get this permission and therefore can’t leave the area. For this reason it would be good to have a vocational school in the area. Another reason to start a vocational school is that the nearest one is at 4 hours away in Kanchanaburi and families don’t have the financial capacity to send their children to the bigger cities.
Ananda Marga Gurukula has initiated the plan to start a vocational school in this area. Baan Dada Children’s Home and Community Services is cooperating with Ananda Marga Gurukula in this endeavor.
Next to Baan Dada a land with a size of 56 rai has been purchased by Ananda Marga Gurukula. Within three years we would like to establish a vocational school, where the students can follow mechanical ,electrical, IT technology related and dress making courses.
The project will need a lot of funding. If you are willing to donate, then please let us know.
On the same land, with the help of Ananda Marga Gurukula, a two-story twin cottage has been built for volunteers, which will later serve as the teachers Quarters.