02/02/2020
Thank You for Empowering 16 hill tribe children access to education. We want to make sure every child who wants to continue their education, has the ability to do so!
For the past 3 school years, May through March, we have been helping Kun Nam Jon children get to school, and we could not have done so without your help. We have been paying for the the 4WD truck gasoline and the teacher's time to pick the children up at the village on Monday morning and take them down the hill (7 miles away) to Ban Swa School. On Friday after lunch, the teacher drive from Kun Nam Jon where he resides during the week and tend to the children there, pick up the hill tribe children from Ban Swa and bring them back to the village.
I (finally) received reports for the the 16 Kun Nam Jon children, grades 5 through 9, we have been helping to get to the main school Ban Swa.
In this school year (2019-2020), there are eight 5th graders (3 girls, 5 boys), five 7th graders (2 girls, 3 boys), and two 9th graders (2 girls).
Kun Nam Jon does have a school K-6, but with only 2 teachers. They rely on satellite educational programs and mainly rely on school lunches to lighten the burden placed on their families who are sustenance farmers. The village has limited electricity because they don't have electricity and rely on wood coal fires for cooking and solar panels if they are fortunate to own one.
If children wish to continue their education past 6th grade, they must go to Ban Swa.
Ban Swa School not only offers K-9, but it has an onsite principal, several teachers, and other supporting staff. Ban Swa also offers dormitories for children who must travel from far away during the week, like the children from Kun Nam Jon. If children can afford to go to school after 9th grade, they have to find their own transportation to get there, again miles away in the next town of Bo Kluea.
The road to reach Ban Swa School from Kun Nam Jon village is mostly unpaved, consists mainly of dirt, and is on steep hills, requiring 4WD vehicles. These sort of vehicles are not typical in this area, expensive, difficult to maintain and hard to find.
Luckily, the teacher currently assigned (Teacher Bank) owns a 4WD truck. He graciously volunteers to provide transportation for the children who wants to go to Ban Swa School on Monday and Friday. He stays at the Kun Nam Jon village during the week and goes home on weekends. *do we pay him? is it out of his own pocket?*
The dirt roads and rainy season, which starts in May and ends in October, make it very challenging and sometimes impossible even for a 4WD truck to use. Teacher Bank and the villagers have been making improvements to the roads in small sections using bamboo(in place of re bar), concrete, sand, and gravel. For 2020, they are targeting a 500 m section that is steep and very slippery entering into their village.
I am going to Thailand in March and plan to visit the schools and villages to see how things are going and ask what help they need. In short, Kun Nam Jon is asking for help with their road construction to make accessing their village safer during the rainy season.
They need:
300 bags of concrete 120 bath ($4.20) per bag (36000 baht, $1153.50)
30 units of sand 500 baht ($16.00) per unit, (15000 baht, $480.60)
50 units of gravel, 500 baht ($16.00) per unit (25000 baht, $801.00)
4000 baht ($128.20) per concrete delivery, 3 trips required (12000 baht, $128.20)
20000 baht ($640.80) delivery fee for sand and gravel lump sum (20000 baht, $640.80)
Grand Total = $3204.10
If you can donate, anything helps!
If you would be so gracious to help, please send money via PayPal to [email protected]
or go to our website, thainitiative.org/donation
Great News, Kun Nam Jon village is getting electricity! Stay tuned for updates and pictures from Thailand in early March.
