Breaking Poverty Cycles for Remote Thai Children

Executive Summary & Impact Highlights

Between August and September 2026, thanks to the generosity of our GlobalGiving donors, the Fellowship Foundation for Child and Youth Development (FCYD) launched a targeted field relief initiative across the remote borderland districts of Upper Isan, Thailand.

While our initial campaign goal was to support 25 high-risk families to expand our outreach, directly delivering emergency relief packages and care stipends to 22 families caring for children with severe physical, intellectual, and multiple disabilities.

• Total Funds Raised from Donors outside GlobalGiving communities: $1,714 USD (59,989.09 THB)
• Additional Co-Funding by FCYD: $486 USD (17,010.91 THB)
• Total Project Expenditure: $2,200 USD (77,000 THB)
• Target vs. Actual Families Helped: 25 Families Target 22 Families Reached
• Cost Per Family Package: ~$100 USD (3,500 THB)
• Location: 4 Borderland Provinces (Loei, Nong Khai, Bueng Kan, Udon Thani)

What Was Inside Each $100 Relief Package?

In Thailand’s rural borderlands, raising a child with severe disabilities places an overwhelming financial and emotional burden on elderly grandparents and single parents. Each family received a customized relief package valued at 3,500 THB (~$100 USD) containing:

1. Emergency Cash Care Stipend: To cover urgent medical transport, specialized liquid diets, or tube-feeding supplies.
2. Essential Nutrition & Household Goods: Rice, canned food, cooking oil, eggs, fortified milk, blankets, warm clothing, and hygiene supplies.
3. Specialized Care Supplies: Pediatric diapers, sterile cleaning items, and daily care essentials.

Field Operations & Regional Breakdowns

To reach these scattered mountain villages and rural communities efficiently, FCYD collaborated directly with local Special Education Centers (), public health offices (..), and district administrative networks.

 22 Families Reached Across 4 Borderland Provinces

      Loei            Nong Khai           Bueng Kan        Udon Thani

 (5 Families)    (7 Families)        (5 Families)     (5 Families)

  $500 Total      $700 Total          $500 Total       $500 Total

1. Loei Province (Dan Sai District) — 5 Families

Due to the steep, mountainous terrain in Dan Sai District, where homes are miles apart, the Deputy Director of the Loei Special Education Center served as our local representative to convene families at the district center office for distribution.

• Nong Gaem (17 yrs): Bedridden since birth with severe physical atrophy. Three years ago, chronic pulmonary aspiration required a tracheostomy. Tube-fed liquid diets create heavy daily expenses. Her father passed away, leaving her mother and sister to provide 24/7 care while her brother-in-law works as the sole breadwinner. Every 3 months, they must travel over 100 km to the provincial hospital to replace her breathing tube.
• Nong Euro (9 yrs): Developed normally until age 3, when a sudden high fever caused severe septic shock and required a spinal tap. The infection left him paralyzed with muscle atrophy. He relies on mouth-fed liquid diets and 24/7 care from his grandmother and father.
• Nong Yoong (16 yrs): Bedridden with multiple severe disabilities. Requires costly hospital-prescribed liquid formula. His parents rotate daily labor jobs while managing constant medical appointments at Dan Sai Hospital.
• Nong Phupha (9 yrs): Intellectual disability. While able to perform basic self-care, his family lives in extreme poverty. Fortunately, local social welfare officers recently repaired their home, and his parents work daily labor jobs while ensuring Phupha attends regular skill rehabilitation.
• Nong Kaew (16 yrs): Lower-body paralysis. Orphaned after both parents passed away, Kaew lives with her elderly grandparents and aunt. The family survives solely on elderly and disability allowances, facing severe hardship whenever Kaew experiences kidney complications requiring hospital visits.

2. Nong Khai Province (Sa Khrai District) — 7 Families

Distributed in partnership with the Deputy Director of the Nong Khai Special Education Center at the Sa Khrai District Facility.

• Nong Phlengkhwan (8 yrs): Intellectual disability. Raised by her grandmother and uncle after her parents relocated to Nan Province for work. Following physical rehabilitation, Phlengkhwan can now bathe, brush her teeth, and eat independently.
• Nong Ruangkhao (17 yrs): Intellectual disability complicated by a congenital heart defect (ventricular septal defect) requiring ongoing hospital visits. Her father works as a day laborer, and her mother is a village hairdresser.
• Nong Oung-Ing (9 yrs): Intellectual disability. Abandoned by her parents following their divorce, she is raised by her elderly grandparents alongside 4 other young cousins on meager day-labor wages.
• Nong Namkhing (14 yrs): Intellectual disability. Lives alone with her elderly grandmother after her parents remarried elsewhere. Their income relies on elderly/disability pensions. Rehabilitation has enabled Namkhing to handle basic self-care, easing her grandmother's physical load.
• Nong Porshe (4 yrs): Intellectual disability and Autism. Raised by elderly grandparents after his parents separated and moved away. Porshe requires constant supervision and cannot manage basic tasks.
• Nong Ice (7 yrs): Autism. Raised by a single mother who works day labor to support 3 dependents. While the mother works, Ice’s elderly grandmother cares for 3 young grandchildren simultaneously.
• Nong Anucha (18 yrs): Intellectual disability. Cared for by his grandmother and a single father working day labor. Anucha assists his father with light chores to earn small household income.

3. Bueng Kan Province (So Phisai District) — 5 Families

Coordinated with the Head of the So Phisai Special Education Center. Four families received supplies at the center during their routine rehabilitation, while the team conducted a home visit for a bedridden child unable to travel.

• Nong Kao (15 yrs): Multiple severe disabilities, non-verbal, and bedridden due to a prenatal infection caused by an 8-hour delayed hospital transfer during labor. Cared for by elderly grandparents while his mother works in another province, gradually sending money home to reinforce their house structure.
• Nong Simon (9 yrs): Hydrocephalus requiring a surgical cranial shunt. His mother remarried, leaving his care to his grandmother and relatives, who rotate day-labor shifts while coordinating 150 km medical trips to Udon Thani Regional Hospital.
• Nong Dew (10 yrs): Suffered severe infant seizures at 2 months old. Initial reliance on traditional healers delayed proper medical care. Dew now receives ongoing neurological treatment at Udon Thani Hospital every 3 months.
• Nong Nop (7 yrs): Intellectual disability and chronic asthma resulting from a prenatal motorcycle accident. His mother is the sole earner as a rubber tapper supporting 5 dependents, while his father is visually impaired.
• Nong Noon (18 yrs): Chromosomal deletion disorder causing severe brain impairment and complete dependency. Her father passed away, leaving her mother as her sole primary caregiver and earner.

4. Udon Thani Province (Phen District) — 5 Families

Handled in coordination with the Head of the Phen District Special Education Center.

• Nong Nisa (13 yrs): Born prematurely at 800 grams after her mother fell in a rice field during her 6th month of pregnancy. Spent 3 months in an incubator. Nisa is bedridden, non-verbal, and tube-fed, cared for devotedly by her parents.
• Nong Peter (8 yrs): Severe physical and intellectual disabilities with muscle dystrophy. Sadly, Peter passed away shortly before the distribution team arrived. FCYD confirmed the allocation of his family's $100 stipend to assist his father with funeral expenses and bereavement relief.
• Nong Khaohom (9 yrs): Intellectual disability. Raised by an aunt who supports 4 of her own children on day-labor wages after Khaohom’s parents separated and migrated for work.
• Nong Karn (14 yrs): Intellectual disability. Raised by grandparents. Through ongoing rehab, Karn can now care for himself and assists his grandparents in caring for his bedridden uncle, who was paralyzed in a motorcycle accident.
• Nong Mon (14 yrs): Physical disability and severe muscle weakness. Due to his weight, his elderly grandmother cannot lift him alone. His parents work construction in another province to send small remittances home.

A Message of Gratitude to Our Donors

Behind every statistic in this report is a grandmother who no longer has to choose between buying rice or pediatric diapers, a single parent who received emergency travel funds to take their child to a specialist 100 km away, and a bedridden child who knows they have not been forgotten.

Hope GlobalGiving Community will soon become our "Kalyanamitra" (Good Friend). Your support turned basic survival into dignity, warmth, and hope.

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