A big thank you, once again, to each of you for your generous and ongoing support of the Concordia Daycare & Community Center (CDCC). This past quarter was one of our most difficult yet with regard to funding, but we can confidently say that none of this would be possible without each and every one of you!
So thank you!
This quarter we would like to briefly introduce you to some of the younger students attending the day care. So without further ado...
Finny: Finny is four years old. She is one of three children. Her parents are young- her father drives a truck and her mother works late nights at a restaurant. Her father is rarely home and her mother sleeps during that day, leaving no one to look after Finny. She joined the CDCC last year and was very withdrawn and malnourished. We have worked with her family and helped her during her time at the daycare, and she has improved so much. She now loves spending time with her friends at the daycare, and her favorite things to do are sing and draw. We have also followed up regularly with her family, sometimes visiting her home, to ensure that she has nutritious food to eat and clean home environment. When necessary, we help to supplement her food at home with fresh fruits and vegetables, along with a regular multi-vitamin.
Sabu: Sabu is three years old. His father is an alcoholic who works as a security guard when he can. His mother works as a housekeeper. Because of their work schedules, Sabu would often be left alone during the day. When he first started coming to the CDCC, he was very fearful and withdrawn. But not anymore! Sabu has changed completely and is a leader among the daycare children. He loves to participate in activities, have fun, and spend time with his friends. He is an eager student and enjoys drawing, painting, and outdoor activities.
Tan: Tan is three years old. Her parents are young and both have very low and unstable incomes. When Tan first came to the CDCC, she suffered from malnutrition and poor hygiene. She also used to cry often, vomit, and had little to no appetite. After spending some time at the CDCC, Tan has come out of her shell. She loves to sing and dance. Her mother reports that, “Tan loves coming to the CDCC. When she goes home in the evening, she sings and shares the stories she has learned. She also is so happy to show the crafts she has made.”
Kavin: Kavin is approximately three years old (his exact birth date is unknown). Kavin’s father drives a motorcycle taxi and his mother works in a supermarket. His elderly grandmother cares for him during the day. Kavin is new to the CDCC, so we are just getting to know him and better understand his history and home situation. He has a great memory and can quote lines from movies and remember all sorts of things. Kavin does struggle with age-appropriate focus and is easily angered, along with some other issues. Because of this, our staff and trained social workers are working closely with Kavin’s family to help him meet with the appropriate doctors and specialists to assess his needs. We will then continue to work with the family at home and Kavin at the daycare to support him in all that he does
These are just a few of the children currently enrolled in our daycare program. We also meet with dozens of elementary aged children in our after school and weekend programming to help them with homework and other special classes like English, computers, and music.
The CDCC is also invested in all of the members of the community, and regularly assists working adults to connect them with vocational training or other assistance. We work with the elderly and infirm in the community, helping them to get to doctor appointments, as well as ensure they are cared for and checked on regularly.
None of this would be possible without your generous support. Please know that every donation makes a difference, no matter how big or small. Every time you support the CDCC, know that you are investing in the life of a child and his or her family. It is an investment with guaranteed positive and immediate returns- all of the children featured in this update have all received support from our Global Giving donors. And their lives have been changed for the better in very real and tangible ways.
These children and their families would not be where they are today without you.
The access to education and health & wellness that your generosity provides is quite literally life-changing.
Please know that we appreciate you.
Don't forget to share this update or any of or information with your friends and families- the more donors we can connect with, the more lives we can impact and change.
We look forward to your continued prayers and support in the months and years to come.
Links:
Pao first came to the Concordia Day Care & Community Center (CDCC) in the Bangna Slum area of Bangkok back in 2016 when he was just two years old. Our trained staff immediately noticed that he was quiet, lethargic, and ate very little; he was also absent a lot. We reached out to his family and worked with his mother to make sure he was seen by a doctor as soon as possible. Sadly, Pao was diagnosed with kidney cancer that had spread throughout his tiny body.
CDCC staff worked closely with his mother to make sure that he was able to see a specialist at a nearby children’s hospital as soon as possible. We also reached out to our donors to ensure that any medical care would not be a burden on his already impoverished family. Health care in Thailand is available to everyone for a very low cost with no markups at government institutions, but it is still too much for many families like Pao’s.
Little Pao was able to receive immediate surgery to remove the cancerous tumors. He then went through chemotherapy and radiation to remove the cancer that had spread. It has been two years now since his diagnosis. Two years of doctor appointments and chemo and radiation. Two years of support and healing and hope.
Pao is now back at the CDCC. He attends daily day care programming. He is no longer a quiet and fatigued little two-year-old. He is a healthy four-year-old who enjoys activities and playing with his friends. Some of his friends also attend pre-school at a nearby government school. Staff at the CDCC were able to coordinate with officials at the school to help Pao enroll at this same school. Because of Pao’s experience in the CDCC program, and with a little administrative help from our staff, Pao is now a student in the preschool class at the school. He is thriving and doing well, despite being so ill for the past two years. His strength and determination, combined with the support from his family and CDCC staff, have helped him to not only keep up, but to do well and succeed.
Children like Pao who live in extreme poverty with limited access to many of the things we take for granted often go unseen. We are so thankful for the generous support of donors like you- your contributions help so many children and families in so many essential ways. Regular CDCC programming is the foundation of what we do, but it is by no means all of what we do. We make an effort to get to know each of the children and their families and make sure we are able to help or support them in any way we can.
Many of the children that have participated in our program over the past 30 years have suffered from sickness, disabilities, and learning disorders. Without personal, community-based support like that provided by the CDCC, many of these children would slip through the cracks and suffer without any formal diagnosis, understanding, or support. In a developing country like Thailand, it is not always easy to identify and provide this essential help to individuals and families. And even with a diagnosis and understanding, it can also be difficult to work with local schools to ensure that children are enrolled and that their individual needs are understood.
That is why we are here.
That is why we do what we do.
We are here to provide hope for the hopeless.
And we do so through education. Vocational training for adults and teens. Saturday classes and homework help for school aged children. Liaise with local school officials to ensure each child is given the opportunity to learn and grow and reach their full potential.
The path to education and opportunity and breaking the cycle of poverty is rarely a smooth one. It is often riddled with sickness or abuse or malnutrition or exploitation.
But we are here to do what we can.
One child at a time.
Providing health and healing and hope.
Thank you for your support and belief in our organization. Every donation matters and is used to bring this hope to the least of these. Children like Pao are alive and well and thriving today because of the hope and healing your contribution provides.
Links:
Twenty-eight years ago, Ms. Prakobsri joined our staff at the Concordia Daycare & Community Center (CDCC). She has cared for the most vulnerable children in the Bangna slum community we serve. She has taught them, fed them, held them, dried their tears, and loved them. Hundreds of them. We would not be able to do what we do so well or for so long without our wonderful and amazing staff, many of whom have been with us from our very humble beginnings nearly 30 years ago.
One of the children she helped care for held a special place in her heart- her daughter, Arada. You see, not only has Prakobsri been an invaluable member of our team for nearly three decades, she is also a resident of the local community. Her own family was living in poverty, at risk and vulnerable. We are so thankful that she found her way to the CDCC, as her gifts and calling have been a perfect fit for the work we do at the day care. And her daughter, Arada, was able to achieve her full potential through the education, special classes, and other programms offered at the CDCC. The story of Prakobsri and Arada is the story of so many of the families we serve.
Prakobsri's husband and Arada's father was a food stall vendor, working long hours in front of a factory selling to workers changing shifts. Sadly, he passed away many years ago now from a heart attack, but his legacy of working hard for his family is one that Prakobsri and Arada put into practice in their own lives. With very little means or resources or any sort of path out of the poverty they were living in, Prakobsri worked hard. She worked to help children like her own daughter. In fact, Arada attended the day care program at the CDCC when she was very young, alongside the other children with tremendous potential, but limited opportunities.
Arada's experience in the day care program prepared her well for her elementary and high school education. She also continued her involvement at the CDCC and attended Saturday classes which included English, homework help, and other opportunities not available elsewhere to those of limited means. Through programming at the CDCC during her school years, she learned English. She learned how to swim. She learned how to read music and play instruments. Most importantly, she received a quality education, and this education was the key to her continued success.
Upon completing high school, Arada did very well on her exams and was accepted into the Industrial Engineering program at Mae Jo University in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Our support and love for her continued throughout her college years. CDCC program support does not end when the children and families we support and nurture move on. We are fully invested in the lives of those we serve. And Arada was no different- we were happy to be able to continue to support her through her college years with a special scholarship fund. Arada, who has always been hard working and determined, also worked to provide translation services in her free time to support her education.
We would often visit Arada to see how she was doing, and she would join us as we visited sites for our other projects in and around Chiang Mai. She has grown into a mature, articulate, loving, and very capable young woman with a world of opportunities before her.
This past weekend, we celebrated her success as many of us were able to attend Arada's graduation ceremony. She graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Engineering.
We are so proud of you Arada! And so thankful for your faithful servce, Prakobsri!
And we are so thankful for each of you reading this- your support makes this kind of life-changing opportunity possible for all of the children and families we serve. These past three months, we have continued to meet the educational, physcial, and emotional needs for all of the children in our day care program and after school & weekend programming, and also for the elderly and infirm we assist in the slum community.
Please know that you support is having a lasting impact in the lives of the most at-risk we serve. Children like Arada, who would otherwise have little hope for the future, are going on to receive college degrees and breaking the cycle of poverty for their families today and for generations to come.
Thank you for you continued support!
Links:
October 13, 2017 marked 29 years of operation for the Concordia Day Care and Community Center (CDCC). We have been serving the children, women, and families of the Bangna slum community for three decades now, helping provide access to education and public health to empower individuals in achieving their full potential.
The CDCC assists the most vulnerable of all ages in the community through assorted programs which help provide the education, training, and public health support needed to break the cycle of poverty and achieve their full potential.
This past year the CDCC directly impacted 2,428 people in the community in the following areas:
Introducing "Aod"
Aod is one of the children in the CDCC day care program. He is five years old and has one older brother, an older sister, and three older half-brothers. They all live with Aod's mother and father in the Bangna slum. His father works as a technician at a hospital and his mother is a food stll vendor. Aod has been diagnosed with kidney cancer and receives regular treatments at a children's hospital. The CDCC staff have worked closely with his family since his initial diagnosis in 2015 to ensure he receives the best support and care. To this end, the CDCC provides 1,000 Thai baht (US$30) per month to the family to help with the ongoing costs of his treatment.
Please join us this #GivingTuesday and beyond as we serve children like Aod and his family in this slum community.
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can recieve an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
Make a monthly donation & get 
