Empowering Youth Through Higher Education

In April we celebrated the marriage of our Warm Heart graduate, Koon to a young man from another Phrao hilltribe family.  She is working as the chef in a nearby resort and he is running the family farm.  We had joyful graduations from kindergarten through middle school to high school, and vocational college, in early March, and then the hot weather with the smokey haze set in.  The younger children headed to their mountain villages and the older students headed back to school or working until the next term starts in June.

Four vocational high school graduates will continue for another two years to receive their associate certificates in Marketing and Tourism. Nipa completed her Associates Certificate in Tourism and Hospitality and is ready for the job market. From the Maepang Middle School, A and Tiew are headed to Phrao High School to study English and Chinese. At the graduation ceremony, we were delighted to run into Yim, our Warm Heart and university grad who is teaching at our middle school. 

Our three Phrao high school seniors graduated in March and have been helping at home in the mountains and at Warm Heart, waiting to hear from the university.  All three have top grades and were above the automatic acceptance cutoff.  All the same, they had to take numerous entrance exams and have been waiting to hear.  Sai learned early that she was accepted to a great nursing school in Chiang Mai.  Ying has been accepted into the Rajabhat University program in Psychology.  Tangmo is helping out at her grandmother's farms while she waits to hear.

We have a wonderful group of students celebrating their achievements to date, excited about the next adventure away from our home.

Thank you for making their dreams possible!

Warm regards for

Dana, Michael, Evelind, and the Warm Heart Family

Thanks to you and the GlobalGiving "GivingTuesday" matching, we are starting the year with more than half of our higher ed budget in the bank.  We are grateful that your monthly gifts will fill in the gaps. 

At the same time, we started a long-term scholarship fund that we will continue to add to with a % of donations.  We have $10,000 in a conservative fund that will earn some interest as we build the base.  Our graduates, Soda and Akanit will be the trustees to ensure longevity.

Graduate Akanit is finishing her second year of grad school in social work in Europe.  She spent a glorious term in Portugal and will finish up in Paris. 

Praew decided to put her efforts into learning Japanese and after a course in Bangkok has arrived in Japan. She sends happy photos declaring she is on her way to achieving big goals "New year. Same me. Bigger goals".

Sai has an interview with a major nursing school in Chiang Mai this weekend and all three seniors are waiting for further placement news due by March.

We look forward to a promising 2024. Your support is encouraging our children to dream big, and how to set goals and achieve them.

Heartfelt thanks for your support,

Dana, Michael, Evelind, and all our children whose dreams are within their reach