EMPOWERING THE POOR WITH SKILLS TRAINING

The Haand to Hand Foundation in Pattaya, Thailand, teamed us with onother organisation in Chiang Mai, Thailand to help young hill tribe teens learn a new skill and provide STEM toys for the preschool children. The teens were selected and taken to the Chiang Mai university to meet some 1st year engineering students. Hand to Hand sent photos of the toys they would like and the engineering students had to design so that they were stron, safe and were able to be used by preschools. The students were assessed on their ability to design the toys, teach the hill tribe teens how to make them and finally how functionable they were in the preschhol.

Each toy was based on helping the children to use their critical thinking skills and problem solving skills. They included a large abacus, life size 'kerplunk' toy, a set of moving gears, giant balance scales and a naughts and crosses game.

Both the teens and the engineering students learned a lot from each other and the toys are now being enjoyed by the preschoolers at the Hand to Hand Foundation.

The university is interested in doing further projects as the activity was so successful and gave the engineering students a 'real life' project. The teens learned some great new skills and their eyes were opened to  possiblitles after leaving school if they studies hard. The  children were happy just to have fun!

Links:

• Hand to Hand Foundation

Teaching people job skills is a great idea, but if there is no where to sell the wares then the project has little value. Our training programs in cooking, furniture/ woodwork crafts, gardening and sewing do not produce enough items to be able to sell in stores. It is expensive to open up a shop with the cost of rent, staff and other overheads. The Hand to Hand Foundation is always looking for opportunities to help people sell their products at fairs, fetes and other events, however, due to covid lock downs these events have been very sparse and not well attended.

We have had  a lot of success in selling goods to sponsors and companies who come to visit! (Beware if you visit us, you may leave with lots of new items!) The month of October has no major events of festivals so on October 1st, Hand to Hand worked with the 'Sanook' water park to host an 'Oktoberfest!' It was a huge success with hundreds of people coming. There were lots of games for kids to play, entertainment and of course a german beer tent. 

All of these people needed to be fed and the participants in our cooking program made everything from spring rolls, thai curries, spicy salads, snow cones and bakery items.  People made sure their furniture and woodwork pieces were finished and there were lots of plants for sale. The day was a huge success with some people even requesting orders!

It was wonderful to see the participants see the fruit of their labour and reap the rewards of their hard work and diligence. 100% of the money made by these projects went to the people who worked and not into the general Hand to Hand Foundation account. The goal of this project is to train and equip people with skills so that they can become financially independent and this was a great step forward!

Thank you for all your support that makes this training possible. The skilsl bring not only income but self esteem and a hope for the future too!

Links:

• Hand to Hand Foundation

This month we had the opportunity to attend an International School fair where the people participating in our program, Empowering the Poor with Skills Training,  had the opportunity to sell some of the plants, planter pots, key chains and bakery products that they had made.

During covid we have been training many people to make pieces of furniture, wooden planter pots, masks, bead key chains, bakery and agriculture. Finding a market to sell these wares has been a struggle as most places have been shut down due to covid there have been fewer opportunities. The day at the Regent's International school Pattaya, was very successful and our participants in the program were so thankful to receive an income for their hard work. Their self-esteem and joy also increased as they so themselves as successful in a job they have been faithful to.

Mother's Day will be August 12th in Thailand and we are planning to make 400 buckets of love to give to all the mums in the slum. The buckets will contain towels, soap, shampoo, cups, cutlery and all kinds of things used around the house. The packaging is the bucket which is also useful!

We would like to add to these 'buckets of love', some bakery items, key chains and plants of edible herbs. The cost of these additional items will be 16 000 baht or $500 US for the bakery items, beaded key chains 28 000 baht or $875 US and 8 000 baht or $250 US for the plants. This would be a huge blessing to our participants of the program and bless the mums in the slums too!

The cost of the buckets and everything to go inside is 120 000 baht or $3 750 US.

Thank you for all of your continued support. 

Margie

In addition to our job training projects that give people the opportunity to learn sewing, cooking, beading and furniture making skills we have included skills training in computers and poultry husbandry.

Having skills in basic computing is a huge advantage when applying for almost any job in this modern world. Many of our scholarship students graduating from high school, vocational courses and university have had limited access to computers which greatly affects their proficiency in using basic programs such as word, excel, publisher and other tools. Graduating students often do not have the skills to prepare a simple resume which results in them often being overlooked when applying for jobs. Hand to Hand Foundation recently began a computer training course for students, workers and even children every Saturday and Sunday. Some students have taken an interest in graphics and training for them is becoming available.

The foundation purchased 5 computers and 3 teachers are giving of their time every weekend. One of the computer teachers is a student in a local vocational skills program and he is already showing students how to make simple software and hardware repairs. The program has been operational for 3 months and due huge interest it will continue for a long time. 

Our participants in the furniture making program have recently put their hands and skills to build a chicken coop at our housing estate. They have built the chicken feeders and water spouts from simple PVC piping using diagrams from the internet to direct them. They are now caring for the chickens and teaching children to do the same. These participants are now skilled to build more chicken coops for paying customers. 

Links:

• Hand to Hand Foundation

Pattaya City is still a city with curfews, restrictions on openings and no tourists. This is devastating for a town that relies almost 100% on tourism.  "In regions almost solely relying on tourism for an income – Phuket, Pattaya, Koh Samui, Gulf and Andaman islands and touristy areas around Bangkok – up to 90% of the front-line tourism businesses have closed." (Thai Tiger, online news forum).

Thousands of people are desperate for food, housing and of course employment which not only give financial income but also self-esteem and a hope for the future. The Hand to Hand Foundation has been providing employment for 36 people since January 2020 through skills training programs which include sewing face masks, cooking, growing fruits and vegetables, furniture making and jewelry making. Our goal is to not only provide employment opportunities to meet immediate needs but to also equip people with skills that can be used when the economy and city begin to flourish again.

With these skills many of these people will be able set up small enterprise businesses such as selling food, jewelry, furniture from small market stands. It is important therefore for these people to also be equipped with skills of budgeting, shopping and basic accounting and administration skills. During the past few months we have been training these participants to help with the registration and recording of families who are seeking help and food from the foundation. They have been involved with the planning and purchasing of food and other resources to equip them with the skills of managing finances. 

We continue to help support the local ice cream vendor who comes to give free ice creams when we are giving out food care packages. At the end of the day Hand to Hand Foundation pays for all the ice cream given, which is helping keep not only him, but his supplier in business. The smiles on children's faces makes this an even more exciting project. A little bit of joy in the desperation brings great relief. 

Thank you so much for being a part of this program which is helping families today and in the future.

Links:

• Hand to hand Foundation