Help To Provide Lunch For Half Day School Students

HDS/DEPDC’s Lunch Program 

The Half Day School’s (HDS) lunch program is a critical component of serving children most vulnerable to human trafficking. Through the HDS lunch program we are able to ensure that our students are receiving at least one nutritious meal a day. Food security is an integral piece of social justice and the success of this program is made possible with the support and care of our community and donors.   

This semester the children continued to cultivate their cooking skills with the help of DEPDC’s teachers. The teachers also taught students how to grow bean sprouts and sunflower sprouts. After 5-10 days of growing, the sprouts were harvested and cooked for lunch. Students were also able to take some of the surplus harvest home with them. 

DEPDC was also very fortunate to receive food donations. In addition to feeding the students while in school, remaining supplies of food donations are equally divided between students to take home to their families. Some of the children do not have enough food at home and this is another way that DEPDC works to provide food security. A former daughter of DEP and many others donated rice, soy sauce, instant noodles, eggs, cooking oil, canned fish, and snacks. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic we also received donations of masks which we are very grateful for as they help to keep our students, staff, and community safe. A fun fact is that our neighbor here at DEPDC is a dairy and cattle farmer. They have been generous in their donation of fresh milk every Monday-Friday for three weeks. A community member also donated a full lunch as a way to celebrate their birthday. 

From everyone here at HDS we would like to extend a heartfelt and sincere thank you to all past, present, and future donors. As always, the work we do here at DEPDC is possible because of your generosity and shared passion in our mission to prevent the human trafficking of vulnerable youth. 

The Half Day School’s (HDS) lunch program is a critical component of serving children most vulnerable to human trafficking. Through the HDS lunch program we are able to ensure that our students are receiving at least one nutritious meal a day. Food security is an integral piece of social justice and the success of this program is made possible with the support and care of our community and donors.  

This semester many of the staff prepared lunch for the students AND the student’s learned how to prepare meals for themselves as well. Empowerment through learning!

HDS’s lunch program strives to be self-sufficient in many ways through our agricultural activities and abundant garden. This season we have planted a variety of vegetables that can be used for school lunches. Students also receive the opportunity to learn how to garden, look after the crops, water them, and harvest. This last week we had an entire training on the planting and maintenance of growing mushrooms. Fingers crossed the crops continue to be bountiful!

From everyone here at HDS we would like to extend a heartfelt and sincere thank you to all past, present, and future donors. As always, the work we do here at DEPDC is possible because of your generosity and shared passion in our mission to prevent the human trafficking of vulnerable youth

We are really thrilled to announce that HDS has reopened! The HDS’s lunch program is a critical aspect of serving children most vulnerable to human trafficking. Through the HDS lunch program we are able to ensure that our students are receiving at least one nutritious meal a day. The success of this program is made possible with the support and care of our community and donors.

This period HDS received support from outside groups and organizations including Thai Glico Co.,LTD. They began by supplying snacks for the kids and then later supplied HDS’s lunch program with various foods such as rice, soysauce, dried noodles, eggs, oil used for cooking and preparing food, tomato sauce, chili sauce, and dishwashing liquids. The kids were extremely happy for all the delicious food and snacks.

In addition to outside support, HDS’s lunch program strives to be self-sufficient in many ways through our agricultural activities and abundant garden. Currently, we have planted the laitue, morning glory, chili, Chinese kale, and green peas. We can use these vegetables to prepare meals and supplement donations.

From everyone here at HDS we would like to extend a heartfelt and sincere thank you to all past, present, and future donors. As always, the work we do here at DEPDC is possible because of your generosity and shared passion in our mission to prevent the human trafficking of vulnerable youth.

After the New Year, we had Life Skills Development Camp. The students were able to comprehend all the lessons in the curriculum but experienced difficulty in execution. They found it hard to cook the food and to demonstrate responsibility.

All the teachers had a meeting and discussed a plan of action. The teachers decided to implement a new teaching strategy.  This new strategy resembled the “learn by doing” model.  The students had to cook lunch by themselves in groups.

The teachers prepared rice, vegetables, and flavoring. They also prepared the kitchen equipment and built a stove that was heated by firewood. They created a menu by themselves with the raw materials that we had.

The students learned a lot about how they can cook rice without electricity. For the first day some groups had to eat the unripe rice, some groups had to eat the mushy rice, some groups had to eat three kinds of rices (unripe, mushy and burnt). And everyone had to learn every step of cooking.

After 2 weeks of learning all the groups successfully cooked the rice and food. Now they are able to cook for their parents and family members!!! And they can cook yummy food for the members in each group.

We were really excited to watch the students learn and grow and to know they can now take these skills into their everyday life to become more empowered. 

All the staff members and children sincerely thank you for your time and for supporting our mission to provide free education, free food to at-risk children and youth in the border town of Mae Sai, Chiang Rai, Thailand. DEPDC/GMS could not do this without the kindness of people like you.

Happy New Year 2020!

Students cook Lunch!

Each week at the HDS, the teacher and students prepare a delicious meal for themselves. But recently, the students have been a given a unique opportunity to select and cook a meal of their own every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. This month the students can get the vegetable from the farm at the school. The special meals of January 2020 is Salad because the students plant the lettuce on the organic farm. All the students are very happy that they ate the organic vegetables and its plant and taking care by themselves.

 A Big Thank You!

On behalf of all the children, teachers, and volunteers at DEPDC, I would like to say thank you for your generous support of our mission. People like you represent the crucial partnerships that provide our students with daily meals, keeping them strong and energetic. On a larger scale, your generosity helps keep our centre thriving, and I appreciate having you all as allies as we push to eliminate the risk of human-trafficking for our youth. Please continue to provide your much appreciated support and don’t forget to spread the word about the Half Day School by following, liking, and sharing our updates on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn!