By Mirela Turcanu | Communications and Fundraising Officer (CRP-CK)
This new update from the shelter in Chiang Khong comes with some exciting news. The shelter has now moved on from DEPDC to become an independent organisation under the name of Children Rights Protection Centre Chiang Khong (CRP-CK). It’s still early days, but we have some exciting ideas and projects down the pipeline and we’re hoping to get the whole of the community in Sathan on board.
Aside from providing 24/7 support to now seven girls living on-site, we are also reaching out to children and young people who are at risk and/or living in poverty in the surrounding villages. Last week, together with one of the project’s kind sponsors who came to visit us, we went to check up on some of them.
Our first stop was Lana from the Lahu tribe (all names have been changed for the protection of identity). Lana’s story is a difficult one, but not at all unique, especially among the hill tribes where people are mostly stateless and so they get no support from the Thai state.
Only 15 y.o., she is now effectively the head of her family, taking care of her younger 10 y.o. sister and ill mother. Her father, battling drug addiction and mental illness, she barely sees. Her mom, originally from Burma has no recourse to public funds and with no other income they are now effectively homeless.
On this occasion she welcomed us on the porch of a friend, an elderly lady who took all three in while her son is working in Chiang Rai, Northern Thailand’s commercial hub. An informal and temporary arrangement that will take them through the rainy season. Their monthly household budget now stands at 1200 Baht (about 36 dollars), a scholarship P’tuu has organised for her, plus other kind donations like the bags of rice, noodles and medical supplies we brought for her.
But Lana is a brave girl! She is determined to keep up with her school and can imagine a better future. Inspired by some of the training given by local NGOs in her school, she showed us the materials she had prepared for her own presentation on sexual education. She will be teaching other children in the village how their bodies are changing and how to cope with this in a healthy way. Also, she is trying to increase her income by selling beautifully made traditionally sewn cloth her mother taught her to make. The design is gorgeous, but it also takes her about one month to finish something she will probably get about 500 baht for (less than 15 dollars). Something to think about next time a locally handmade dress/bag/bracelet costs 5 dollars more than the shop variety.
She is just one of the young people who are living in extreme poverty, and we are trying so lend a hand. We will go see her again in a couple of months to check up and also bring her some new supplies.
By James Murphy | International Volunteer
By Jorn Dix | International Volunteer
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