Character and Leadership Training for Thai Youths

Lives that have been touched

The Character and Leadership Training Project has been going on for the past 20 years and the number of children and youths that gone through our program has been by the hundreds and thousands, considering that we have been touching lives of these young people with our weekly program for a total of 1,040 weeks. Through the tireless efforts and sacrificial giving of our Volunteers, countless lives have been touched and changed, for better, despite dire backgrounds and circumstances.

This Project that was initiated by the Foundation for Life, is run by Volunteers from various provinces, namely, in Bangkok, Chonburi, Samut Sakhon, Samut Songkram, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Khon Kaen, Korat, Kanchanaburi, Chiangrai, Chiangmai, etc with weekly activites carried out in approximately 16 centers country-wide reaching to around 1,400 young people every week!

The carefully planned program seek to develop the young wholistically, with activities that nurture them phyically, mentally, emotionally and socially. The Foundation and Volunteers believe in the  potentials of our children and youths, and with tenacity, refuse to give up on them as long as there is hope. Many of the  young people have commented that the activites they went through in the project has given them inner strength.

 Bua, now married with a baby girl, said, "I will never forget the love and concern that Khru Nok (a Volunteer) has for me while I was growing up and had family problems"

"It has not been easy during my early teens to learn to have confidence to go to leadership camps alone without close friends coming along as well, but today, I can say that it has all been worthwhile," Mana (a university student, who is now a Volunteer for the Project) reflected.

"I am so fortuanate to have Khru Berm as a model of a father to me," Pinyo said when asked what he thought of his mentor.

 So, a Volunteer said," I firmly believe that it is better to mould a child today.....than to mend an adult tomorrow !" (refering to forming and breaking bad habits in life)

The Foundation thanks all donors for your belief in our work, and truly we could not have come this far without your support. Any feedback is welcome so that we can better ourselves.

Best Regards!

Moulding the Good Shepherd Leader

In today's world,of chaos and confusion, especially in the last 3 months where there has been major protests staged in Bangkok, it has been a trying time for  thousands of Thais in the capital city, because it was learning to discern all the different "voices"  screaming to be heard.

As tough as it was for the person in the street to know the intricacies and political jargon, the commoner finally learns that it has to do with intergrity, honesty, responsibility and accountability. All of which are characteristics that we in the Foundation are trying to instill in our young under the Project: Character and Leadership Training for Thai Youths.

Indeed this Project entails a tiring and long process, which many do  not like to be involved, because it takes TIME before we can see any 'fruits' to the labour that we put in. However, the Foundation is convinced that if we want a better future for our kids, we need better citizens, and we need to train and instill good moral values and tenacity, WHILE THEY ARE YOUNG.

Thus, we continued in our yearly efforts in conducting Leadership Camps, and this year it was with the theme "Moulding the Good Shepherd Leader". All the activities were inter-linked to this theme, from the Icebreaking games, to the topics on leadership, all the way to our ooutdoor activities and  skills!

Due to the  rainy weather in the month, the nearly 300 campers had to deal with unexpected weather changes, that were obstacles to outdoor activites. However, these were great training opportunitites for all, to learn to adapt and be flexible, while needing to ensure that goals were achieved.

May, an adult volunteer who came to help in the camp said, " I am amazed how everything just fell into place, despite all the challenges that we had!"

Ti, a young youth echoed," I've never been to any camps where every item in the table-table, just linked so well together!"

"I really learn to appreciate that if i were to be a Good Shepherd Leader, I have to be proactive and consider my sheep (ie those I lead),  first!" commented Mook

By the  end of the camps, memories of unity and love, bonded  the campers together, each promising to be back again for next year's training.

The Foundation is grateful to all donors, because you care to bear with us in this challenging work of nurtuing people, espcially the young, and we welcome any feedback to help improve our outreach to the young.

 Thank you for your partnership!