Women With a Mission

Agricultural Project Revamp!

bronwyn — Tue, 22 May 2012 02:02:19 +0000

With the support of WWM, HKL have leased a new section of land and moved the agricultural project to this new site. During the school holidays teachers and parents helped to build new animal housing. It is fabulous, several piggeries, houses for the chickens and for the geese, and now they are growing turkeys as well! The relocated banana plants are strong, and vegetables have been companion planted in amongst them. A lot of hard work for the school community during holidays, but a great achievement and one to be proud of! A few days left until the commencement of the new school year and a few final busy days are in store to complete much needed renovations which are always done at this time of the year.

Announcement: WWM to Mae Sot!

kylie — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 03:39:39 +0000

WWM are making a quick visit to Mae Sot in February. Departing Pattaya after lunch on February 7 we’ll drive to Hway Ka Loke School, arriving in the evening. Two days visiting the students and following up on current construction projects on the list of activities, we’ll depart for Pattaya mid-morning on Friday 10 February, with a stop at the fabulously colourful and exciting hillside market for supplies on the way home, arriving late afternoon. A seat or two left if you want to join us – contribution for expenses only. Email - info@mywwm.org before 3 February 2012.

Water is precious.

bronwyn — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 16:40:00 +0000

After such a long rainy season, and so much rain, who would have thought that water shortages would become critical so quickly.

Yes, 300 kids in the boarding house use a lot of water, but there are few running taps, personal washing is splashing with a bucket, clothing is hand washed, and the area for growing vegetables is limited, but already all 3 small wells are almost dry, and the big deep well is taking longer to fill. Quick action by the School Director, the sale of several pigs to purchase many lengths of piping, and the 1 year lease on a local pond that ” never dries up” the school and boarding house are now with water again. The deep well supplies all the drinking water and kitchen water. The rest is coming from the pond, and blue pipes are criss-crossing the school. The pond, once the popular swimming hole for the boys after school is now ‘out of bounds”.

Hand washing, here we come!

bronwyn — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 16:08:01 +0000

Today a visit to the local supermarket, a shopping list and a large shopping trolley was just the start. The kids at HKL boarding house needed soap, new toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo and sanitary napkins. With a few children sick in the school, we opted for the more expensive anti-bacterial soap, and also some disinfectant. While there are washing areas for the children to use daily, there are not as many places for hand washing as we would find in a western school. Rosy, always full of great ideas suggested we set up a camp hand washing station close to the toilets. We made a quick trip to the market to purchase string, and oranges in a net bag to use as a soap container. We collected a large empty plastic bottle from the guest -house where we are staying. Back at the school, down to the girls compound, a demonstration, and voila, a camp wash station where the kids can wash their hands.

A camp wash station

Computers and library books

bronwyn — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 12:00:47 +0000

We need more spaces! How many kids can you fit into a small room?

Today we met with the Head Master to work on the plans for the new IT room, a joint project between GoldFish PLC, a social enterprise run by a group of year 10 business studies students at Regents International School and WWM. We also received a funding submission for shelving for a library. Sadly at this time we do not have the funds for the library shelving, so we would welcome anyone who might be interested to assist.

We were treated to visit the classroom of the computer classes. A very small room, which is also the current library, has 3 desktop computers for the students to practice their skills and is the storeroom for the stationary for the school. Its more than squeezy.

students in the mini room learning computer skills

Little pigs and big pigs at HKL

bronwyn — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 11:09:49 +0000

Walking around the school community we always learn heaps.

Wanting to start income generating projects the boys’ boarding house started raising pigs in the traditional Karen way- keeping the pigs in pens, allowing them to roam, and feeding them rice leftover from the kitchen. As a pilot project a different method of raising pigs has also been started. The pigs are kept in a pen with a deep pit filled with rice and bean husks. Drinking water is provided through sucking stations. The pen is clean, the pigs fatten quickly, ready for market. The husks and manure from the pen is later used as compost for the vegetable garden. The funds raised are managed as a micro enterprise development project, money is kept from the sale of the fattened pigs for restocking of piglets, food, and building maintenance. From the profits of the first round of pig sales, a washing area is being constructed for the small boys, and funds have been kept for the repair of both the small childrens’ dormitory and the older boys bamboo dormitory.

The community and teachers helped to dig a new well which pumps water for the washing machine and then waters the vegetable garden.

Pilot pig raising project

WWM visiting their projects along the Thai Burmese Border

bronwyn — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:30:34 +0000

First day back in Mae Sot. We are up on a 10 day visit, and what a contrast from the last trip. The rain has gone, the sun is out, and the mud has turned to dust.
It is Sweet December here, a Karen tradition celebrating the month of December. There are sports competitions, singing competitions, celebrations for all.
Our day started with meetings with other organizations. Not unexpectedly, the fallout of the European monetary crisis has left some programs with very little or no funding to start the New Year. Our day finished on a much happier note, the CDTC Girls Football team playing in the interschool competition. They all arrived crowded in the back of the schools much used pick-up! The team were very proud in their sports shirts, had a great game, but lost the match 5:1.

Photos from 2011 Golf Tournament

kylie — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 05:35:15 +0000

Photos from the golf tournament at Pattana Golf and Sports Resort now added to our photo page! High quality digital copies available @ B500 each.

3rd Annual Golf Tournament

kylie — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 10:27:09 +0000

3^RD ANNUAL GOLF TOURNAMENT

Friday 21 October 2011

Pattana Golf & Sports Resort

B2,800 per golfer | B11,200 per team of 4
Best-ball Shotgun Start from 12:30pm (registration from 10:30am)
Includes golf cart & caddy fee
Golf Shirt
Personalised Gift
Trophies for winning teams (men, women, mixed & semi-pro)
Prize holes
Lucky Draw (bring your name card to enter!)
Buffet dinner, including beer and wine (partners, kids, colleagues and friends can join you for the buffet for B500 each)
Numbers limited to 144 golfers

All proceeds benefit WWM projects in Thailand, both within our local communities and further afield in Mae Sot.

Please email info@mywwm.org for more information, or visit us at Pattaya International Ladies Club (PILC) Bazaar at Royal Cliff Beach Resort, Pattaya, on Saturday 1^st October 2011.

More from Bronwyn’s trip last week…

kylie — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 00:51:29 +0000

Day 5

Today is a change of pace, off to show John and Viv the actual border area. The River is very high and the bridge is still closed so we watch the long boats, dodging logs being carried down the swift flowing river, bringing the people from Mywaddi Township to Thailand to visit relatives, to purchase food and visit the clinic. With a long day ahead we only stayed an hour, then set off to drive the “Death Highway” as it is nicknamed, to Umpium Refugee Camp where the housemother and our intrepter were waiting to meet us.

Slow going with the heavy rain, we arrived at the camp at 3.30pm, and carefully walked through the muddy pathways to Du Pla Ya Boarding house. It was good to see the kids, the boarding house, as always was neat and clean but cool, and after school the kids were huddled around the coal cooking fire to keep warm. While I worked with the housemother on the budget and concerns currently worrying the boarding house, John and Simon set up teams with the boys for a football match. At 4.30pm we were on the road again, continuing down to Umphung where we were to spend the night.

Day 6, 7, & 8

We are having three days off work. The aim is to see the Thi Lu So Waterfall, the most beautiful waterfall in Thailand. During the wet season when the waterfall is at it’s most beautiful, access is via trekking only. Our program included rafting, trekking, camping, staying in a Karen Village and elephant riding. Fortunately there was very little rain over the three days, and most of that fell during the night, however the ground was still soggy and muddy. It was a weekend of fabulous scenery, hard walking, fun and adventure. The four hour elephant trek was a highlight – we rode on the bull elephant, John and Viv on the mother, and the calf, who we nicknamed “Little Bulldozer, walked between us as we climbed up the steep hills, and dropped down the cliff faces. A trip well worth considering if you love adventure! Driving back to Mae Sot on Monday we called back to Du Pla Ya Boarding House to collect some items left with them on Friday.

Day 9

Today is the last day, completing the trip. The rain is now over, so it is easier to take photos again at Hway Ka Loke School. We had a final meeting with the teachers, made sure the new Internet system was working properly, completed some paperwork, and said our goodbyes to the students.

The school had had a visit over the weekend by a group of generous people from Norway who left the school with some supplies for hygiene packs, and a washing machine! The housemother of the small kids boarding house washes for 57 children every day by hand so was delighted! Now though, the wiring for the house will need to be upgraded before the washing machine can be installed, so as we left the headmaster was starting to get quotes. The new boys boarding house will be completed at the end of this week, weather dependent. Exciting times for eighty boys who will move into the new dorms, and a long drive ahead for us to return to the other side of Thailand.

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