New Life Outreach

Every Chinese New Year, as part of the festive season, we buy new clothes to usher in a brand new year. This year, we are doing a clothes collection drive post-CNY and we ask for you to set aside all your old clothes which are in good condition and give them to the destitute.

We will be planning a container shipment up and we need the following things :
1 ) Carton Boxes (About 300)
2 ) Warehousing Space
3 ) Volunteers For Collection & Sorting
4 ) 4 Collection Point (North, South, East & West Areas) for people to drop off their stuff.

This drive is similar to the one before. We will be sorting the items and the items that have re-sale value, we will sell these items to help us cover shipping costs. The remaining clothes will go directly to the following people groups.

1 ) Destitute Villagers
2 ) Streetkids!
3 ) Hmong Refugees

Email me @ eugene@radion-international to be part of this effort !

Blessed Christmas to all our dear readers and supporters.

I know this came a little late as we lost internet connection up here for the last 11 days.

We have just completed a series of home visitations and tomorrow is the Hmong New Year. We'll be celebrating with the poor by treating them for a simple dinner, and on Sunday, we'll be having mass games with the children from destitute families :)

Please keep us in your prayers :)

Professional Skill sets
1 ) Ad-Hoc Medical Team (Doctors+Nurses)
2 ) Ad-hoc Dental Team
3 ) Resident Translator (Hmong English) (1 Year Volunteer Stint)
4 ) Resident Child Care Volunteer (1 Year Volunteer Stint)
5 ) Resident Care Volunteer(Early Childhood/Children's Development/Psychology/Social Work Grad)


Practical Items
1 ) Mosquito Nets (Prevent against malaria)
2 ) Blankets
3 ) Slippers
4 ) Torch Light + Batteries
5 ) Medicine Sponsorship

Structural Items
1 ) 2 Homes need toilets built
2 ) 2 Homes need help to fix their roofs

Logistics
1 ) Container Freight (Singapore to Thailand)
2 ) Transportation For Reliefs in Thailand

Streetkids
(*)-We have 10 kids are growing rapidly. We need a new premises
1 ) New premises rental
2 ) Renovation & clean up premises to make it livable
3 ) Kitchen Items
- Big Fridge
- Stove
- Utensils (Fork/Spoon/Knife/Cups/Plates)
4 ) Mosquito Netted Doors/Windows
5 ) Double Deck Beds (Space Constraints)
6 ) Vehicle to be converted with a canvas roof (To ferry children to school)

Alrighty. Quite a couple of volunteers want to partner us for trips but do not know the guidelines. So here we go.

Guidelines
1 ) No tourist.
The work we do is depressing enough, volunteers who are insensitive will only add to the emotional strain of these people. Example : We had a man who loved photography, and he went up to the refugee camp and started snapping pictures away while distribution was ongoing and the refugees started to feel like it was a human zoo.

2 ) Religiously Neutral/Politically Neutral Volunteers
We work in a cross culture environment and as Christians, we strive to maintain a fine balance and we respect people for who they are. Distribution and relief is evenly distributed irregardless of their religious preference. This policy is non-negotiable.

3 ) Every volunteer is self-supported.
Some people come up to me and ask me to pay for their entire trip because they volunteer their time and effort (which is worth a lot back in the home country). Yes I understand, but again we can't pay for your trip/accommodation/food/everything. If We did, we would have to take money from the food budget for the destitute to feed you. Wouldn't be right there ya ?

4 ) Make a difference. I mean... a good difference
Now, volunteers like to give things which are considered necessities. ie necklaces, shoes, toys etc etc. You see in the place i live, the kids grow up without lots of unnecessary items. And its enough. 1st world necessities do not necessary translate to 3rd world necessities. You want to know what is needed ? Food. Water. Sanitation. Shelter.

You can write in to ask about the list of needs. Giving the wrong items creates an artificial need, which cannot be sustained on the long run. So yes. Write in :)

This is more info for you late birds :)

We'll be operating another FRT (Fund Raising Trip) to Phetchabun Thailand.

I'm hoping to gather about 30 volunteers to run the show as I'm targeting about 300 children from the Hmong village. Now, this event will be the largest children's outreach the village has ever seen and you can be part of it !

We are expecting children from ages 8 to 15 in this event, mostly from poor and less fortunate backgrounds. So what we hope to do ? We hope to bring the Christmas cheer to these little ones.

23-24 - Pre Christmas Preparations
25-26 - Christmas Celebrations At Huay Nam Khao
27-28 - Christmas Celebrations At Khek Noi
29 - Home visitations
30 - Return

Today was a public holiday and I had been trying to find time to contact an old friend who is a missionary up north in Chiang Rai area. This family uprooted themselves from Canada to Thailand to serve here and they came without any financial support.

I have met many missionaries in my work and some have such lavish lifestyles which makes you wonder the prudence of their spending.

Now this family is different, they live humbly, eat simply and have assimilated into the society unlike other couples which I have seen. And many times they had to live by faith to get by. Did i mention that they have 4 children ?The husband works with children and his wife goes out in teams to bring prostitutes in and give them a new sense of hope.

Today as we spoke, he told me that he has been working with an NGO in Thailand and has not been paid for the last 4 months. And their family funding is running dry and they have no choice but to return to Canada.

The leaving portion is grieving but what saddened me further was his drive to serve God. He tells me, "Eugene its alright, we'll go back. I'll find work and raise more funding to come back to Thailand again.... hopefully in the next few years"

I hate to say this but I've seen people who call themselves missionaries and live in huge houses with lavish lifestyles, with hardly any lifestyle to back their words. Yet in less than 1 year, I seen 2 couples leave the mission ground because of a lack of funding.

What is going on ? Where is the Christian support these godly people need, where is that prayer support to those who gave everything to serve God ?

Just a few days back when I was in Phetchabun, I was just sitting casually when my staff told me that we need to start finding a new premises for the streetkids as some of them are reaching their teenage years and my current place has only one room to fit all.

So right now we are looking for a bigger place to house these kids and run the streetkids program.

Stay tuned for more updates.

Saa plight was brought to us through John(Beang) who is on our Streetkids! Program. John told us of his half brother who was slowly getting involved in glue sniffing and vices. So we did a home visitation and needs assessment at home.

In our visitation, we noticed that the mother son relations were poor and the mother had little control of what Saa was doing. When asked about his activities, his mom was surprised that her child was involved in vices, substance abuse and missing school. This gave us a good indication of the care and attention provided to Saa was lacking in the family.

In our conversations with Saa, he comes across reserved character, speaking only when he is spoken to. This boy seldom smiles and keeps most of his thoughts to himself. Of late, he has been opening up and we see hidden hurts in his life that have yet to be addressed.

Update : Saa has been sponsored by Lee Minwei

For the next few months, we are focusing on our awareness and support raising campaign – CORE SUPPORT 300 (CS300). This is critical lifeline campaign to us at RADION and we need each and every one of your support.
For the past year, many of you gave generously and this year our main hurdle is to maintain a steady flow of financial support for our operations.

Every single cent which is given is stretched to reach more lives. This year alone we expanded our operations :
- Reaching 2 additional Laotian Hmong refugee sites (Project HMONG LAO)
- Created jobs for ladies who have been subjects of physical abuse (Project SHOPHOUSE)
- Started a children’s work among 6-15 year olds who come from high risk families or drug abuse backgrounds

Yes, global financial crisis hits home, but we still have our meals on our tables. But these people relay on your support to have a simple hope to live on.

RADION needs you to be part of that hope through CS300. 300 people to come together to support with just SGD50/month for 1 year. Help us bring hope.

See through our eyes and see the very lives we reach. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frVIQIX8OeM

Help us create awareness. Be part of this life changing effort. Sign up for CS300 here http://www.radion-international.org/core-support-300




Eugene Wee
Founder & Director
RADION International
www.radion-international.org

After the dissolution of the ruling government, the PAD has agreed to allow flights into Survanabhumi airport. The last report was that the first flight is scheduled to arrive in 24 hours, however there are also statements stating that it would take 7 days for the airport to be fully operational.

The next few months will be crucial as the government puts up new leaders and civil riots is a possibility whichever way the election goes.

Risk assessment in Bangkok remains at High.

This is probably an unrelated post to humanitarian affairs, but it may be useful for those who are planning trips to Thailand for work, leisure or charity.

The situation in Bangkok is unstable especially with both PAD and UDD massing their supporters in various locations in the city. Although UDD promises peaceful demonstrations, the possibility of a violent clash from both sides is real especially with tensions building up. Violence has built up from hand-gun use to grenades being thrown at protester gatherings.

The Thai police is ineffective in its management of the civil riot with rioters driving through police barricades and puncturing blockade police vehicles.

An estimate of some 350,000 tourist are being stranded in BKK.

The risk assessment is HIGH for all areas in Bangkok.
The risk assessment is LOW-MID for northern provinces which are traditionally peaceful and considered as Taksin's stronghold.


Update 1.44pm 2 Dec 08:
Thailand's constitutional court has dissolved the governing People Power Party and two of its coalition partners for fraud during the last election. This decision has evoked angry reactions for pro-government supporters. The Thai PM told reporters "I will not quit and I will not dissolve parliament"

It is assessed that the repercussions of the courts decision would be felt in the northern provinces of Thailand which are traditionally pro-governmen and support rallying is foreseen.

Risk assessment for Northern Provinces are now upgraded to MID.