New Life Outreach

Mai Mee, Mong and Kita have all completed their probation. Among the 3 kids, 2 have been sponsored by Li-En and Jocelyn.

Mong is now open for sponsorship. Please drop me a note if you wish to sponsor Mong. eugene@radion-international.org

Note :
1 ) Tau a young teenage girl from a high risk family will be under probation till next month. Do look out for her if you wish to sponsor her.

2 ) Manip (high risk) will be joining the program next week

Day 1 : Transportation
A full day of traveling from Bangkok to Phetchabun. This journey took us some 7 hours to complete, reaching Phetchabun around evening.

Day 2 : Training & Preparations
A entire day of intensive language and cultural training

Day 3 : STK Outing Day 1 (Lan Hin Taek)
This was when we brought the children from destitute families out on an educational excursion. Laan Hin Taek is translated as the field of the broken rocks. Its a nature reserve boasting stunning scenary. Halfway through the trip, we realised to our horror that the kids were plucking flowers, uprooting plants from the park to give to the volunteers.

Day 4 : STK Outing Day 2 (Khao Khor Park + Swimming)
This day we had a full day of tele-matches and of course not forgetting the mandatory swimming time at the village lake. Aterwhich, we had a campfire session with the children before seeing them off back home.


Day 5 : Village Outreach
Day 6 : Village Outreach
Day 7 : Village Outreach
3 Days of visiting destitute families with medical and food supplies.

Day 8 : Destitute BBQ
Today we gathered some 60-80 destitute villagers for a simple meal together. We also slaughtered a black pig for this event as most of the poor had no opportunity to eat meat very often, not to mention black pigs.

Day 9 : R&R + Logistics Packing
Our retreat was at Khao Khor Highlands Resort and just prior to lunch, we rushed back for about 3 hours of packing and logistics loading for the refugee settlement.


Day 10 : Site X
Morning : Children's outreach & Milk! Mission


Afternoon : Medical Mission

Evening : Relief Distribution

Day 11 : Return

MSF Video On Hmong Lao

Click Here

A report was received this morning informing us that the Thai government officials had decided to deport all 158 refugees in Nong Khai and no resettlement (to 3rd countries) will be granted for these Hmong Lao refugees.

All 158 refugees have been issued with UNHCR refugee certificates and have been held up in the immigration detention center indefinitely without any hope of being repatriated. They have been locked up for the last 2 years in less than humane conditions.

Our source also informed us that the authorities told them that the only way to be relocated would be to return to Laos first and applying to be resettled.

Right now, the refugees are in a desperate and emotional state. Many have threatened mass suicide if the deportation happens. They claim that if they are forcibly deported back to Laos, they will be tortured to death.

Laos Military Kills 9 Hmong Children In Attack
Tuesday, 5 May 2009, 12:03 pm
Press Release: Center for Public Policy Analysis

Laos Military Kills 9 Hmong Children In Attack

Bangkok, Thailand and Washington, D.C. , May 5, 2009, For Immediate Release

The Lao military killed at least nine (9) Hmong children in an April 3, 2009, attack on Lao Hmong civilians hiding in the Phou Da Phao area of Xieng Khouang Provice, Laos.

"Multiple sources in Laos, including Lao government and Hmong sources from within the Lao Peoples Democractic Republic (LPDR) regime as well as refugees, have recently confirmed the bloody April 3, 2009, attack by the Lao military that left dozens of civilians dead and wounded, including 9 Hmong children who were confirmed killed, whose bodies were recovered and buried by their families," said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) in Washington, D.C.
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Smith continued: "On April 3, 2009, Lao military forces deliberately targeted for ethnic cleansing three Lao Hmong civilians groups in the jungle and mountain area of Phou Da Phao who they brutally attacked and began slaughtering with machine guns and other weapons, the victims included many innocent Lao Hmong children, and villagers. The confirmed Hmong children's names and ages killed by Lao military and security forces in the April 3rd attack against unarmed Hmong civilians groups at Phou Da Phao, Laos, include: Ker Lee, 10 years old; Xue Thao, 8; Thong Thao, 7; Ka Lee, 6, Moua Thao, 3; Yer Thao, 4; Thao Houa, 2 ; Kao Lee, 1; and Chia Thao, 15 years old."

"Many more Laotian and Hmong women and children have been captured, or have disappeared, or else killed in the jungle of Laos, as a result of additional attacks that have been launched in recent weeks and months by the Lao military; However, we have the confirmed deaths and bodies of nine (9) Hmong children in Laos that were the result of the Lao government's military attack of April 3 at Phou Da Phao, " Philip Smith concluded.

Recently, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the BBC, New York Times, Al Jazzera, Time Magazine and other independent human rights organizations and journalists have documented the Lao military's attacks and atrocities against Lao Hmong civilians and political and religious dissident groups seeking sanctuary in the jungles and mountains of Laos.

"Cher Tong Thao, Nom Long Lee and Tong Pao Yang are leading unarmed Lao Hmong civilians groups in-hiding, composed of mostly sickly women and children survivors, trying to protect them from LPDR ethnic cleansing operations and military attacks in Laos, as well as the Lao military's cruel efforts to starve them to death," stated Vaughn Vang, Director of the Hmong Lao Human Rights Council.

Vaughn Vang continued: "The unarmed and defenseless Lao Hmong civilians, especially the women and children who are so very hungry, are crying out and pleading for emergency help from the United Nations and world community as well as the United States, Amnesty International and human rights organizations, to please immediately put pressure on the Lao Communist government, the LPDR, to withdrawal all its military forces, and to stop attacking, and ambushing all locations of Hmong civilians in-hiding in the jungle of the Phou Da Phao mountain area."

"They are only civilians, women and children; Their only wish is to live peacefully, free from persecution, torture and killings of the Lao Communist regime," Vaughn Vang observed.

A spokesperson, who spoke on condition of anonymity, in Laos for three of the surviving Hmong groups in hiding, that have been under attack in Laos in the Phou Da Phao mountain area of Xieng Khouang Province in recent weeks and months, issued the following statement describing the situation: "We the Hmong civilians in-hiding in the jungle of Phou Da Phao currently are surrounded by the Lao communist government military forces. The Lao PDR military are ambushing us everywhere in the mountains; hills, rivers, and where ever natural food is growing that we can try and eat. Water and food are currently cut off, we are starving, while our people are being hunted and being killed daily. All of us will likely be killed in the next few weeks without help."

The Lao Hmong spokesperson who witnessed the attack of April 3, and other recent LPDR attacks and atrocities against the Lao Hmong civilians continued: "The Lao military is surrounding and launching heavy attacks and ambushes with troops and artillery from everywhere in the mountains, hills, and river valleys around the mountain area of Phou Da Phao,"

Just over the weekend, we had the first mass children's outing involving 2 villages. Khek Noi and Huay Nam Khao.

Over the 2 days, we brought some 50-60 kids out to Lan Hin Taek (Field Of broken stones) for excursion. The second day we had telematches and mass games in Khao Khor before heading to the final place - a place where children never get bored.... the brown watered village lake !

Pictures will follow shortly

For the next 2 months, the RADION head office in Chiang Mai will be relocated to Phetchabun for renovation. So for the next few months the field office will be the main hub.

Send all your correspondences here if necessary :)

Phetchabun Field Office

3/1 Moo 8,

Tambon Khek Noi

Amphur Khao Kho

Phetchabun 67280

+66 5692 5580

This morning, Jong and her mother came to our field office and Jong's mother asked us to re-accept Jong into the program.

Just 2 weeks ago, Jong's mother came by and was convinced that she wanted to put her child through school herself and she asked for the school grant to be handed to her.

(This year, the government gave a 550bht grant to children from poor families to subsidise the purchase of school uniforms and textbooks)

Jong's mother came over a couple of times saying that she will put Jong into Khek Noi school and needed the money (550bht = SGD 20) to quickly purchase the uniforms Jong to go to school. So on compassionate grounds, my staff handed her the money in good faith.

Today, when the mother arrived, we asked her if she has gotten the school uniforms and we got a rude shock. She told us that she "lent" the money to someone else and Jong was still not in school, not a single cent was spent to get the child her uniform.

Now the mom comes over and asks us to send Jong to school after missing the school opening term.

We told Jong and the mother that there are more needy kids out on the streets and Jong has to understand its a opportunity to go to school and she has to want it herself. And with all runaway kids, she has to bear the consequences and punishment.

So we gave her and the mom till 5pm today to discuss when Jong is ready to come back.

Today we finally had our cooking competition between the girls and the boys on the streetkids program. Its a simple competition meant to add some hype to their daily routine and more importantly 2 things :
1 ) Teach them to appreciate the ones who prepare their meals, silently working behind the scenes
2 ) Teach them to manage funds (each team is given a budget of 50bht) whoever saves the most wins :)

The boys went out into the jungle to collect the banana flower as their main ingredient and came up with a fried banana flower dish (tasted something like instant noodle flavouring + goreng pisang)


The girls came up with a more traditional dish of stir fried vegetables with deep fried pork, which tasted quite decent as well.

The winner ? Surprisingly the BOYS ! (Rated by my 2 thai staff and ben)

Just this morning, I shifted my humid office from the top level to the cooler basement . The basement serves as our medical and dried rations store and its cool all year round :)

As i shifted my stuff down, i noticed traces of paper bit all over the place and there was only one conclusion..... RATS

Its not the first time rats have attacked the store and so i started to check all the medical supplies and when i opened the lower cabinates, i was taken aback.... all our medical gloves, masks and supplies have been bitten through. The plastics game cones were bitten through as well. Thats few thousand baht lost to these rodents.

So me and ben started to clean up the mess when we heard shuffling behind the cabinets and a big rat ran out as we probed the mess with a stick..

Yes... it took almost 2 hours for the whole clean up... and to kill the rats....

These are the culprits..... 1 momma rat and 3 smaller ones...

Alright...... i'm going to re-try to blog as much of our activities as possible *sheepish grin*

Sometimes here in Thailand, we get so busy with the little things that we forget to share these joys with you :)

Some nice updates :
1 ) Tomorrow we are having a STREETKDIS! "showdown" where the guys will be pitting their culinary skills against the girls. The winner gets ..... nothing and the loser gets to wash the plates. The judges (Ben, Aun, Me.... will be suffering..... )

Through this event, i hope to get them to get interested in helping out in the kitchen, learning to put money to its best use :) As each team is given just 50bht to make a dish :)

Its dinner tomorrow, if i don't blog further for the next 3-4 days, you'll know that i;m suffering from food poisoning :)

This picture was taken sometime back. This is how the story goes, ben went back to the room and while he turned on the lights, something moved just a few inches from his fingers.

So this is the feller that gave us a scare..... as we were not sure if it was poisonous (but later we learnt from the locals that it was not). This gecko is known as the TU KEH, and it will croak the entire night if it lived in your roof..... and if you get too close to it... it will SNAP... and the worst part ? It WILL NOT let go.....


See the size of the dead gecko next to a 500ml bottle :)

p/s : the locals eat the tu keh too :)