New Life Outreach

We just arrived in Chiang Mai a few days back, brought the kids to our new office to bunk in. It was amazingly hilarious.

As you know, these boys are street kids and live in the hill tribes for their whole lives and they are used to doing things "normally" (read spitting, pissing almost anywhere they can find). Just as I was walking down the stairs of my office... I bumped into one of the street kids who just gurgled a big blob of saliva and spat it out with much gusto on the office stairway.....

It was quite a shock for me and I had to educate them that spitting is meant for the outside and not the inside of the office *grinz*

Yesterday we also managed to bring them to TESCO (something like our carrefour) and they never seen supermarket.... not to mention an escalator! They were so amazed with the stuff that they went on it quite a couple of times.

As we did our shopping, some of the boys asked me if I could buy them a toothbrush(8bht/0.40SGD). I don't know, but my heart felt an ache which I'm not accustomed to - Wondering how much a simple gift like that means so much to them.....

Tomorrow, we'll be leaving for Chiang Mai again to clear more administrative issues. But this time we are taking this opportunity to bring our streetkids out to Chiang Mai for Songkran(Water Festival aka the biggest super soaker fight in the world)

We are reaching these kids through hands-on learning programs. Ie (Learning to make a cement pond, Learning to paint a wall)

Yes.... the wall in my shophouse basement does not look fantastic, but we sure had a lot of fun and the kids learn responsibility ! :)

Will blog again if my laptop survives :)

In our last trip to Chiang Mai, we had a sharing session with TRAFCORD's project manager to share ideas and information. TRAFCORD is a Thai based NGO which enjoys close relations with UNICEF, their focus is on trafficking issues in northern thailand and the Mekong region.

This is what we have gathered in our meetings.

1 ) Where do they come from ?
Children come from Thailand's hill tribes and Burma. These children are "bought" from their poor natural parents for something like 2000-5000bht(SGD$90-$227) and resold into brothels or labor camps.

2 ) How old are the victims ?
Children rescued by TRAFCORD ranges from 12 years old to 17 year olds.
We also have reports of children as young as 6 year old are also trafficked on the Maesai region.

3 ) Are they predominantly girls ?
The children who are rescued from sex trade are mainly young girls but there is also an increase in boys entering the sex trade in Bangkok.

4 ) How are they trafficked ?
In Thailand, traffickers operate in small groups in the poorer hill tribes, convincing parents that these children will be given better paying jobs in cities like Bangkok, Chiang Mai. Only to find their children coerced into sex trade.

Children are usually passed through many hands before finally reaching the brothels or pimps.
Ie : Village purchase -> Sending to border -> Receipient -> Transport -> Agents -> Brothel

5 ) Success rate ?
Every year the success rate of rescue operations is fairly low. Something in the ranges of 20 raids, which is normally tipped off by the general public.
*Tip off are rare in view of the Thai culture of acceptance.

Note* : This rescue is disproportionate to the estimates of some 10,000 children being trafficked every year.

6 ) Shelters
Even after rescue, the children are placed in general shelter homes to wait out a repatriation or receive help. There is no home which specialises on child rehablitation and emotional recovery.

For those who are unaware of our work tempo. Here we go :)

Daily - Streetkids teaching program
Weekly - Food distribution program for destitute (high priority)
- MILK! @ Hmong lao refugee camp*

Bi-weekly- Village outreach for destitute (medium priority)

Monthly - StreetKids Outing/Program
- Village outreach to destitute (Reach out)
- FRUITS! @ Hmong refugee camp*

2 Monthly - Mass outing for village children

Quarterly - Dinner & BBQ for destitute village people

*Pending permits from the military

Today I'll be headed to Chiang Mai for another set of meetings to with similar minded NGOs on child trafficking in northern Thailand.

We will also be looking out for possible building plots for building the Y-Gen home.

I should be back in Phetchabun on Tuesday.

Today a small boy came to our Shophouse this morning in a pair of faded and tattered track pants asking if he can study together with the rest of the kids on our program. His name is Beang.

Beang too dropped out of school as no one was there to care for him. His parents have both ran away leaving him in the care of his grandmother who has barely enough to feed him.

Without parental guidance and education, this boy's life is destined to live on the streets. With this boy into the program, we now have some 6 children on the street kids program.

Somehow with this boy coming in made both Ben and myself think more on a sustainable program to help this children.....