I wanted to keep those of you who bought some of my projects updated on where the proceeds went throughout the trip, so here's organization #1. This week Liz, Katie and I were volunteering at TCDF - EcoLogic. I'll attach a link to their website, which specifies the vast number of projects they have going on, but I'll also try and give the best synopsis I can from our perspective.
We found the organization online when we searched for organic farms to volunteer at. We were drawn in by the holistic and community-oriented goals of this project: a self-sustainable haven where proceeds went to educating and meeting the medical needs of disadvantaged rural Thai children.
We arrived in the small village of Paksong situated in the jungly part of Thailand somewhere between Bangkok and Phuket. Immediately we were greeted by incredibly friendly and enthusiastic staff (volunteers) and it took no time
to feel at home here. We took a tour of the place, which includes a dorm and guesthouses, restaurant, organic gardens, a natural housing project, and a school. During the week the school is used for the special needs kids in the area. It's difficult enough as a person with a physical/intellectual disability in Canada not to slip through the cracks, even with all the social programs and funding in place. You can imagine how much harder it is in Thailand, with significantly less government help in place (though they are recently taking strides to provide special help and EAs in schools in more populated areas). These kids have a place where they can be together and communicate, and perhaps more importantly receive vocational training and microloans for small home businesses. On the weekends it's a free school for all the village kids for supplementary English, art, and music classes.
We spent our time volunteering in the gardens, weeding and watering and planting coconuts, and helping out with the recycling program they have here (Thailand doesn't really do recycling as a whole); Katie and I also volunteered planning games and doing English classes in the school on the weekend. They work to use their own organic vegetables in the restaurant and for school meals as much as possible, and their goal is to one day exclusively use their own vegetable and chicken and fish.
I could go on and on about the wonderful things their doing (I haven't even touched on their huge scholarship and medical care initiatives) but I highly encourage you to take a good look at their website. This place is run completely by volunteers (even the CEOs haven't had a salary in the whole ten years since they started the place), and the ones that do get paid are the Thai people from the community that they hire for cooking and running the gardens. Unfortunately though, they will have to start dismantling the programs they have if they don't start getting consistent funding until they can become self-sufficient.
We donated money that went to some much-needed gardening tools, as well as two pairs of glasses for the kids that go to school here (we saw one of the girls needing glasses reading a book, and it was only possible to do so if she held it an inch in front of her face :P). Katie, Liz and I would really like to do what we can to promote this place in Canada, because the only real promotion they do currently is in Holland. If you're interested in supporting this place, check out the website and the different projects and needs they have: you could sponsor a scholarship for one of the children, or help purchase a pony for their equentherapy program, or help with the salaries of the cooks and gardeners, or countless other projects.
It was really cool to visit this place and see the awesome work they were doing, and thanks for helping this wonderful project out :)
http://www.thaichilddevelopment.org/
http://tcdf-ecologic.jimdo.com/english/tcdf-the-foundation/?mobile=1
