Forty Two Thirsty Families
Next Vin and his friends organized college
students, held meetings in Vin’s house, borrowed vehicles, and chipped in for
gas and expenses. This time 25 people
went to the mountain and battled mud, mosquitos and fatigue as they climbed to
the summit. They surveyed the spot and
made a plan: they’d build four concrete reservoirs, 15 feet square and 5 feet
high, near the mountain top, to capture and hold the rain. The PCV network would be expanded and provide
year-round water to the village below.
Since then, the volunteer army has expanded from 5
to 60. The job is on hold until January,
because they don’t have money for concrete and other supplies. They are willing, though, and know that they
and the villagers will carry every sack of concrete up the steep mountainside
on their backs.
Between now and January, they’ll approach
companies, government agencies, and even the Thai military for help. If they’re
lucky, there will be donations, but the vast majority of funding for past,
similar projects has come by private donations from the volunteers themselves
and their friends and families.If you want to help, you have to know that this is an entirely volunteer, grass-roots initiative with no agency supervision, no tax deduction, and no guarantee that the money will go where they say it will. But I can tell you that over the years, every penny and every baht has gone directly to the projects that help the poor to help themselves. For more information in English, you can contact me at david.jaidee@gmail.com.
