Project WIN: Grassroots Partnerships for Thailand

Project Coordinator Aj. Thongin Nuntarat invited VIP guests from America and Australia to inspect progress. Their trip uphill from Chiang Mai to Wae Vak, in Maechaem, Northern Thailand, took over three hours. Roads were slow and slippery in the heavy May rain. At one point passengers piled into the pickup truck bed to provide extra weight to the wheels and added traction. At the site, visitors found the sustainability demonstration project going very well. So far, with the guidance of the elders, volunteers and villagers have built and filled tanks for fish and frogs. along with with a new vegetable garden. This is boosting protein in the diet of children and families. The fish are still too small to harvest, but the first crop of frogs is a delicious memory. In consultation with the fisheries department at Maejo University, volunteers are exploring ways to increase frog reproduction and speed fish growth. The visitors saw the tanks teeming with young