Project WIN: Grassroots Partnerships for Thailand

The tiny village, high in the mountains above Chaing Dao, gets chilly this time of year, as low as 2 degrees on the coldest nights. Blankets were in short supply.  By chance, Project WIN had just received a big shipment of blankets given by assorted airlines -- all colors and sizes. The next weekend volunteers hauled a load of blankets to the village, and as usual, made the final three kilometers in a special four-wheel drive owned by the village.   This is a Karen village, with ethnic hilltribe people who live mostly along the Thai-Burma border, and who retain their language and customs. There are about a million in Thailand.  The village is new to Project WIN and Project Protein, but the people have embraced it wholeheartedly.  Every member of the village turns out to help when volunteers arrive, and most adults wear tradtional clothing in honor of the visitors. Last week, villagers and volunteers worked to create the first big batch of organic fertili...

As the weather changes at Khun Sap, the chicken barn needs to be completed to protect the growing fryers from the chill. The whole village pitched in to help the volunteer carpenters from Project WIN. Last weekend it was finally fully restored. In the picture below you can see the fast-growing chickens.  Just weeks ago they were tiny chicks brought by the volunteers from Chiang Mai. A fter the chicken barn was done, Project WIN volunteers turned to the other Project Protein installations.  Now there are more mushrooms in the "mushroom hotel," a fresh batch of organic fertilizer has been mixed for the vegetables, and 100 new chicks are on the way.  The children have been taking care of all phases of the project, including the fish pond, and they have begun to get excited about Children's Day, even though it isn't until January. The entire project is thanks to the hard work of local volunteers, mostly university students, supported by an initial grant f...

As the weather changes at Khun Sap, the chicken barn needs to be completed to protect the growing fryers from the chill. The whole village pitched in to help the volunteer carpenters from Project WIN. Last weekend it was finally fully restored. In the picture below you can see the fast-growing chickens.  Just weeks ago they were tiny chicks brought by the volunteers from Chiang Mai. A fter the chicken barn was done, Project WIN volunteers turned to the other Project Protein installations.  Now there are more mushrooms in the "mushroom hotel," a fresh batch of organic fertilizer has been mixed for the vegetables, and 100 new chicks are on the way.  The children have been taking care of all phases of the project, including the fish pond, and they have begun to get excited about Children's Day, even though it isn't until January. The entire project is thanks to the hard work of local volunteers, mostly university students, supported by an initial grant f...