A HOUSE FOR WITHUN

A HOUSE FOR WITHUN 

 

Withun Jabuh is 7, a member of the Lahu Hilltribe.  His mother abandoned him when he was 2. His father had already gone to prison to start a 20 year sentence for a drug offense. He was arrested at a military checkpoint and convicted of transporting the drug  YaBa (Madness Medicine).

Withun became a virtual orphan at 2.  His paternal grandparents, Natoh and Jagah, took him in, though they lived in extreme poverty and barely had enough for themselves. 

As volunteers of Project Protein, we’re in touch with a lot of villages in Chiang Mai Province.  Sometimes when we see a special need, we add “personal projects,” apart from our main emphasis on sustainable agricultural methods. 

These personal projects are not funded in any way by the general grants and donations we receive for Project Protein.  Funding comes exclusively from  individual friends and supporters.

Project Protein was working in Chiang Dao District. We learned that there were a number of very poor families with students in the local school, unable to pay for supplies or for healthy nutrition beyond noodles and rice.

We asked the teachers to identify the five poorest families. As part of a private project, our friends fully funded all five students for a year.

Withun was on that list. His family was the poorest of all because they lacked decent shelter, had no running water, electricity, or toilet facilities. 

 We met and spent time with Withun and his family, and added a new personal project “A House for Withun.”

A volunteer engineer made detailed drawings and a materials list.  They are for a simple one bedroom house 6 by 9 meters, with one bedroom and a gravity toilet.  He estimated the cost at 160,000 THB ($5300), a huge sum to raise from friends.  We are thinking of every way we can to simplify and reduce that figure.  Relying primarily on donated vs. purchased materials could save 30%, or 48,000 ($1600).  Volunteer labor could save another 30,000 (down to 82,000 or $2730) .  Additional simplifications of the plan may create further savings.  

As of today, February 29, 2020, we have received 43,000 THB ($1433) in generous donations from Western and Thai friends. We still need 41,000 ($1,366).

Next week (early March, 2020) village volunteers will take down the existing house. Construction on the new house will begin on March 16.  We are hoping and praying that we can raise the remaining $1366 by then.  

Contact Information:

Yvonne Ziegler Tel 089-058-8451 yziegler578@gmail.com

Suzanne Pitcher Tel 098-679-9377 s.pitcher@dada.it 

Laura MacDonald Tel 093-234-0231  laumac3887@gmail.com

Thongin Nuntarat Tel 083-038-5191 kruvin1978@gmail.com 

MARCH 5 UPDATE

In the past week we have received an additional 9,000 Thai Baht, raising total contributions to 47,970. Our goal of 82,000 by March 16 is in sight, thanks to generous donors, including student volunteers. 


If you are outside Thailand and wish to donate, you can do so through Paypal to kruvin1978@gmail.com.  If you are within Thailand, please contact Aj. Thongin Nuntarat at that email, or phone him at 083-038-5191 for banking information. 



Since the March 5 update, we have made tremendous progress.   We have received an very generous gift of 26,384 Thai Baht (about 850 USD). from American friend John Gottried, bringing the total to 74,354 (2360 USD). We are now within 7646 (about 245 USD) of the total needed to build the house.

On March 14 villagers and volunteers took down the existing house and prepared the site. 

We had plenty of little helpers from the village. Here's one:

On March 15 we laid the foundation of concrete pillars, very carefully checking everything was level and true.  

Then we attached 9 Concrete pillars, each 80 cm tall.  To these we connected wooden framing members, 250 cm high, also with great care, checking and-rechecking until everything was perfectly level. 

On March 16 we framed in the basic structure. working until dark.

On March 17 we put on the sheet metal roof. This will provide some shelter for the rest of the job.

We hope for completion in one to two weeks, depending in part on the availability of skilled volunteer workers and arrival of materials, now impacted by the Covid-19 crisis.  

Deepest thanks to many generous donors who are making this possible.

Please see original post below, "A House for Withun" for full details on how this project began, and why.

If you are outside Thailand and wish to donate, you can do so through Paypal to kruvin1978@gmail.com.  If you are within Thailand, please contact Aj. Thongin Nuntarat at that email, or phone him at 083-038-5191 for banking information.