Project WIN: Grassroots Partnerships for Thailand

Chiang Rai is about as far north as you can get in Thailand. It's the gateway to the Golden Triangle, and home of the Mae Kok.  The Mae Kok River is beautiful and inviting most of the year, but when it floods as it did too often in 2014, it brings suffering to local villagers, especially the kids.  As part of a larger effort by local leaders, Project Win volunteers brought food and supplies to 84 families displaced by the river this year, and helped with cleanup.    Later they did more. They saw how traumatized some of the youngest children were, even after the waters went down. The volunteers, mostly college students, helped local leaders create a day of healing and fun for the kids. All day there were races and games and prizes and food. Sixty four elementary school children exhausted themselves running around and  yelling  and  laughing  for the first time since the big floods.        ---- Note:  Project W...

WIN volunteers lend hands and hearts to the projects, from backbreaking flood cleanup to engineering projects like piping water to a dry village.  They take time off too, sometimes to raise money for Project WIN. Every year, a Chiang Mai Temple hosts a huge festival honoring the cuisine and customs of Buddhists from the far south of Thailand.  This year volunteers, mostly Maejo University students, raised money there.   They did the customary thing: standing with banners and chatting up bypassers, talking about current and past projects and future dreams. They also decided to enter the greased pole climbing event. Teams of two slathered themselves with peanut oil and took on a 16 foot pole, also greased. If they reached the platform on the top, they'd collect 10,000 baht, about $300, and give it to Project WIN. One team came very close, but nobody won.  The best team did get to make a nice donation to WIN anyway -- the consolation prize.   Tr...

Rivers in the North  flood  almost every year, but they were knee deep and disastrous for a little village near Chiang Rai.  The Win team contacted local elders and learned that 85 families had suffered serious loss and damage.  They quickly gathered supplies. Volunteers, both Thai and foreign, stuffed 85 bags with staples like rice, noodles, sauces, canned fish, soap, and treats for the children. With borrowed vehicles, they brought the bags to Chiang Rai, about three hours from Chiang Mai, and distributed them to the families. It turned into a day-long party celebrating solidarity and new friendships. A VILLAGE STREET TRANSFORMED BY THE FLOODS THIS OLDER COUPLE APPRECIATED A HELPING HAND AMERICAN VISITORS VIEW SUPPLIES VILLAGERS ENJOYING THE INEVITABLE SPEECHES THE VILLAGE LEADER AND VOLUNTEERS GIVE SUPPLIES VOLUNTEER STAFF FROM A HOSPITAL BRING MEDICAL SUPPLIES VOLUNTEER TEAMS FROM CHIANG RAI AND CHIANG MAI ...

It was only abandoned ditches and a dream: A fish and vegetable farm for the families of Maechaem. By July it was reality. The pools and  cisterns were built and flooded, the gardens laid out, and the donated fish arrived in big plastic bags. Village kids put in the first fish. They'll feed them and watch them grow. Soon there will be a steady supply of healthy protein in their families' diets, and the kids will have lifelong skills. Kru Vin is the charismatic leader of the project, bringing villagers and volunteers together, but he quickly points out that many generous donors and volunteers make these projects possible. Here are a few.  Working alongside the Maechaem villagers are students from Maejo University Department of Fisheries.  They give their own time, underwrite their own expenses, and receive no college credit.   While the Maechaem kids are learning to raise fish and frogs, these students are developing skills in community ...

Part One talked about a sustainability demonstration project -- something simple that can be maintained completely on the local level and provide a model for other villages.   Digging Riverbank Sand for the Project: It's Free! It starts with building an 18 by 75 foot pool for fish with concrete floor and walls, and two smaller tanks for breeding and experimentation. There'll be three cisterns for raising frogs, too, and the nutrient-rich runoff will water a big vegetable garden.   For the first time families in Maechaem will have a reliable source of high quality protein, and plenty of local vegetables. The whole project is located on the grounds of the local school, so kids will learn to care for the fish and the crops and enjoy a healthier diet. In late May Vin went down to Maechaem and organized villagers to dig and haul tons of riverbank sand that will be needed for the concrete mix.   Bucket by bucket they filled five pickup trucks and hauled clean ...

Maechaem kids need more protein, and so do their families. Again and again the villagers have tried to build tanks for fish, but the sandy soil won't hold water. Three recent attempts lie dry and full of leaves. When Vin learned about this he met with students from the fisheries department at Maejo University and started to plan. A week later Vin and the student leaders rode motorbikes thee hours south to Maechaem. They met with the elders, took measurements, and laid out an ambitious project: to transform the food supply for the people of Maechaem. There will be a fish tank 75 by 18 feet and four and a half feet deep, three cisterns re-purposed for frog farming, and two smaller tanks. The big tank will hold catfish, tilapia, and silver barbs. The small tanks will be for breeding projects and experimentation. The tanks need concrete beds and strong block walls, and will require a reliable water supply. Vin's team will lay a half kilometer of blue PVC pipe to carry clean ...

These Chiang Rai kids, ages 4 to 16, are getting a chicken coop for their foster home, thanks to grass-roots cooperation.  In the back are Mary and Tom. They're from Chiang Mai by way of Arizona.  In front with the white beard is Loyander. He's an artist from Africa, by way of the Netherlands, and lives in Chiang Mai too.  Vin, of course, is on the far left. He taught marketing law in Bangkok, then moved to Chiang Mai. Loyander, who brought new shoes for the kids today, is carpenter, designer, and general manager.  Tom and Mary-- they bought the materials, brought the boxes of books, and plan to help with chicken feed. Vin will bring his students from Maejo Agricultural University to build the hen house and help install the birds, probably with Tom and Mary and Loyander in attendance. There is no public charity here and no government agency. It's just local people helping local people, and loving it.   You can help with these projects  through ...