Thailand
24
the crisis on the Thailand/Burma border
The civil war in Myanmar has undergone escalations in recent months with intensified fighting. This has resulted in various humanitarian implications, that even extend to Thailand as Burmese refugees, particularly children, seek asylum from the war. The influx of Burmese children into Thailand was brought to our attention and our organization was requested to come to Thailand and assess the needs and consider ways we can help.
These minors have experienced a considerable amount of trauma in their young lives. Many have lost their parents, some have been sent away by their parents to Thailand for safety and a better future while being unable to migrate themselves… others completely abandoned. In some cases we encountered, the legal guardian even considered selling the child.
There are endless difficult stories and cases.
During our scout trip we were particularly impacted by a children’s home & school where we heard many accounts and met the children first hand.
The home supports over 510 children, with roughly 140 orphan refugees from Burma. This number may rise even further due the unpredictable nature of the crisis. The home was found to be in need of financial assistance and staff assistance to improve the well being of the children. So we have committed to have a team present for the upcoming school year to provide food for the children, so that they would have sufficient nourishment and a balanced diet as well as volunteers to assist the present staff with the day-to-day running of the home and sharing the love of Jesus and making a lasting impact in their lives.
project statistics
2024
510+ children
Around 140 of the children at the orphanage are Burmese children that have been abandoned by their parents and guardians. Their parents cannot legally relocate to Thailand and therefore leave their children behind, hoping for a better future for them.
Most of the children have had significant trauma related to living in an active war zone in Burma and being abandoned by or separated from their parents.
the project
We’re partnering with the orphanage to provide desperately needed food and care for the children. Some of them have Thai citizenship and the orphanage receives some support from the government for these children. There is no support at all for the Burmese orphans. There is an ongoing staff and funding shortage, with only six people available to care for all these children.
We have a team on the ground to assist with caring for the children and bringing in financial aid to help run the orphanage.
get involved
Over the past few months, we have been working on plans to turn the work in Thailand over to a team who wants to take on the long-term work at the school and home. In order to give them time to establish a support base and complete their training to equip them for the long-term work, we decided to continue the work in Thailand for another school term. We’ll have a smaller group of volunteers, starting in April of 2025 and will work closely with the existing long-term team to make for a smooth transfer at the end of the year.
This means an additional 12-month commitment that comes with an expense of $17,500 per month, with a total of $210,000. The increase in budget as compared to last year’s is due to the addition of teachers for the home. For legal and other reasons, the Burmese children have been required to be in the government school since September of last year and having additional teachers means they can be enrolled at the private school in the home instead of needing to be at the government school.
Fundraising for the project
Thanks to the generosity of our support base, the work in Thailand is fully funded until March of 2025 and some beyond this time. Staying for an additional school year is a 12-month commitment and comes with an expense of $17,500 per month, with a total of $210,000. The cost to feed and care for one child for a month is $42.50.
We are looking for individuals and churches who want to partner with us on a monthly basis for this time period to fulfill our commitment.
A gift of $25, $50, or even $100 per month for 10 months will go a long way to helping us accomplish this goal.
If you are signed up for a monthly recurring donation, it will start going towards the next school term budget.
Posts
the latest updates from the field
Update on Thailand
The next few months in Thailand will look a little different. The majority of the children have gone to be with …
