SOS Children in Thailand

The Kingdom of Thailand, formerly known as Siam, lies in the heart of South-East Asia. It is a country in transition, moving from an agricultural to an industrial-based economy. However, due to the uneven distribution of wealth, environmental degradation and the effects of urbanisation, large disparities in socio-economic welfare remain. Much of the population, particularly in the countryside, lives in extreme poverty.Over 6 million people live in the capital Bangkok, the most densely populated area in the country. Many are migrants from rural areas, living in appalling conditions in the city's teeming slums. HIV/AIDS is a serious issue because of the large-scale sex industry, which flourishes in the city. UNICEF estimates that around 290,000 children have been orphaned by the HIV epidemic, and a further 2,000 are born with the disease each year. In total, UNICEF puts the number of vulnerable children in Thailand at more than 1 million, including orphans, street children and children with disabilities.SOS Children’s Villages began its work in the country in 1972. SOS Children provide orphaned and abandoned children in Thailand with a new mother, a family and a home where they can stay until they are ready for independent life. The charity currently cares for more than 450 children at its five purpose-built Children's Villages in the country. A further 55 youths are supported in three youth houses, where young adults live while they prepare for independence. SOS Children also run nursery schools in Thailand which together serve 330 children from SOS Villages as well as the local community.The SOS Children's Village Bangpoo (Bangkok) was the first to be built in the country in 1972. The Village is located in Thailand’s capital city which is the largest city in the country. It has 12 family houses (each house can home 10 children) and a nursery school. The older children attend the local primary and secondary schools which are located directly opposite the SOS Children's Village. There is a youth home only 12km from the Village with facilities for 20 young people. The home is close to the city centre, an ideal location as the young adults can easily attend the colleges and vocational schools nearby. The youths are also given a monthly budget for running the house, helping them to learn how to control finances and live with a limited income. A youth home is a step towards independent living for youngsters, helping them towards becoming self-reliant. In 2002, an SOS Vocational Training Centre for mothers and staff was opened at Bangpoo, providing workshops to enable them to share their experiences and training to help improve their skills.
In 1990, the charity built a community in Hatyai, near to the Malaysian border. Hatyai is the main city in the south and a large commercial centre. The SOS Village is built on the site of a former rubber plantation approximately 20km outside the city on the main road to Malaysia. It has 12 family houses and a large nursery. In 1993, an SOS Youth Centre was opened. Children usually move out of the Village and into a youth centre when they start a vocational training course or go on to higher education. With the support of qualified youth workers, the young people develop realistic perspectives for their future, learn to shoulder responsibility and increasingly make their own decisions. They are encouraged to develop team spirit and build up contacts with relatives and friends, as well as with the relevant authorities and potential employers.
The third SOS Village is in the provincial capital of Nongkhai on the river Mekong on the northern border with Laos, a mainly agricultural area. The Village, which opened in 1994, has 11 family houses built in the traditional local style and is situated close to the city's modern government district. The Village has a nursery with 3 group rooms and a library, providing day care for 70 children. The staff organise educational visits for the children to local museums as well as community events such as festival celebrations. The charity has built a youth home for females on the Village site and two houses for male youths in downtown Nongkhai. Youth homes provide the older children with the support and training to gradually make the transition to independence.
In December 2006 a fourth SOS village was opened in Chiang Rai, one of Thailand’s poorest provinces close to the northern borders with Myanmar (Burma) and Laos. A hospital, a market, schools, a college and a university are all within a radius of approximately 12km from the Village. The community has 14 family houses and a nursery school with the capacity to provide day care for 100 children. For poor families, and especially for single mothers, this service enables them to go out to work and provide for their children, helping families to stay together.
On the morning of 26 December 2004, a tsunami struck coastal areas around the Indian Ocean. The sea surge was caused by an earthquake off the coast of Banda Aceh, Indonesia. It left more than 280,000 people dead. From the first day on, SOS Children's Villages ran emergency relief programmes. At the beginning the focus was on providing medical care, food and shelter to the victims. The next step was trying to locate surviving relatives of children and determining whether they were able to take care of the children. It was decided to build a new SOS Children's Village for children who had lost all their relatives. Therefore, the fifth SOS Village in Thailand was opened in Phuket in 2008. The community was established to help children in the southern region, particularly children who had lost their families in the Tsunami disaster. The goal is to create a protective environment for affected children where they can grow up with their mental, emotional and physical health safeguarded. The Village is approximately 6km from the town centre and 5km from the beach. It has 12 family houses with the capacity to provide a home to 120 children. The Village has a community centre, which offers medical treatment for the community. There is also a nursery school for up to 75 children. The building includes a multi-purpose hall that can be used by the nursery and for functions involving the whole community. The nursery is open to children from the SOS Children's Village and from the neighbourhood, enabling the children to integrate with the wider community surrounding the Village.
Amena Smiles Again

Amena lived happily with her husband and three children till the killer waves of the Tsunami destroyed her house completely. The Tsunami changed Amena's life - the once happy family was left with nothing. However, with Amena's own efforts and the support given by SOS Children's Villages Thailand, today Amena is resettled. Amena lives with her husband and three children in Ban Kluay Nok, Ranong province, in Thailand. The Muslim village is on the bank of a small canal with a mangrove forest near the mouth of the Andaman Sea. The giant Tsunami waves completely destroyed Amena's house, but fortunately her family survived.Since the village lies deep in the forest, it was very difficult for the rescue units and emergency relief units to enter the community. Amena and her family were struck in the mangrove forest and lived without food and shelter for a week. Finally, emergency relief units came to the area and the family were relocated in a temporary shelter."After losing everything - my house, boats and fishing nets, I felt like giving up my life. But every time I looked in my children's eyes I got encouragement to move ahead in life," Amena says. The family needed support to survive and rebuild their lives. SOS Children's Villages Thailand donated boats and fishing tools to help them to begin their livelihood. Amena also began to work as a casual labourer. She saved some money and opened a small grocery shop opposite her new permanent house donated by SOS Children. Finally, there is a smile on Amena's face. Every evening her children stand outside their new house and wait for their father to return home. They know that they will see their father with his new fishing tools coming back home to have dinner.

Local contacts
SOS Children Thailand18 Moo 3, Soi BoonsiriSukumvit Road10270 Samutprakarn / ThailandTel +66/2/380 46 82Fax +66/2/756 20 29email: sosthai@bkk4.loxinfo.co.th

Despite Bottlenecks, Red Cross Aid Getting to Haiti Survivors

Thursday, January 21, 2010 — More than a week after a catastrophic earthquake shattered the Port-au-Prince region and surrounding areas in Haiti, the Red Cross, with the help of the generosity of the American public, is delivering relief—through first aid posts, hospitals, relief distribution sites, water trucking programs and family linking stations—and helping to make life better for those affected.

Logistical challenges are still making it difficult to get aid into Port-au-Prince. Airports are crowded, roads are heavily congested and travel by road from the Dominican Republic has increased to an 18-hour journey.

Despite all the bottlenecks, supplies are slowly getting through. The Red Cross has now been able to reach survivors outside the capital city, providing first aid in camps and prioritizing the need for food, water and other basic supplies. Teams are focused on purifying the water supply available in the country and expect to deliver clean drinking water to 200,000 people each day by truck.

There are more than 400 Red Cross workers from around the world in Haiti, as well as thousands of local volunteers. Responders from seven countries are treating injuries and performing surgery at hospitals and medical centers throughout Port-au-Prince.

In just the first week of the relief operation in Haiti, the American Red Cross has committed and spent funds in three basic areas: food and water; relief supplies; and logistical and support services. So far, more than 100 tons of Red Cross aid has arrived in Haiti, and planes and trucks carrying additional assistance are arriving in the region every day.

Half of the funds are being used to bring food and water to earthquake survivors. The American Red Cross is providing more 3 million pre-packaged meals, more than 1 million water purification packets and thousands of jerry cans so people can collect and transport clean drinking water.

Thirty percent is for purchasing and distributing relief supplies, which includes items such as blanket, tarps, soap, hygiene supplies, kitchen sets and first aid supplies.

The remaining 20 percent of funds is to provide logistical support and other items needed to keep the relief effort running. This includes the purchase of vehicles to deliver relief supplies, warehouse space, gasoline, transportation costs and the deployment of relief specialists.
As the aid pipeline to Haiti improves, the American Red Cross will provide large tents for an initial 14,500 people and is working around the clock to find and send more.

In addition, nearly 70 Creole-speaking Red Cross volunteers left Miami today and will join the USNS Comfort on Friday to translate for patients receiving medical care from the U.S. military.
American Red Cross President and CEO Gail McGovern traveled to Haiti on Tuesday to visit relief operations and help coordinate the distribution of aid. She witnessed firsthand the enormous devastation and the difficult of getting aid into the country. Yet even with these enormous challenges, McGovern said, the Red Cross is truly making a difference.

“I saw American Red Cross staff, armed with first aid kits, going out to treat people. They have a truck and a door that they were using as a stretcher, and they were taking injured to a field hospital run by another country’s Red Cross. And every time a Red Cross truck would go through the streets, the people would clear the way to let it pass.”

Seeing the resilient spirit of the Haitian people as well as the tireless efforts of Red Cross teams from around the world left a strong impression on the American Red Cross president.
“I feel like I left a piece of my heart in Haiti, “ McGovern said. “Know that the Red Cross is going to do whatever we can to help the people of Haiti, both in the short term but also as part of what we know will be a vast and long-term recovery for this nation and its people.”

You can help the victims of countless crises, like the recent earthquake in Haiti, around the world each year by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross International Response Fund, which will provide immediate relief and long-term support through supplies, technical assistance and other support to help those in need. The American Red Cross honors donor intent. If you wish to designate your donation to a specific disaster, please do so at the time of your donation by mailing your donation with the designation to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, D.C. 20013 or to your local American Red Cross chapter. Donations to the International Response Fund can be made by phone at 1-800-REDCROSS or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish) or online at http://www.redcross.org/.

About the American Red Cross:The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies nearly half of the nation's blood; teaches lifesaving skills; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a charitable organization — not a government agency — and depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit http://www.redcross.org/ or join our blog at http://blog.redcross.org/