Education Thailand Project #30523

Education & Health for 2,500 in Bangkok Slum

by Concordia Welfare and Education Foundation - Thailand

Project Report | May 29, 2018
Pao's Story of Healing & Hope

By Heidi Tannarat | Project Leader

Pao today (healthy & hopeful)

Pao first came to the Concordia Day Care & Community Center (CDCC) in the Bangna Slum area of Bangkok back in 2016 when he was just two years old. Our trained staff immediately noticed that he was quiet, lethargic, and ate very little; he was also absent a lot. We reached out to his family and worked with his mother to make sure he was seen by a doctor as soon as possible. Sadly, Pao was diagnosed with kidney cancer that had spread throughout his tiny body.

CDCC staff worked closely with his mother to make sure that he was able to see a specialist at a nearby children’s hospital as soon as possible. We also reached out to our donors to ensure that any medical care would not be a burden on his already impoverished family. Health care in Thailand is available to everyone for a very low cost with no markups at government institutions, but it is still too much for many families like Pao’s.

Little Pao was able to receive immediate surgery to remove the cancerous tumors. He then went through chemotherapy and radiation to remove the cancer that had spread. It has been two years now since his diagnosis. Two years of doctor appointments and chemo and radiation. Two years of support and healing and hope.

Pao is now back at the CDCC. He attends daily day care programming. He is no longer a quiet and fatigued little two-year-old. He is a healthy four-year-old who enjoys activities and playing with his friends. Some of his friends also attend pre-school at a nearby government school. Staff at the CDCC were able to coordinate with officials at the school to help Pao enroll at this same school. Because of Pao’s experience in the CDCC program, and with a little administrative help from our staff, Pao is now a student in the preschool class at the school. He is thriving and doing well, despite being so ill for the past two years. His strength and determination, combined with the support from his family and CDCC staff, have helped him to not only keep up, but to do well and succeed.

Children like Pao who live in extreme poverty with limited access to many of the things we take for granted often go unseen. We are so thankful for the generous support of donors like you- your contributions help so many children and families in so many essential ways. Regular CDCC programming is the foundation of what we do, but it is by no means all of what we do. We make an effort to get to know each of the children and their families and make sure we are able to help or support them in any way we can.

Many of the children that have participated in our program over the past 30 years have suffered from sickness, disabilities, and learning disorders. Without personal, community-based support like that provided by the CDCC, many of these children would slip through the cracks and suffer without any formal diagnosis, understanding, or support. In a developing country like Thailand, it is not always easy to identify and provide this essential help to individuals and families. And even with a diagnosis and understanding, it can also be difficult to work with local schools to ensure that children are enrolled and that their individual needs are understood.

That is why we are here.

That is why we do what we do.

We are here to provide hope for the hopeless.

And we do so through education. Vocational training for adults and teens. Saturday classes and homework help for school aged children. Liaise with local school officials to ensure each child is given the opportunity to learn and grow and reach their full potential.

The path to education and opportunity and breaking the cycle of poverty is rarely a smooth one. It is often riddled with sickness or abuse or malnutrition or exploitation.

But we are here to do what we can.

One child at a time.

Providing health and healing and hope.

Thank you for your support and belief in our organization. Every donation matters and is used to bring this hope to the least of these. Children like Pao are alive and well and thriving today because of the hope and healing your contribution provides.

Pao during his treatment

Pao with one many friends at the day care

Pao giving a tour of his community

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Feb 26, 2018
Prakobsri & Arada's Story: A Story of Hope, Hard Work, and Life-Changing Success

By Heidi Tannarat | Project Leader

Twenty-eight years ago, Ms. Prakobsri joined our staff at the Concordia Daycare & Community Center (CDCC). She has cared for the most vulnerable children in the Bangna slum community we serve. She has taught them, fed them, held them, dried their tears, and loved them. Hundreds of them. We would not be able to do what we do so well or for so long without our wonderful and amazing staff, many of whom have been with us from our very humble beginnings nearly 30 years ago.

One of the children she helped care for held a special place in her heart- her daughter, Arada. You see, not only has Prakobsri been an invaluable member of our team for nearly three decades, she is also a resident of the local community. Her own family was living in poverty, at risk and vulnerable. We are so thankful that she found her way to the CDCC, as her gifts and calling have been a perfect fit for the work we do at the day care. And her daughter, Arada, was able to achieve her full potential through the education, special classes, and other programms offered at the CDCC. The story of Prakobsri and Arada is the story of so many of the families we serve.

Prakobsri's husband and Arada's father was a food stall vendor, working long hours in front of a factory selling to workers changing shifts. Sadly, he passed away many years ago now from a heart attack, but his legacy of working hard for his family is one that Prakobsri and Arada put into practice in their own lives. With very little means or resources or any sort of path out of the poverty they were living in, Prakobsri worked hard. She worked to help children like her own daughter. In fact, Arada attended the day care program at the CDCC when she was very young, alongside the other children with tremendous potential, but limited opportunities.

Arada's experience in the day care program prepared her well for her elementary and high school education. She also continued her involvement at the CDCC and attended Saturday classes which included English, homework help, and other opportunities not available elsewhere to those of limited means. Through programming at the CDCC during her school years, she learned English. She learned how to swim. She learned how to read music and play instruments. Most importantly, she received a quality education, and this education was the key to her continued success.

Upon completing high school, Arada did very well on her exams and was accepted into the Industrial Engineering program at Mae Jo University in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Our support and love for her continued throughout her college years. CDCC program support does not end when the children and families we support and nurture move on. We are fully invested in the lives of those we serve. And Arada was no different- we were happy to be able to continue to support her through her college years with a special scholarship fund. Arada, who has always been hard working and determined, also worked to provide translation services in her free time to support her education.

We would often visit Arada to see how she was doing, and she would join us as we visited sites for our other projects in and around Chiang Mai. She has grown into a mature, articulate, loving, and very capable young woman with a world of opportunities before her.

This past weekend, we celebrated her success as many of us were able to attend Arada's graduation ceremony. She graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Engineering.

We are so proud of you Arada! And so thankful for your faithful servce, Prakobsri!

And we are so thankful for each of you reading this- your support makes this kind of life-changing opportunity possible for all of the children and families we serve. These past three months, we have continued to meet the educational, physcial, and emotional needs for all of the children in our day care program and after school & weekend programming, and also for the elderly and infirm we assist in the slum community.

Please know that you support is having a lasting impact in the lives of the most at-risk we serve. Children like Arada, who would otherwise have little hope for the future, are going on to receive college degrees and breaking the cycle of poverty for their families today and for generations to come.

Thank you for you continued support!

Prakobsri (center) & Arada (front)

CWEFT staff & Arada (2nd left)

Elderly house visits: care packages & hugs

Homework help for older students

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Nov 28, 2017
29 years and counting...

By Heidi Tannarat | Project Leader

Hello!

October 13, 2017 marked 29 years of operation for the Concordia Day Care and Community Center (CDCC). We have been serving the children, women, and families of the Bangna slum community for three decades now, helping provide access to education and public health to empower individuals in achieving their full potential.

The CDCC assists the most vulnerable of all ages in the community through assorted programs which help provide the education, training, and public health support needed to break the cycle of poverty and achieve their full potential.

This past year the CDCC directly impacted 2,428 people in the community in the following areas:

60 day care children (full time, comprehensive preschool program)
50 school break children (special programming for school aged children)
30 Saturday class students (homework support and extra curricular classes for school aged children)
38 elderly & infirm residents (medical supplies and public health assistance)
2,250 slum community residents (vocational trainings, medical clinics, other support as needed)

Introducing "Aod"

Aod is one of the children in the CDCC day care program. He is five years old and has one older brother, an older sister, and three older half-brothers. They all live with Aod's mother and father in the Bangna slum. His father works as a technician at a hospital and his mother is a food stll vendor. Aod has been diagnosed with kidney cancer and receives regular treatments at a children's hospital. The CDCC staff have worked closely with his family since his initial diagnosis in 2015 to ensure he receives the best support and care. To this end, the CDCC provides 1,000 Thai baht (US$30) per month to the family to help with the ongoing costs of his treatment.

Please join us this #GivingTuesday and beyond as we serve children like Aod and his family in this slum community.

"Aod"

Children in the day care program

Support after school & Saturdays for older kids

Inside the community

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