Educate at-risk girls, end poverty cycle: Thailand

Thank you for making 2024 a momentous year for Dhammajarinee!

To celebrate with you, please enjoy a brief glimpse of some inspiring highlights of this past year and a few photos below the text.

January - March

• DWS wins 26 top awards and five first-place prizes across 22 areas at a province-wide competition.
• Student-run women’s empowerment group today4tomorrow holds a successful exhibition of Dhammajarinee students’ art in Bangkok.
• Grade 12 students volunteer at a charity school, organizing and leading children through fun learning activities.
• Creativity Camp for young students to learn to solve problems independently and manage emotions.
• Early Childhood Development Training to develop students physically, intellectually, emotionally, and socially.

April - June

• 48 shining Dhammajarinee seniors graduate.
• Samsung donates 20 tablets and DWS plans to go paperless with Google Classroom before current academic year ends in March 2025.
• Teachers participate in a FastMath training program to improve students’ math skills.
• An exciting two-week advanced robotics training with international STEM expert Dr. Stuart Kohlhagen allowed students to build their own tower robot from scratch and learn countless skills in the process.

July - September

• STEM education continues to transform learning at the school; a “MakerHerSpace” has made it possible.
• Dhammajarinee teachers trained in advanced Python coding with Code School Finland, and soon after, students won first place in Python at the provincial level, far surpassing all other schools.
• New video, Empowering Girls in STEM, highlights how Dhammajarinee equips students with in-demand, 21^st-century skills. Video can be viewed on Thaischool.org.
• Middle School camping trip enhanced discipline and life skills.

October - December

• Dhammajarinee Director Acharn Yai receives recognition from Panyapiwat Institute of Management for DWS being a model educational institution.
• World-renowned STEM expert Dr. Stuart Kohlhagen mentors another training session where students gain hands-on experience with advanced skills like encryption and rocketry.
• Three-day provincial competitions result in outstanding awards in coding, science invention, science performance, and creativity.
• Dhammajarinee students’ win first prize in science invention for developing a wet scrubber for bioenergy: a pollution control device that removes contaminants from gases produced during biomass energy conversion.
• Yearend fundraising resulted in $16,511 donated on Giving Tuesday and today $20,310 total has been raised. We are so close to achieving our goal of $25,000 needed for student expenses by the end of this month.

We invite anyone who is thinking to give a year end donation or become a member of our Monthly Guardian Donor Circle to donate here.

We are deeply grateful to all our generous donors during this season and during all the seasons of the past.

Dhammajarinee Director Acharn Yai—and all those at the school dedicated to uplifting the lives of our students—wish you a very blissful, healthy, prosperous and successful New Year!

With the wonderful support of donors like you, Dhammajarinee Witthaya School is now recognized as a model school that shows the world what is possible for underserved children in any country through its programs.

When you look at Dhammajarinee today, it is hard to imagine its grassroots beginning in 1990. The school began without funds, but with only the caring intention of a small group of Buddhist nuns to help 20 orphan girls gain basic education and skill training to ensure these girls would not have to work in fields, factories, or worse.

When I started to help Dhammajarinee in 2010, the school had grown to 200 students. There was no viable way to grow further to help more girls who needed and wanted to come. At that time, the girls still slept on the floor on thin grass mats, meals were meager, nuns gathered rice from the community for breakfast, the few buildings were difficult to maintain, and the basic national requirements of uniforms and school supplies were a huge stretch for the budget.

Administration, teachers, and students worked tirelessly year after year, and today, the school has national recognition, over 1,000 students, a large campus, and outstanding educational programs and career opportunities.

You may wonder, if the school is doing this well, do they still need my help? The answer is a big YES, today more than ever before!  Sustaining over 1,000 students and working to provide opportunities for more girls to come is a goal we will not give up. 

This giving season inspires us to share with those who have less. December 3^rd is GivingTuesday, an internationally recognized day of generosity, and an excellent one-day opportunity for you to help Dhammajarinee meet its year-end goal to raise an additional $25,000.

On December 3rd, an incentive bonus will be given on any size donation up to $1,800 per individual donor. The bonus is based on the total amount of funds Dhammajarinee raises that day; thus, we cannot predict the bonus amount.

Another excellent way to help the school before the end of the year is to be an ambassador. A simple and powerful method to inspire potential donors is to tell your friends and contacts a little about the school and why you donate.

I will send you a reminder and details just before bonus day, and an alert on December 3rd, GivingTuesday. This will include the 24-hour time frame for donating based on your area.  All together, we can achieve the $25,000 goal for this year!

Every girl, from 4 to 19 years old, thanks you for continuing to be an important part of the support, protection, and chance to rise out of poverty for themselves and their families.