Help 500 Thai children get an education

Education Matters helps kids stay in school by providing scholarships and mentors who encourage and support them. The goal of the mentors and sponsoring organizations is to help with school and to give the children skills to navigate life successfully. One of our partnering organizations recently hosted a camp for Education Matters students to do just that. The theme was “Turning Point,” and the focus was to educate students about the risks of sexual abuse and harassment. Sadly, this is becoming an increasing problem for students in Thailand, so it is extremely important to equip these students with skills to understand the risk and be prepared to protect themselves.

A total of fifteen children were able to participate in the camp, along with 9 mentors and staff. It was a small group, but they were able to build good relationships between children from different schools, raise awareness about sexual abuse, and help children know how to protect themselves. The camp was a huge success and illustrates how the children receiving support from Education Matters are getting help with their schooling and much more! It is also encouraging to see our Education Matters volunteers working hard to keep our kids safe! 

For many disadvantaged children, reaching for their dreams can feel quite hopeless. According to a recent government statistic only 20% of children in rural Thailand live with either parent. We have found this to be true in the many Thai schools we work with. Many of these children will live with a close relative, usually a grandma or aunt who is willing to take care of them.  They are not living with their parents because their are few jobs close to home so they have gone off to other places to find work. Sometimes the parents send support back to care for their children, but sometimes the children are forgotten and grandma is left alone to raise and support them. 

Wendy (not her real name) is one such child. Wendy and her older brother live with her Grandma who is their only source of support. Wendy is in the 9th grade and likes to study mathematics and Thai language. She also likes sports and participates in athletics at school.  Wendy's dream is to study nursing after High School so that she can take good care of her Grandma!

Every day Wendy helps her Grandma by doing housework and cooking dinner. Her Grandma was working as a seamstress making 300 baht ($10) a day, but last month she lost her job when the shop owner could no longer pay her due to the struggling economic situation in Thailand. So, almost every day after school, Wendy works part-time cutting out fabric for 150 baht ($5) a day. This helps provide for some of their daily expenses, but they are quite poor and this little family struggles to just have enough food to eat.

Without the support of Education Matters, Wendy would be forced to quit school. It is the support and gifts of generous donors like you who make it possible for Wendy to finish school and achieve her dream of becoming a nurse!