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 Villagers displaced by dams face uncertain future |
Dedicated volunteers
Didi said that mothers, fathers and relatives give
children to Baan Unrak because they cannot cope.
"The influx of refugees has caused many problems in the area." Didi said.
"Families are separated. Husbands abandon their wives. It is very difficult for
a woman to survive alone here and almost impossible if she has a small child.
Most people live from hand to mouth."
"Nobody here gives jobs to mothers with small children or pregnant women.
Mothers are viewed as a social burden. Without food a nursing mother cannot feed
her babies. Because of social rejection and hunger their vision of the future is
bleak. Often they bring children to our home not because they don't love their
children but because they have completely lost hope," Didi said.
"I usually try to help mothers. I restore hope and they leave Baan Unrak with
their children, reenergised and ready to overcome adversities. Often adversities
leave a big scar in their soul and the [women] become completely corrupt. In
this case I take the children. People bring children to our home because they
feel there is hope for a better future," Didi said.
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The foundation of a children's home
Didi, a full time volunteer of the Neo-Humanist organisation,
came to Thailand to work on an agricultural and environmental project. Didi did
not plan to found an orphanage. She was a secretary in a small accountant’s
office before joining the organisation. On arrival in Thailand, Didi worked as
English teacher. She opened a small study centre for children in a slum.
Three years later, when she went to Sangkhla Buri to start her agricultural
project an abandoned wife asked Didi to help her take care of her child. “Both
mother and baby suffered from severe malnutrition and other sicknesses. I
thought I could provide some temporary help,'' said Didi. “I knew that she
wanted to give the child because she wanted to go back to her bar life in
Bangkok. I did not know what to do. I asked my neighbour and the children in our
house. Everybody said: “Take it Didi, take it.”
Word got round that Didi looks after abandoned children. Mothers and sometimes
fathers brought their children.
“It was so difficult for me to say no,'' said Didi. “The villagers saw what I
was doing with the children and trusted me. I did not have the heart to refuse
them.''
A Karen peasant’s wife died leaving six children. Her husband could not look
after the children while he was at work. Didi took in the youngest girl, who was
six months old, and her four elder sisters.
A seven-month-old baby girl was adopted by five women in succession. When a
foster mother was informed that the baby was HIV positive she brought her to
Baan Unrak.
The number of children staying at the house increased. Baan Unrak became an
orphanage-cum-kindergarten.
From one to many! Baan Unrak is now home to 70
children
Caring for destitute children
“When a child is brought to our home I see in them a huge
potentiality. I already imagine their bright future. I see light and I see
beauty. I take a child when I see that otherwise he or she cannot develop that
potential.”
Didi does not encourage mothers to give their children to the orphanage. She
believes that it is better for the children to stay with their families. Baan
Unrak provides abandoned mothers with rice, milk and temporary shelter.
“I encourage mothers to care for their children. I help them for a time with
rice or milk. Sometimes I let them stay with us until they are stronger. Some
mothers that intended to give their children away changed their mind while they
were staying with us. They were reluctant to give away their children. Following
their stay here they are prepared to face hardship for the sake of their child.”
“Mothers who want to give away their child are usually depressed. There is a
black cloud in the horizon of their mind. They believe that their future and the
future of their children is completely black. It is my duty to remove those
black clouds from their mind.”
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A weaving centre providing employment to abandoned mothers
Baan Unrak helps mothers earn income and support their
children. A sewing and weaving centre was set up in 1995 with the support of the
British Embassy and the New Zealand Embassy to provide employment to abandoned
mothers. The centre produces scarves, textiles and ready-to-wear clothing.
The weaving centre evolved from an education programme, instructing children in
the art of the weaving of the local hill tribes. The children created beautiful
cloth fabrics.
The weaving centre provides abandoned mothers with stable employment. There are
12 women at the Baan Unrak weaving centre, who produce traditional fabrics and
sew them into scarves, blankets, bags and clothing. The weaving centre produces
enough revenue to sustain itself.
“We can only have a few mothers working at the centre. So we provide materials
for others so that they can work at home and stay close to their children,''
said Didi, The Bangkok Post reported.
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Social services
Baan Unrak organises regular relief programs in the surrounding
villages and refugees camps, distributing food and clothing. Baan Unrak
teenagers manage most of the relief programs.
A mobile medical unit established in 2003 at Baan Unrak provides the community
with medical care. The medical unit provides villagers with education regarding
primary health care, nutrition, birth control, and the prevention of AIDS and
other diseases.
“This programme can only run when we have expert volunteers,'' said Didi. ``We
hope to run it on a regular basis.''
In May 1999, Baan Unrak opened a kindergarten with more than 30 enrolled
children. Baan Unrak plans to open a primary school providing education in English and
Thai. Children at Baan Unrak are fluent in both languages.
“We have the land for the school, but we still need to raise money to construct the school,'' said
Didi.
Baan Unrak raised the money to purchase land for the school by means of the sale
of
Christmas cards imprinted with the winning designs of a children's contest.
“A Japanese teacher who visited us and took the cards to Japan and asked her
friends to help her sell them. They sent the proceeds to us to support our
work,'' said Didi.
The school will be staffed by volunteers. Parents who can afford to pay fees
will be charged. Sponsors will pay the fees of the children of poor parents.
Volunteers at Baan Unrak come from several countries in different parts of the
world, bringing special expertise. Some volunteers provide assistance regarding
computers and the Baan Unrak web site, others teach English, or work for the
health care programme.
Yoga
Meditation sessions mornings and evenings provide moments of
peace.
“At these times, the house is silent. We find peace and recharge ourselves. The
children also concentrate,'' said Didi Ananda Anuraga.
She teaches the children yoga. Last year, a volunteer gymnast, choreographed
the postures into various dance repertoires. The children performed the dance at
several festivals, thrilling audiences in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.
“The performances made the children reach out from Sangkhla Buri. It raises
their self-esteem. Some children used to be so shy that they often hid from
guests. But now they are more confident,'' said Didi.
Kesala Insa, aged 12, said that yoga has improved her health. ``I got sick very
often, but after learning yoga, my health has improved and my mind is more
peaceful.''
The children put on a yoga show
Fund raising and child sponsorship
When Didi founded the children's home, her mother and sisters
raised funds in Italy to support her work. Since then, Baan Unrak has received
funding, among others from the workers’ union of the Matsushita Company, the
Australian embassy, the New Zealand Embassy, the British embassy, and the
Netherlands embassy.
Baan Unrak seeks sponsors for children.
"We found many people who are ready to help but we still do not have enough
sponsors because the number of children at Baan Unrak has increased."
Sponsors may correspond with children. Some sponsors send children presents on
their birthday or at Christmas.
”We want to create more facilities to give the children better skills before
they leave this home,” Didi said. “We want to start a legally registered school
for poor children in the area. We are already building this school. But we need
more sponsors so that we can extend our service to more and more people in the
community.”
Baan Unrak needs 3,000,000 baht (app. US$ 70,000) in contributions to cover the cost of the
construction of a registered school for local children.
