Though we had been supporting the villagers that needed medical and other help, we went back to the village after three months. Besides the long overdue medical clinic, we had to do village assessment in terms of education, health and hygiene, see progress on water delivery project and any other immediate needs of the villagers.We had a team of 10 enthusiastic volunteers, including a very young volunteer of 11 years old, in 2 4x4s; both donated. One, regular, by Dave and the other by Emma.
Leaving Hua Hin just after 7AM, we made a brief stop at Home for Students where volunteers were impressed by how, gradually, it is becoming a self-sustaining community. We organized the logistics of Choo Choo May’s upcoming visit to hospital in Bangkok for the minor procedure to take out the sutures from the eye transplant he had received. Once again, were pleased by the news that no one needed medical attention at H4S and all were in good health.
We had two medical- and one Osteopath teams ready to see patients as soon as we reached the village. Medical teams were headed by Dr Coco and Emma while our osteopath Sam saw patients with muscle and joint pains. Enu and Thu helped the medical teams with translation. In the mean time, the assessment team, Prabhjeet (project manager), Nick Seymour (volunteer) and Yui (translator), talked to the village representative for assessment of current projects and immediate needs of the village.
We found out that the tank and pump installed by Jungle Aid are not being shared by the entire village. Also, the second tank isn’t currently being used. We will formulate an action plan for better sharing of the first tank as well as installation of the second tank. We need to make sure that present water delivery system is being properly maintained as well. The villagers requested for better lamps as light from the makeshift arrangement they are using (wicks doused in diesel) are not sufficient. There are solar panels installed in the village but these are not functioning. We will be looking at possibility to repair these panels and also look for more efficient and better lamps. We will review these matters and look for solutions before our next visit.
We found out a 14 year old mother who isn’t attending school due to her maternal responsibilities. We will now be looking at how to help her resuming school and try to prevent this happening to other girls in future. We asked for the list of all children under 17 years of age who are not attending school / need assistance with going to school now and for next year. This list will be given to us on our next visit.
The forest rangers stopped by to have a talk with our team. They requested us to create awareness about cleanliness, waste / garbage management and general hygiene. We will plan an awareness campaign for the villages and have some classes / leaflets prepared. We will try to replicate Bon Luk model for garbage collection and disposal.
Our medical teams saw 50 patients, mostly children with colds, cough and fever. Donations of clothes and shoes were distributed very quickly. We incentivized the girls attending school by letting them have the first choice of clothes and footwear. The villagers were pleased to see many warm clothes in the bags we had brought for them and pillows, which were gratefully received. They had requested for warm clothes (at present the early mornings and nights are very cold).
After an amazing day with incredible volunteers and incredible people we work with, we headed home.
Thank you for supporting the work we do…….
