Thailand: Baan Unrak

Baan Unrak

Environment:

Baan Unrak is located in Sangkhlaburi, in the Kanchanaburi province in western Thailand. It's a remote area, near the rainforest, where tourists like to ride elephants and have trips into the jungle. Because of its peacefulness, and beautiful environment (mountains, lakes and waterfalls), the local tourist industry is expanding.

However, Sangkhlaburi is also ravaged by poverty and disease. In 1988, the government built a dam on the lake to bring electricity to Bangkok. This caused flooding so the local community faced relocation and lost their jobs.

Sangkhlaburi is a border village. It is only 22 kilometers only from the Three Pagoda Pass which marks the border between Thailand and Burma. The border is quite porous, so it is easy to come into Thailand. After arriving, most of the migrants are kept in the border area as they cannot travel due to their illegal status. An influx of refugees and immigrants, fleeing war and slavery in Burma, has added to the region's economic problems, including high unemployment statistics.

Most of the refugees in Sanklaburi area are from the Mon and Karen States which are targeted by the military’s terror campaign led by the Burmese government. According to UNHCR, half of the displaced people are children, and 15% are under five years old.

Baan Unrak Children Home

Baan Unrak children home was founded in 1991 when Didi Ananda Devamala, volunteering in Sangklaburi on an agricultural project, was given a child with nowhere else to go. 15 years later, we have over 110 children for whom we are responsible and we support several abandoned mothers.

Baan Unrak Primary School

In 1998 Baan Unrak started an education center for children and women who have no educational opportunities and struggle in life. Although the education center was in a small rented wooden hut, the Neo-Humanist philosophy of holistic education was used and the children prospered even in this difficult environment.

Between 2002-2005, because the number of children in need continued to increase, the Neo-Humanist Foundation began fundraising to establish a school for disadvantaged children.

The school, built among the trees of Sangklaburii and by its gorgeous lake, was completed on March 23, 2005 . We opened our private school for children in grades 1 through 6. In addition, we opened a nursery school and a kindergarten for children ages 2 to 6. Dozens of children from the local community have enrolled in our school in addition to the children from the home.

Now, the school has 250 students, 15 teachers and 6 assitants. For more details on our project,click here

Management:

Didi Ananda Devala is the project director of children's home and Didi Ananda Anuraga is project director of the school.They will communicate with the volunteers. They are a very friendly, warm and hospitable. They speak very good English and will make you feel at home right away. They are also open to change and new ideas as far as the management of their project is concerned.

Accommodation:

Three vegetarian meals are provided daily and a room to sleep. A volunteer must eat only vegetarian food while voluntering with us and must not smoke, drink or use any kind of drugs.

If a volunteer stays longer than 6 months the whole period is for free and longer than a year there is salary according to local rates.

Our Philosophy:

The Neo-Humanist philosophy is the guiding principle of our project. Stated simply, we believe that we should love and care for all beings in the universe.
To provide a foundation for the mental, physical and spiritual development of our students, we practice yoga and meditation on a daily basis. In addition, curriculums are taught in a way that incorporates movement, creative arts, and high academic standards, in order to nurture the whole child.
Students learn how to manage their emotions. Moral and ethical understanding is integrated into our curriculum through story telling, individual guidance, counseling and positive reinforcement. We teach the students about kindness and living in harmony with all forms of life from the smallest beings to the largest forms of life. We seek to instill the values of service, helpfulness and concern towards others.

Who do we need?

Both males and females are welcomed. Those willing to stay in the home should be highly motivated to work with the children. You must present a good, moral character and respect the local culture.

Your job as a volunteer

Volunteers can help in any of the following areas:
• Childcare,Training disable girl.
• Fundraising
• Teaching English
• Drawings or paintings.
•Art, Handicrafts or Other skills.
• Gardening,Animal care.
• Songs, teaching musical instrument, computer etc

This project is new in our site, so as yet we have no volunteer experiences.