After running our workshop in Chiang Mai, we decided to discover the countryside and headed North to the Chiang Rai district. A number of different hill-tribes originally from Burma, Laos or China have settled in this border region in the last two centuries, enriching it culturally with their own traditions and languages.
Feeling interested, we wanted to learn more about them and how they live nowadays. We met Tom almost by chance, a great man who belongs to the Karen tribe and who, after living in different parts of Thailand and abroad, decided to come back to his village and do something relevant for his people.
His project is called the Tom Karen’s Center. Offering free education for the children of Ban Huisak and neighboring villages, it receives volunteers which contribute to the community teaching English while sharing time, passions and knowledge with the kids.
We had the opportunity to spend some days with Tom and his wonderful family, which warmly welcomed us in their beautiful house surrounded by mountains and rice fields. During our stay, we took part in the local community’s activities and showed the kids how they can create their own blog, work with photos and slide presentations on their computers. It was fun!
Since two years, Tom is working really hard to build his after-school center. It has already a classroom, toilets and lots of space for the children to learn and play. But many things are still in the works; a library, a second classroom are planned and thanks to donations the available equipment (computers, books, learning material) is getting better.
We fully respect and support Tom’s initiative and would like to recommend everyone to learn more about his project, volunteer at his center if you happen to spend some time in North Thailand and support him by making a donation: learning and construction materials besides financial support will help Tom providing better education to children in rural areas.
