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| Welfare Projects |
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ANZWG aims to support its members in Thailand, but equally importantly it aims to promote goodwill in the community by charitable and other works. Our preference is to support charities assisting women and children in Thailand.
Consideration is given to funding the following areas:
Community self-help or income generating projects – providing funds, supplies or equipment to projects benefiting a community or group.
Nutritional – providing funds or supplies for nutritional programs.
Education – providing funds for books, supplies, scholarships or playground equipment.
ANZWG's main source of funds for its welfare projects are the proceeds from sales of the Bangkok Guide . In addition to this regular income, ANZWG also raises money at events, in particular the Melbourne Cup lunch. Each year, a specific project is chosen to receive the money raised at the event.
In 2005, the recipient was the Rural Ear, Nose and Throat Fondation which provides free medical and surgical care to rural communities. Middle ear infection is very common and if left untreated it can cause many complications, such as deafness, abscesses, facial paralysis and meningitis.
If you have any potential projects, ideas or suggestions contact the Welfare team at welfare@anzwg-bangkok.org
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| Milk Powder Sponsorship
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ANZWG supports 3 organisations to provide milk powder for infant nutrition from birth to one year of age. The infant formula provides nutritional supplement for a child with a HIV infected mother as the disease can be transmitted to the child through breast feeding and for babies left at orphanages where parents cannot look after them. The milk powder is also important for babies of mothers who need to go back to work to support families and therefore are unable to breast feed. Without the formula babies are fed canned condensed milk or rice water – neither of which provides adequate nutrition.
The three organisations we support with milk powder sponsorship are:
Sister Joan Evans
Sister Joan is an Australian who lives and works in the Klong Toey slums in Bangkok. She started her “milk run” in 1992 and now supports around 200 babies with fortnightly deliveries of powdered milk. Sister's Joan's website is www.sisterjoan.info .
Rejoice Urban Development Project
Rejoice Urban Development Project is a grass-roots project working with very poor, sick and underprivileged people living in Chiang Mai's villages, urban slum communities, and the surrounding hill areas. Rejoice particularly focuses on supporting people living with HIV and AIDS. Visit their website at www.rejoicecharity.com
Friends for All Children
Friends for All Children is a private organization which provides residential care for babies and toddlers in central Bangkok. While some of the children will be returned to their families, most will be fostered or adopted.
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| School Scholarships
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These are a consistent priority of funding for ANZWG and currently cover four major locations within Thailand. We have approximately 60 students receiving sponsorship on an annual basis. Scholarships are administered through four organizations throughout Thailand:
The Good Shepherd Sisters in Nong Khai, north-eastern Thailand.
Daughters of Charity in Phayao, in northern Thailand
Bosco Development Center, Daughters of Charity in Nakhon Sri Thammarat, in southern Thailand
Child Development Centre in Ratchaburi, in west central Thailand.
While public schooling is free for all Thai children, many families struggle to provide the uniforms and books necessary for children to be accepted at school. Bus fares and lunch money are also very important, particularly for those children who live some distance from school. ANZWG's school scholarships help very poor families to cover these expenses.
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| Thailand Hilltribe Education Project (THEP) |
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THEP works in the Mae Hong Song region and has been funded for one off projects by ANZWG in the past. The current priorities of THEP are water systems, school boarding houses for Hilltribe children who live far from schools, and canteens to provide schools with a suitable location to produce and serve meals.
The school at Baan Mae Lit was established nearly 30 years ago. It serves the education of the children from 12 surrounding villages. The proposed new building is a standard plan used for larger schools. It is a permanent structure with a total cost of 253,043 Baht – a large proportion of the cost is taken up by the transport of equipment into the mountains.
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| School for Life, Chiang Mai District |
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The School for Life was set up almost two years ago on land donated by a nearby Thai lady resident. As well as an existing building, two more buildings were constructed with the purpose of housing orphaned and under privileged children from surrounding rural and Hill tribe areas. Up until recently 80 children were housed, fed and educated in the school and adjacent buildings.
As a result of the Tsunami disaster, a further 40 children have arrived from the south of Thailand putting a strain on the already stretched resources.
The school currently houses and supports 120 children between the ages of 4 – 16.
Funding was provided for the supply and installation of a water tank and filter system as well as the provision of mattresses and blankets. |
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| Village Outreach Program |
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This program is organised and supported by the Good Shepherd Sisters, provides services to the poor villagers in a service area of forty villages in the northeastern Nongkhai Province. Many of the families visited by the Outreach team are either infected or affected by HIV/Aids.
The Village Outreach Program has established a new project ‘Village Family Housing Project' to construct three houses for three families in recognised desperate need. Two of the houses are currently under construction and are being funded by Conrad N. Hilton Fund.
ANZWG is funding the third home for a family of five where the husband has TB and is too sick to do any heavy physical work. ANZWG also sponsor the eldest son in this family for his education.
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| The Village Vocational Training Centre (VVTC) |
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This major program is organized and supported by the Good Shepherd Sisters in Nong Khai. By offering training and support services to farmers the VVTC assists the families to remain in their villages by implementing agricultural activities – raising native cows, growing organic vegetables, cultivating mushrooms, raising native chickens and establishing savings groups.
ANZWG has funded the purchase of a new Konica photocopier to support the Village Vocational Training Centre. Not only is the photocopier used for seminars and administrative work of the VVTC, but being the only photocopier in the district, the local school and villagers come daily to ask for copying to be done – house registration, examination results, birth/death certificates. This is done for a very minimal fee and it is a very valuable service for the rural communities.
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Australian-New Zealand Women's Group,
C/- Australian Embassy, 37 South Sathorn Road, Bangkok 10120
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