Help the Children at Pala U Noi (Thailand)

As we are approaching the end of the year, giving thanks to a smooth-sailing year and enjoying the good feasts with friends and loved ones, perhaps it is also time to give cheer and warmth to those who need our help.

In November, we visited a orphanage in one of the remote villages on the Thailand-Burmese border. Named "Pala-U-Noi", the orphanage houses close to 50 children. Most of them are from the Karen group while some are Thai and others are Burmese. We spent 2 days and 1 night at Pala-U-Noi, interacting with the children and helping to build a frog farm for the orphanage.

Background

People at the Thai-Burmese borders are usually refugees; many whom have lost their lands, families and livelihoods due to ethnic conflicts. As a result, most of them do not have an ID and have no access to healthcare and education from the government. The villagers in this area – including those living in Pala-U-Noi – have limited access to health-care and education, as well as very poor diets.

Pala-U-Noi is an orphanage that houses close to 50 children from age 5 to 20. These children have lost their parents and some of them were in poor health when they first arrived. They attend school in the village during the day and help with chores at the orphanage after school. Most of them speak Karen, Thai or Burmese but a couple of them learnt a little bit of English in school.

What we observed

As Pala-U-Noi does not receive any steady form of funding, it tries to be self-sustaining through farming. They rear fishes, ducks, chicken, pigs and plant vegetables for food. In fact, we helped to pick the long beans from the farm and the girls cooked them for dinner! However, given the large number of children versus the amount of poultry, their daily meals consist of mostly rice with only a little bit of vegetables. Eggs and meat are rare treats to them.

As such, a frog farm would be helpful for them as an additional source of food as frogs are part of Karen people's diet and could be a good source of protein for the children.

Current living conditions 

As you have probably observed by now, the living condition at the village is less than ideal. Nonetheless, the children were happy to have basic necessities and were very helpful in doing the chores for the orphanage. Not once did we see the children fight with each other. All of them contributed much effort and time in building the frog farm with us.

What we did

We were there to build a frog farm for the school. We couldn’t have completed the task without the help of the head of the orphanage, Samson, as well as the children. Having noted that the children did not have very nutritious meals, we also bought rice, milk, sugar, oil and other daily supplies for them.

How you can help

We are currently raising funds to buy more supplies for the children. We found out that one pack of 49kg rice could be consumed in less than a week. We will be buying items such as rice, blankets, milk powder and other essentials and will deliver them to Pala-U-Noi again early next year.

If you would like to support this project, please donate via this page (Paypal) or reach out to us directly. We would keep you updated once we have purchased and delivered the supplies to Pala-U-Noi early next year. 

A few dollars could help the children in a big way. Please help to spread some cheer to them this Christmas!