Updates/News/Events:
A brief update about our project progress, news and events.

Events:
Golf Fundraiser!
We are also in the process of organizing a Golf Fundraising weekend in November to raise more money for new/ongoing projects. This should be a fun event and may possibly be a yearly feature for the Khao Lak Community Appeal. Please keep checking to website for more details if you would like to take part, become a sponsor or donate a Prize.

Archive:
September 2009
June 2009

In other areas the Health team has been giving health education to community members, including a group of women who had no knowledge of contraceptives or maternal health care. First aid has also been a topic for one of the community meetings and as has prevention of STD’s.

The health worker called Lady continues to visit hospitals and health centres regularly, helping Burmese patients with translations; she has also been looking for ARV treatments for one patients.

Khuk Khak Health Centre Wash and Sterlisation Room

The Wash and Sterilization room is now complete. This is a huge improvement to the Health centre’s previous facilities. Before the health centre made use of a corridor to keep all the sterile equipment and medicines, obviously this is not a sterile environment when people are walking through all day.

With the addition of this purpose built Wash and sterilization room they now have ample storage room, somewhere to wash linens (and a new washing machine to do this), a refrigerator for relevant medicines and enough space to be able to work properly.
This is a valuable contribution to the health centre, which has recently been given the status of “small hospital” (but still no adequate budget). The Health centre in Khuk Khak serves over 30,000 people, including Thai, Burmese and foreigners, and it covers an area of 7 villages.

Narenthorn Ambulance for the Khao Lak area

The Abulance has proven to be a valuable donation with regular use in the area for medical reasons, safety and also surveillance exercises. Khun Wit, who is the volunteer responsible for the vehicle in Khao Lak, keeps up to date records of the trucks usage.  Since it was donated it has been used in instances ranging from motorbike accidents to people who had problems and needed to be taken to hospital. It has also been used for patrolling the areas at night and in public events for safety management.

Community Health Worker Project
Working together with Foundation for Education and Development (FED)  

The project that the Khao Lak Community Appeal supports for the Burmese migrants continues to be a huge success. The community health workers visit 5 communities each week and 9 communities twice a month in patient’s homes and on rubber plantations, fishing and construction work sites. This quarter the health team at GHRE have visited the health workers and have worked with them to carry out medical checkups on community members. It is clear that through this project, the health workers are being constantly educated and supported to build a strong and committed health worker team for Burmese migrants.

The Health workers find and help people in remote communities that might otherwise go unseen, in a few instances this quarter, women were found with new born babies who were ill or under nourished, but the mothers didn’t have the education to know what to do or were too scared of deportation – or worse – if they went to a doctors. Who knows what would have happened to them if they were not found and seen to by this team.

This project is also helping the wider community by providing Health education where ever possible. Burmese migrants normally have little or, in most cases, no access to this in Thailand, so the health workers continue to teach the community about basic health care.

Khuk Khak Health Centre Wash and Sterlisation Room

The Wash and Sterilisation room is now in the process of completion – it will be completed in the next few weeks. This is an excellent addition to the community health centre, which serves over 3000 people. The health centre has recently been given the status of ‘small hospital’, however, still receives minimal funding – leaving no room for improvements.

Narenthorn Ambulance for the Khao Lak area

This month all documents and payments have gone through for the donation of an ambulance (Truck) to the area of Khao Lak. This area currently only has pick-up trucks which are not well equipped for all emergency situations. This new truck will lead progress for emergency health response equipment in Phang Nga, as one day they would like every team to have this vehicle. Currently there is only one in the province on a small Island. The reason why this vehicle is so important is because it is equipped with everything needed, while being small enough to navigate the dirt roads throughout the province.

Moken Childrens Day

This year the Khao Lak Community Appeal supported food for a children’s day event held in Thap Tawan, a primarily Moken (Sea Gypsy) community. The Moken community in Thailand is often quite detached from the Thai community as there are quite big differences in lifestyle, occupations and income. Consequently when Thai festivities happen the Moken people will generally not take place. Children’s day is an important event in the Thai calendar, as it is a day when children are celebrated. Children are given presents and sweets and lots of activities and games are put on for them to do. Most Moken children would normally not get the chance to take part in children’s day games.  

This project for children’s day was aimed to give the Moken children a chance to celebrate the day as others do – with games, performances, presents, sweets and food. It was a successful day and nearly 200 people joined in with the festivities and everyone seemed to enjoy it.

Khao Lak Community Appeal’s Children’s Day Activities

Once again this year we gave presents to all of the children sponsored under the Khao Lak Community Appeals Scholarship scheme.

Community Health Worker Project
Working together with Foundation for Education and Development (FED)  

Khuk Khak Health Centre Wash and Sterlisation Room

Building work for a Wash and Sterlisation Room is now in progress for the Health centre in Khuk Khak. It will be completed in April 2010.

Narenthorn Ambulance for the Khao Lak area

The specifications of this donation have been finalized and the truck has been ordered. This donation will be given in April 2010.

FED Learning Centre

FED are very excited about the Khao Lak Community Appeal’s offer of 50% donation of land purchase for the donation of a new learning centre for Burmese migrant children. Other donors for the building and 50%land donation are currently in discussion.