In northern Thailand, close to the famous city Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai is known worldwide for being the bastion of the famous "Golden Triangle", at the borders of Burma, Laos and Thailand. This mountainous region is also known for hosting many ethnic villages.
KHOM-LOY FOUNDATION - Chiang Rai
For over 100 years, tribal ethnic minority groups migrated to northern Thailand to escape war or dictatorship in neighboring regions. They are estimated at 550,000. Called "Hilltribes" they consist of six distinct groups: Akha, Karen, Lahu, Mien, Lisu and Hmong. All are from different regions and have their own cultures, traditions and languages.
The Burmese refugees: Since an autocratic military government took the power in 1962 in Burma, many Burmese have fled the country. Ethnic minorities (such as the Shan, Karen and Mon) have suffered the most, the military junta having destroyed villages in border areas. A large number of Burmese refugees live and work in Thailand but do not receive any help with basic needs such as health, education and decent working conditions.
What problems do they face?
- Levels of severe malnutrition, AIDS and poverty.
- No land, which has the effect of removing them to live according to their agricultural way of life and forces them to work for very low wages.
- Without Thai citizenship, they can not go to work outside their neighborhood, nor receive education or health aid. Those who are deported to Burma may be politically persecuted.
- Sexual traffic in some cases.
The Khom-Loy Foundation: Paul Hancock and Patricia Solar started the project in 2002 after a stint as volunteers in a village in the region. The Khom Loy foundation is now a Thai foundation that aims to help the Burmese refugees / ethnic minorities near the border in the fields of agriculture, education and crafts.
Montessori children’s houses
One of the major problems faced by the Burmese refugees’ children or "hilltribes" is the language barrier. When they arrive at school at age 6, they do not speak Thai (speaking their own language in the villages) when they are expected to learn to read and write. The Montessori program Khom- Loy prepares children to the Thai education system by transforming existing nurseries and kindergardens where there is almost nothing, not even trained teachers, in Montessori children’s houses where they learn thai and english.
Offered material and training!
In 2004, Khom Loy began by offering a Montessori teacher a training of trainers, all the material needed for a class, and each year new classes have been converted and new teachers trained on-site.
The Montessori material is made by a carpenter who now knows it perfectly the material (color, size ...) and teachers interested in this are trained for free at the training center of Chiang Rai.
At the present moment, 41 classes have become Montessori, over 80 educators have been trained and more than 900 children have benefited from this education. Damaris Musau, the project manager, is on all fronts. She trains teachers, evaluates them in their classes, and students are tested twice a year for the results to be sent to donors if they wish.
Damaris is a trained Montessori teacher and has many years of experience in Kenya, her mother-country. She came to Khom Loy-for a year as a volunteer in 2007, and never left since ... Damaris tells me that one of the difficulties is finding teachers who persevere. Sometimes the teachers agree to attend training, take the material and then give up. Fortunately, this is a minority. Results on children are a great motivation for most of them.
I've been able to observe myself, during recess, that this little girl had undoubtedly developed her ability to be ordered. She spent more than 20 minutes perfectly aligning the chairs that had been placed there for the « parents day » the next day, not having been asked anything.
After a morning of work and once all the chairs have been aligned, it's time to have fun...
Khom Loy would like to expand to other regions near the borders of Burma, in Mae Sai. They always need volunteers and donors to continue helping refugee children to integrate the Thai society, and thus be able to live in less precarious conditions.
