Thank you for continuing to support ODET during this time of economic difficulty around the world. In Thailand many low income people are suffering from the impact of high inflation.
Hello everyone, Odet is now in the very capable hands of my old and very good friend Gai.
Currently he runs his own very successful solar panel instalation business and has been key to establishing solar power to remote villages that had previously been without electricity.
He is also very much involved in recycling programmes within the community.
Some years back his family land in Sisaket where he still lives near the Cambodian border, featured in a thirty minute documentary on a popular TV station, Thai PBS. The documentary focused on the ways in which he has replenished the land by planting native trees all around and using natural, sustainable methods for producing local fruits and vegetables. The documentary also touched on Gai's life, since leaving school at 15.
Since then he has had a continuous history of networking and involvement in community projects. He has also had considerable involvement in political activism throught the years. Gai is also a meditator and regularly attends vipassana meditation courses at Buddhist centres in Thailand. He is married and has a son.
Since the beginning of the Odet project Gai has been involved in contacting communities and families in remote areas in need of assistance. About half of the children currently being assisted have initially been known to us through Gai who has continued to act as a link person for those families and communities. Despite his many activities Gai has happily agreed to undertake the complete responsibility for the ongoing activities of Odet. He fully understands that it is a totally voluntary organisation and that no one involved accepts payment. It has always been the rule that all donations received go directly to those for whom they are meant without any overheads.
Gai speaks Thai, Khmer, and local dialects of his hometown in the border region. He struggles with English and continues to try to improve whenever the opportunity for conversation arises. I will be in regular communication with Gai and will send updates to this blog as usual.
To see the interview with Gai, and his wife Pook in Thai, on the Thai PBS TV programme and to get an idea of his lifestyle click on the following link.
https://youtu.be/urbzD3IXVVQ?
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Thank you to everyone who has supported Odet over the past year. It has been a wonderful journey together.
Welcome everyone. The first term of the school year is coming to an end and students across the country are theoretically preparing for their mid-year exams. Due to poverty, family instability and limited access to education Thailand currently has 880 000 children not attending school. Odet attempts to assist and encourage students to go to school and complete their formal education giving them the best chance to succeed.
Chanapon is currently studying at high school in Nakorn Pathom.
Welcome everyone! A new school year is just getting underway in Thailand. Many families are facing a shrinking income and huge household debt. Through your very generous support Odet is currently able to assist 19 students with basic needs to enable them to attend school.
Suwanna is 14 and has just started her 2nd year of high school in Sisawat a rural region to the north of Kanchanaburi
Chanaporn will continue his high school studies in Nakorn Pathom. Odet has been able to provide for some of his basic school needs.
Hello everyone,
It's the Summer break and school reports are cominung in. The good news so far is all of Odet's students have reported good grades and managed to pass their exams. Parichat, who has been studying at the Rajabhat University in Nakorn Pathom is now in her final month and will pass out with a business degree if all goes well with the final exams.
Maprang and Pichamon have both done well at their school in Pilok near the Burmese border.
Access to the school is only by water.
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