help a young woman improve her lot in life |
|
inquire |
My name is Ken - a middle aged American guy residing in northernmost Thailand. Here's a way to assist young women in their quest to better their lives.
First a thumbnail sketch of what happened recently that led me to put up this web page: There are two neighborhood girls who are like daughters to me. They just turned 16, and I've known them and their parents for seven years - we're all quite close. They're immigrants from Laos but have acclimated well to their northern Thai community. Both are getting good grades in high school, and are approaching the age of planning for higher learning.
The girls came by the other day and asked if I'd pay for them to go to a nearby vocational school. I warmed to the idea, but asked what they planned to study. "Cooking," they said. I wasn't impressed, telling them that 'cooking' is something a person can learn anywhere - and that they might consider becoming nurses instead. They said they'd love to study nursing, but that the course costs were much higher; $1400 compared to $90 for the cooking courses.
>>> inquire about how to sponsor a girl |||| Email: tinpothat [at] gmail.com <<<
| I should mention that we're all low income
-comparatively speaking. The girls' families resort on occasion to combing
the hillsides for weed leaves and digging for beetle grubs to eat (really) - and
compared to median income for someone my age in the States, I earn less than
your average grizzled panhandler. Even so, I told the girls that if they
truly wanted to study nursing, and promised to stick with the course load,
that I would find the money to pay their tuition. Three days after
that conversation, I went with them and their mothers to town - to sign up
and put a deposit at the local nursing college.
Now the girls' friends are becoming more aware of such possibilities. There are several other bright young women in just this one outlying area of Chiang Rai who could benefit greatly by getting a nursing degree.
|
 first two in the program - should graduate in 2007! |
This region is largely populated with families who are one generation removed from living in hill tribes. In other words, the parents and grandparents of the kids seen at the local schools were likely sitting on dirt floors inside their bamboo and thatch dwellings not long ago - and many still are. That might sound romantic to westerners, but it's a disadvantage when families are uprooted by the Thai government and plopped in settlements which quickly become slums. The old adage 'the rich get richer and the poor get poorer' is particularly in evidence in Thailand.
There is no Social Security in Thailand, except for government employees.
Asian parents, with few exceptions, rely mightily on their offspring to
provide for their retirement. The average young woman from a poor
background will be lucky if she gets a job for $3 per day - and that's likely
seven days a week at 12 hours per day. Many girls wind up as indentured
servants, massage parlor girls, or prostitutes. We haven't yet mentioned
boys from these backgrounds - but they share a whole raft of similar problems with
their sisters - plus having a paucity of marriageable ladies - because
many of young women are absent or sick from AIDS. Many of the women wind
up going to Bangkok or to the southern beach resorts to become part of the sex trade
- whether by being duped, or by choice.
On the other hand, one young lady getting a basic nursing degree can propel an entire family from abject poverty to sustenance and a semblance of dignity. It's $1400 well spent, believe me.
My pledge: every $1400 received will get paid directly to the nursing college to cover the student's first year tuition. Included in that amount is a modest fee for orientation, transport and arrangements needed to get the process started.
Incidental expenses for school books, uniforms, etc. will be borne by the student and her family - unless the donor wants to make separate arrangement directly with the girl and her family - or through me as a facilitator. Each donor will get a photo of, and a way to contact the student - either by post or by email - though the girls generally can't speak more than a few words of English. Donor will also get photocopy of the student's enrollment certificate. English study will be a key component of their nursing education - as it's likely some graduates will go find work later in an English-speaking country.
 |
Contact if interested, Ken Albertsen |
from Michael, August '06 (unabridged except for quotation marks): "I wanted to mention that what you are doing to contribute to and facilitate this project goes a long way toward putting forth a greater awareness of what specific people can do to help specific people. In short, you've put faces out to us and this means a lot for the very real sense of connection I think is vital to folks like me who have more of a thought of knowing a real person is truly at the other end rather than a huge organization, which may be wonderful, but nonetheless amorphous."
"Anyway, please keep in touch and please know I will continue to do what I can in whatever capacity I can. As time goes on, please let me know of anyone who you feel is particularly deserving of support."
from J.R. from Golden Key Mortgage, CO August '05: "I donate 10% of all my commissions to charity and may be able to steer some of my clients to donate to your cause."
J.R. follows up: "I have a donation from a recent client to send you. I forwarded your link to them and they chose for the donation to go there..." August '06
Note from Ken: one of the young women students sent an email and digital photo to the donor. The student insisted on writing the email herself - without assistance or editing from me - which was fine - the more independence and confidence, the better!
encouragement from H. Strauss / May '06: "A man after my own heart. Finally a farang (foreigner) who looks for a solution rather than being a part of the problem. I too sponser a girl in Korat (Thailand). I pay all her expenses. She puts a smile on an otherwise sad face. The only answer to prostitution in Thailand, is to educate the girls and find jobs for them."
Update, August 2006; Two girls are several months into their first year of studies at the nursing school. Each has one uniform, so they're compelled to wash and dry it each evening after school - in order to have a sparkling clean white uniform for the next school day. The 16 year olds are the youngest students in a class of 106. Thus far they've traveled on field trips to hospitals in various parts of Thailand in order to get their required 'hours' and hands-on experience. There is no doubt that their chosen path toward becoming nurses has contributed to their walking taller and prouder. In contrast, their former school mates in the village are generally stuck in ho-hum existences of hanging out at little shops and letting the chips fall as they may.
tinpothat [at] gmail.com