Other Asia Transpacific Foundation Projects

 

We’d like to share our past successes with you, made possible over the last decade through the generous support of our travelers.

 

The Tsunami of December, 2004
Your response was overwhelming, and our direct aid effective: through our Clean Water Initiative in the Burmese refugee camps in northern Thailand we were uniquely poised to ensure that tsunami victims had access to clean water, and immediately transported our filters south. We then set up a production facility in southern Thailand that not only provides clean water to very needy communities, but jobs as well.

We also donated funds to help a Sri Lankan fishing community rebuild their boats. They had lost all their ships, and therefore their community’s livelihood.    We are pleased to report that both the water filter facility and the boat-building factory are still humming along today, thanks to your contributions.

 

Burmese Youth Project 
Long languishing in refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border, children orphaned or left destitute by conflict had few educational options. Beginning in 2002, we helped establish a small network of Vocational Training Centers in the camps. Here these youth can learn a variety of marketable skills, from carpentry and pottery-making to computer technology, bicycle repair and English language skills. Funding and ongoing financial management for the project is provided by the Foundation, but construction and long-term management of these facilities is accomplished by the local communities themselves.

 

Im Jai House
One of our earliest projects, this is a great success story. The Im Jai House provides a loving, long-term home for 35 children whose parents have died from AIDS, though the children are not HIV positive themselves. Ostracized or even rejected by their fearful village communities, these children are able to live and thrive thanks to Im Jai. From 2001 to 2003, the Foundation provided money for school fees, uniforms and supplies. We purchased musical instruments, including a piano and handmade traditional Thai instruments, and a minivan to get the youngsters to school from their remote rural setting. We were instrumental in helping Im Jai House find a permanent source of funding for their important work of nurturing these deserving children.