• We will continue with various therapy sessions with the students.
• We are seeing growth in terms of their anxiety issues.
• During the weekends, we conduct various child centered activities. Many of these activities are educationally centered following various practices used by after-school programs in the United States.

2007-2008

Yaowawit School

This is a school that was started by the 2nd princess and the most respected princess.  He got them to contact us.  (By the way, this princess is an important person.  ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maha_Chakri_Sirindhorn)  She is beloved by the country for her charity and community development work. )

This school is a boarding school of approximately 90 children.  It is a mix of HIV orphans, both physical and sexual abuse victims, Tsunami orphans and severe poverty cases.  Initially, the kids seemed OK at first glance, but emotional and psychological problems eventually emerged over time which required a psychologist to work with them.  The very fact that they are at the school means that they have some severe emotional and/or psychological problems.  

Yaowawit has all grade levels from the P (Primary school level) to M (Middle school, High School level).  This is the kindergarten class, and it has a good student to teacher ratio.

They take care of their kids.  In this case, they were running some immunizations, but of course, some kids were terrified of the needles.  At least except this kid.  

The director of the family component of the program is a kind woman named Keng.  She is dressed in a black shirt in the background.  When you see the numbers of children, the problems of these children, it is amazing that anyone would want to take up this task.  At this point in time, I’m hammering out an MOU with them for long term support.  

Education Support

We are currently supporting two core schools. We have supported Khuk Khak School, and we are now actively offering counseling at Yaowawit School. We have a relationship with Princeton in Asia, which supplies quality instructors in specifically targeted schools in Thailand, and throughout Asia.

Khuk Khak Updates 

Through various donations, we have managed to help our the school with electricity for their language lab and computer lab. We are currently sourcing some ESL software programs for the school, and we are going to work on computer training programs in order for them to get familiar with computers.

• Conversational English will be established within the parameters defined by the school's principal. We are working on modernizing their program in a working partnership with them.
• Computer training is an ongoing progress. We now have participants who may not have running water in their home, but they can surf the web.
• With the donation from Mike Simms, TCF has hired 2 Kindergarten teachers for Khuk Khak School. The lack of funding for this rural school has required TCF to work on financing some basic education.

An interior view

This is the exterior of the lab. The left side contains the computer lab; the right side contains the language lab. The activation of this lab would not have been possible without Mike Simms.

Due to financial problems, TCF has been actively supporting the kindergarten program of Khuk Khak school. TCF paid for the salary of the lead Kindergarten teacher.

Yaowawit School

 We are currently actively working with Princeton in Asia. The hope is to place PIA fellows at Yaowawit School which serves a high population of tsunami orphans, HIV related orphans and extreme poverty cases.

We run regular sessions with the teachers in order to discuss various classroom related problems.

And we are pleased to support a child centered program like Yaowawit School.

Future plans

Currently, we are working on securing more funding for various problems that we are encountering on a daily basis. We currently, do not have the funding to establish a community center with a variety of services outlined in our project proposal. We are however pleased with the progress so far. In a span of a year, we have initiated many of our program goals.

2005-2006 Progress report

1. Psych services are fully operational now. We have volunteers and interns helping out here. Many are coming from the Bangkok based schools. This program is the key program, and it is continually expanding with more and more group therapy work and other therapy sessions. In essence, we have broken through the wall, and we have gained the people's trust.

2. Educational services are ongoing. Lab is up and running. ESL classes are up and running. We have both adult and school aged programs running. Although this started up late, we are now running in full operational mode.

3. Our cooperative relationship with Ecotourism Training Center has proven to be successful. This partnership has expanded our ability to reach young adult survivors.

4. We are beginning to have discussions with CBRE in regards to a hospitality industry training program.

5. We are working with 100 Friends to locate worthy recipients of donor work. Some of the money's also are received by TCF for some operational costs.

6. We have also been running therapy programs for other NGOs with personnel problems like TVC and the Well.

7 . We have received a grant from Mr. Simms for funding teachers.

2006-2007 Progress report

1. We have developed a stable relationship with Khuk Khak school in regards to English instruction. We are helping to coordinate the English instructors in the Khao Lak region into a cohesive instrucitonal cadre. Due to funding and staffing issues, we have focused on improving the quality of English instruction in the school versus attempting to augment their curriculum. A strong relationship with the Princeton in Asia Instructional fellows has developed.

2. We have an ongoing relationship with Duang Prateep Foundation's orphanage in Ban Pru Teel. We provide psychological counselling and staff training when requested.

3. We have relocated the center to a new facility next to the offices of Ecotourism Training Center, the Tsunami Crafts Shop, For Kali, among other NGOs. We are basically a part of a stretch of NGO offices.

2007-2008 Progress report

1. We are now attempting to coordinate the English instructors in the Khao Lak region into a cohesive instrucitonal cadre. A strong relationship with the Princeton in Asia Instructional fellows exists. We have provided support for our PIA staff member at Khuk Khak with various educational supplies and some AV equipment.

2. We have shifted away from Duang Prateep Foundation as they had a change in direction in terms of management. We have developed a partnership with Yaowawit School, which serves a population of 90 or more orphans.

3. Partnerships with other organizations have been closed due to operational shutdowns. Ecotourism Training Center has moved to another location.

4. We are beginning to address several issues in regards to Special Education in the area, but this is a long term project plan. Pre-existing special education issues were never fully addressed, and it is not an opportunity to address this. An action plan will have to be developed in order to meet the student learning outcome needs of this population at Khuk Khak which is small, but it will probably expand if we have more testing and diagnosis.

2008-2009 Progress report

1) TCF has been working with a Tsunami related residential boarding school that has Crown Princess Prathep (Officially known as HRH Princess Maha Sakri Sirindhorn) as its benefactor. Yaowawit School services Tsunami orphans, HIV orphans, and extreme poverty cases. TCF has worked with the school as a counseling consultant for the past two years and have recently been asked to expand its presence there. Currently TCF has been negotiating on behalf of Yaowawit School with Princeton in Asia (Princeton University's fellowship program). They are in the process of signing a formal agreement to supply English Instructors to the program with an understanding that TCF will monitor the PIA fellows actively for culture shock issues and adjustments. This will stabilize the ESL program at Yaowawit School. In addition, through the efforts of Dr. Ratjatawan and his staff, TCF has been able to stabilize the Yaowawit staff, increasing their abilities to work in an organized and consistent manner thus increasing the structure of the programs and the ongoing stability of the children. Due to these successes an effective PR value in the relationships with TCF and the groups associated with Crown Princess Prathep has placed TCF in the forefront of recognized organizations in Thailand.

2) The Ministry of Social Welfare has begun to request TCF collaboration on issues ranging from work programs to Drug Addiction Programs. They have asked TCF to assist in developing these types of programs at the Samsung Building in Khao Lak. Because of the success of these initial programs and the ongoing progress TCF has been asked to participate on a National program level.

3) Srinakharinwirot University and TCF are collaborating in developing intern programs for long term PTSD treatment of Tsunami affected areas. The University will begin quarterly site visits with Dr. Ratjatawan conducting seminars and lectures for the students and interns while on site. Thus allowing for the expertise and knowledge gained to penetrate and permeate a wider range, and effecting larger masses with the positive lesson learned through TCF's research and practical applications.

4) U.S. State Department/Embassy delivered books to both Yaowawit and Khao Lak schools. This is in a response to an inquiry by David Hideo Maruyama, Board of Director TCF. By the response from US State Department this is an indication that TCF is officially on State Department/Embassy radar. TCF will continue to explore opportunities that will avail themselves to TCF and this new relationship.

5) TCF and the Thai Department of Education are currently engaged in forming and formatting a National Dare Program in the Thai Educational systems. Simultaneous to this there are preliminary discussions to have TCF assist in creating ESL programs for not only the Tsunami affected areas but in expanding these programs to other outlying areas around the country of Thailand.

6) The Governor of Phang Na, and the Ni Amphoe (Regional Governor) of Takuapa, where Khao Lak is located, has requested Dr Ratjatawan assist them in their revision of the area Economic Development Plans.

7) Due to the commitments of TCF to the Ministry of Social Welfare and The Ministry of Education on the various tsunami related programs and the assistance required for the National programs the TCF is opening up another office in Bangkok. TCF is still deeply involved with the Khao Lak area since we are still in full collaboration with the Ni Amphoe and the Governor of Phang Nga. We will be maintaining two office sites: Samsung Building and at the Amphoe Building. These two offices were provided to TCF from the Thai Government. We will be monitoring the Yaowawit Campus and any other events that may occur in the area. When we are in BKK, the interns will be conducting site visits. We will be spilting our time between BKK and Khao Lak. The TCF is solidifying itself with the Thai Government and the Associations with Crown Princess Prathep and has begun to use the valuable lesson learned from the experience in Khao Lak and assist in bringing these same programs to other affected areas around Thailand.

8) TCF was also asked to start up programs to aid families with GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender) members. Although Thailand exhibits a tolerance for the GLBT community, many families have difficulties if a teenager or family member comes "out." With this in mind, there is a need for programs include Substance Abuse, Child Abuse and the Family adjustment issues targeted at this segment of the population.

9) TCF has been asked to help develop a hotline, to help train their volunteer based operators on how to handle specific subjects that may arise such as suicide, relationship, drugs, family issues, etc.

10) TCF has been given the honor of conducting workshops for 4 schools under the guidance of the Crown Princess. These schools are located within the Phang Nga area, and we are responsible for is the Special Education portion of the schools. These are country side schools with teachers who are brand new or teachers who have had no special education training. We will be there to help them identify autistics, down syndrome, trisome, ADHD, etc.