Scholarship's for Slum Kids in Pattaya Thailand

All Thai schools are now on break until the end of October and then the children do not break again until the 30th of December. Being a Buddhist nation, our students get a few days off over the new year break and then it is full steam ahead until the end of March. This break in October is the only mid-year holiday and the students are loving it.

The weather in Thailand has been very wet with many rural areas of Thailand flooding. This means that students who would travel to stay with grandparents are staying at home in the slums. This can bring about many issues including boredom and also making them an easy target for grooming into drugs, alcohol and other activities. Hand to Hand is unable to provide holiday care, however we are assisting families with extra visits and other activities such as crafts, English and computers. Some students love to spend their time volunteering with us by handing out food and teaching the younger ones new skills.

Typically, we have English and computer classes on a Saturday, however we have extended this program. When the students attend school, their scholarship money enables them to have lunch daily. With no school it also often means food insecurity for many children. Hand to Hand increases the amount of food to the neediest families to ensure that everyone has enough to eat.

Thank you so much for all your support. Every little bit goes a long, long way!

A huge thank you to everyone who has given generously enabling approximately 80 kids to go to school. These children come from very poor communities and many of them have illiterate parents as well. Our scholarship program includes the cost of food, transport, books, uniforms, stationary and other needs such as excursions and project materials. 

Enabling a child to go to school needs to go beyond a onetime donation for books and uniforms as the struggles they face are daily. if they are unable to attend trip[s or project materials, the students simply fail that assessment task. If the child has all the tools but cannot get there, then there is no success. the approach needs to be comprehensive.

The students in our program also come to our Saturday kid's club program at least 2 times per month. Most actually come every week. This enables us to make sure the students are OK and provide extra support that may not be coming from their homes.

In addition to our sponsored children hand to hand is constantly responding to requests from schools for children who lack the basic supplies. We made a trip to remote Thailand, where there are no large sponsors to donate stationary to needy kids. Simply having a pencil so you can do your work and fretting about where you might borrow one for the day is life changing.

Thank you for all your support. Big and small, it all helps.

Links:

• Hand to Hand Foundation