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Hey guys, Over the summer I have been given the opportunity to travel to Thailand for 6 weeks working with children with disabilities in either the government run orphanages or privately owned orphanages (such as the Rainbow House). In order to do so I need to raise £600 for the charity 4Life which is the UK partnership of the Thai Charity CCD The Christian Care Foundation For Disabled Children.  I will be paying for the expenses of the trip myself so all the money you donate will go towards this worthy cause. The vision of the charity is to ‘’bring life to the thousands of abandoned disabled children who lie neglected and unloved in the Government institutions of Nonthaburi’’. A few facts: There are an estimated 2000 children living with disabilities in state run orphanages in the region of Pakkred, Bangkok but in reality the figure could be much higher. The atmosphere in these orphanages is of utter despair and is truly heart breaking; each ward has 2-4 caregivers in charge of between 60-70 children. They provide as much care as possible but as you can imagine they can only provide vital care such as being showered, fed and their nappies changed. The children are left in their cots all day every day; unstimulated and just merely existing. CCD at the moment can only help about 600 of these children and young adults but are constantly looking for ways to help the others in desperate need. The children at the orphanages have an array of both physical and mental disabilities from Cerebral Palsy to Downs Syndrome. Some of the children have minor disabilities such as a cleft palate or a missing finger but due to the lack of appropriate care and stimulation their disabilities have worsened. Some children with what we would see as minor disabilities deteriorate due to the lack of appropriate care and stimulation. The majority of the children that end up in the orphanages have been abandoned by their families due to the stigma surrounding disabilities in Thailand. Many people in Thailand strictly abide to the Buddhist culture, which believes in reincarnation; disabilities are seen as a punishment for doing bad things in a previous life.  They are traditionally regarded as unemployable so it is left to family members or organisations like CCD to provide support for them. The 4Life group reaches the disabled of Thailand in three main ways:   Firstly, Rainbow House which is a specialist residential home for up to fifty children. The children here are given the opportunity to lead a more normal life with the excellent facilities and staff; with the eventual goal of reuniting children with their families or where that is not possible arranging adoptions either in Thailand or overseas. Secondly, there are the day care centres where children go to be educated, stimulated looked after and loved. Lastly, in the poorest provinces there are community-based rehabilitation centres providing support for families emotionally, financially and educationally.   Please dig deep and consider giving as it makes such a big difference. A UK pound goes such a long way in Thailand:   £3 can provide a ‘learn to write kit’ £5 can buy a baby care kit providing the essentials milk, nappies and soap £10 can provide books and school uniforms. £30 can provide one month’s education either in mainstream schools or one to one tuition. £50 can provide the children with severe physical disabilities a full course of physiotherapy. I have been given the wonderful opportunity to travel over to the other side of the world to fulfil a lifelong ambition to work with underprivileged children, with your help and support I will not only achieve this but I will strive to do the best I can to make a difference. Any donation you give WILL change the lives of abandoned children in Thailand.   For more information please look at the 4life website: <a href="http://www.4lifethailand.org/index.html">http://www.4lifethailand.org/index.html</a> Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

Thailand Project 2012 - supporting abandoned children

Thailand Project 2012 - supporting abandoned children

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