THE HILLTRIBE ORPHANAGE PROJECT
Why we are building this project.
In the spring of 2008, Rustic Pathways opened the first stage of its Hill Tribe Orphanage Project and took over responsibility for the care of our first group of Karen students. At the same time, we also provided emergency funding to allow the school to build short-term housing for the orphans we could not immediately accommodate at our facility. Rustic Pathways supplies accommodation for these Karen students, covers operating costs such as electricity and water, and also provides several full-time supervisors at the facility to oversee the needs of the children. We also pay for the food, uniforms, and school fees for the students under our care until they have a sponsor, at which time their annual sponsorship fees (currently about $ 415) step in to cover food costs and school fees for the sponsored child. In the fall of 2009, we advised our host school that we were ready to accommodate additional Karen students at our facility, and these boys and girls are expected to move in to the Rustic Pathways Orphanage at the end of the year. Eventually, we expect to accommodate 130 students at the Orphanage, which is located just a three-minute walk from the school.
If you would like to learn more about sponsoring a disadvantaged Karen Hill Tribe student through our foundation, please contact marc@rpfoundation.org. We would greatly appreciate your support.
"When you are a guest in someone’s house, don’t be lazy! Be a grateful guest and lend a hand, even if all you can do is to make a toy buffalo or cow for your host’s children to play with."
– Old Thai proverb, and a favorite saying of the teachers at the Mae Sariang School
A Vocational Training Program That Opens Doors
The initial goal of our project was to ensure that all the orphans attending our host school had a clean, safe place to stay, appropriate clothing to wear, and three nutritional meals a day. Once this goal was achieved, we moved to acquire land and design a facility that will eventually house all of the orphans at this school who need accommodation, as well as provide them with vocational training that will help them gain meaningful employment after they graduate from high school. For those students who do not continue to university, we are building a hospitality training facility on the grounds of the Orphanage where we will train students in various aspects of hospitality, food service, and hotel management – all skills that are in high demand in this region of the world. This investment in the futures of these young people will dramatically improve their job opportunities and career prospects.
Service That’s Fun and Really Changes Lives
High school students joining us on our Hill Tribe Orphanage Project will live in purpose-built accommodation on the grounds of our Orphanage facility and work closely with the orphans and the other Karen Hill Tribe students at our host school. It’s a beautiful setting surrounded by acres of brilliant rice fields and gardens, bordered by a large river and a teak forest, and ringed by beautiful mountains. Through a variety of powerful service projects designed to help both the young and older Karen students, our visiting international students will be adding substantial positive energy to the lives of these Karen children. The results of this community service will give them skills in areas that will allow them to live strong, independent lives and work successfully in a field that will help them to support themselves and their families.
Mae Sariang sits high in the mountains of Northwestern Thailand in one of the most beautiful and remote corners of Southeast Asia. Only 120 miles from the vibrant city of Chiang Mai, picturesque Mae Sariang is surrounded by teak forests and rolling mountains that are home to numerous ethnic minorities (known as Hill Tribe people), including the Karen, Hmong, Lahu, Muser, Lua, and Lisu people. We began operations in Mae Sariang in 1999, and in 2000 we hired our first full-time Karen staff members from this town. In 2001 we built a kindergarten here and began a relationship with the Baan Rai School that continues to this day. For nine years we have funded educational programs, donated books, food and supplies, sponsored field trips, run tutoring programs, and provided funding for the medical needs of the orphans and underprivileged students at this school. As a tribute to the Karen people, the students of Baan Rai School, and the loving teachers who work selflessly to educate and care for more than 300 needy Karen children, we are building a new, year-round home for children from this school who are either orphans, separated from their parents, or otherwise living without financial support.
Join a Real Hill Tribe Village
You will be warmly welcomed to this beautiful corner of Thailand and quickly develop life-long friendships. In the time you spend in this magical place, you might help catch dinner while fishing in the nearby river, plant rice in the terraced rice fields nestled against the forest-clad mountains, or join in on a friendly village-wide soccer match or a high-flying game of takraw (a cross between volleyball and soccer). You’ll cook dinner alongside the Karen students each night, share laughs over a crackling fire, and learn traditional Thai dance and Karen lore and customs during your stay.
Get into the Cool Karen Culture
You’ll immerse yourself in this unique culture and its people, and our long-standing connections in the area will open fascinating cultural doors to you that are normally closed to outsiders. You may visit the homes of Karen students in the nearby villages, attend traditional Karen ceremonies, learn how to do traditional weaving, and have a quiet movie night with our team at the Base. Sing along and learn Karen redemption songs, play pickup sports, and learn how to drive a water buffalo plow through the rice fields – it’s all just another day in Mae Sariang. Each week, you’ll take a group of students on a field trip to a waterfall or historical site. You’ll also have the chance to head out for some adrenaline-pumping adventures, which may include river rafting or kayaking, long-tail boating, and trekking through teak jungles to visit local Karen villages.
Service That’s Fun & Really Changes Lives
Each day will be quite different from the rest, and your experiences here will introduce you to many aspects of life in this part of the world. A three-minute walk from our house takes you to our host school, where you will teach a few English lessons each week. On some days you’ll get your hands dirty helping with the school’s organic farm, which provides rice and vegetables for the students. Regardless of the service done each day, the goal stays the same – to enhance the lives of these students, and encourage cross-cultural experiences with our friends here. With each year, we have seen remarkable improvements made by these students, and we believe that the sky is the limit. From helping them with their homework each day, to developing the life skills training program which will allow them to gain a good job in the future, the progress never stops around here. This project started with a vision in 1999, and we believe that the best is yet to come for this community. With the Tribe to Tribe International Marathon up and running in its second year, and plans to expand the Hill Tribe Orphanage capacity in the near future, the future has never looked brighter for the greater Baan Rai community. Come join this life-changing program and become a part of history in the making!
Contact us at thailand@rusticpathways.com for more information.
