Our Projects » Yasothon Task Force

From the 15th of November till the 3rd of December 2010, Hands is going to lead a team in a major renovation of the Suthasinee Orphanage at Yasothon.  We are looking for 50 volunteers to join us in this major operation that will change many lives and not just those of the children at the orphanage. 

Your contribution be it for a couple of days or a couple of weeks will be appreciated and we will co-ordinate all the volunteers to ensure we have equal distribution.  If you would like to be part of the team heading to Thailand forward an email to team@handsacrossthewater.com.au or click here to log onto the Ning to get further details.

What are we going to do:

There isn't really any area of the orphanage that doesn't require work, it is just the amount of work that is required. We will be putting in place a kitchen and laundry suitable for 115 kids. We will replace all of the beds with something that is appealing, getting rid of the old broken hospital gurneys that the kids currently sleep on.

The entire premises, inside and out will be painted and cleaned. The vegetable gardens will be given some tender loving care and basically we will ensure that everything old, looks new again.

The plan is to relocate all the children for the time that we are there. When we first visited we were told that many of them had a dream to see the ocean - so it seems to make sense that we will see if we can find the kids somewhere to stay by the ocean when we undertake the renovation.

What kind of assistance do we need:

 Those with a trade around electrical and plumbing;

 Those who know how to put scaffolding together to help us get to hard to reach places;

 Someone to install the kitchen and undertake building works as required;

 Those who are happy to work in the gardens and re-establish sustainable crops;

 A group who might want to work with the kids if we ship them off to an ocean side site for the week or so to help care for the kids and assist the staff;

 Project managers or team leaders who can help pull all this together before we leave and then when we arrive in Thailand;

 Advice on undertaking major renovations in minimal time periods;

 Contacts in the media who might want to share the story;

This just the start of things that we are looking for and of course the list will grow.

Personal Logistics:

All the volunteers will be responsible for their own costs in getting to and from Ubon Ratchatani.   We will work towards securing accommodation in either Yasothon or Ubon Ratchatani and secure the best deals that we can (we will not use donors money on supporting volunteers so you will need to cover your own costs).  We anticipate that it will take between two to three weeks to complete the project.

Location:

The orphanage is located in the Yasothon province which is 530 km North East of Bangkok. Easiest way to get there is a flight into Bangkok and then a domestic flight to Ubon Ratchatani. It is then a 75km drive from the airport.