2019 Wrap Up
The power of one ... a friend who works with abandoned and abused children was once asked, “How do you do it? How do you keep working in such tragic, heartbreaking conditions, day in and day out, year after year”? He replied, “one kid at a time. That’s all I can do. One kid at a time”.
Imagine Thailand has big dreams ... for Thailand, its people, our impact in Hat Yai, Takua Pa, Bangkok and Mae Sot, and for the heart and soul of this wonderful country. But we are humbly aware that big dreams come through one volunteer at a time, one ESL class at a time, one village at a time, one school at a time ... one kid at a time.
We are so grateful for the many people—Thai and farang—who have made our successes a reality. This, together, is what we accomplished in 2019:
In Mae Sot we ...
— built a bedroom and painted walls at a children’s shelter
— made a parking lot and painted buildings at 2 Burmese migrant schools
— installed 12 water purification systems - 8 in Myanmar, 2 in Mae Sot, 2 in Phop Phra
— performed maintenance on 64 water systems - 5 in Myanmar, 59 in Thailand
— distributed 7200 bags of rice and 1920 cans of fish
— provided special lunches to 2 migrant schools and blankets to homeless Karen families — provided soy milk to 24 schools and shelters
— donated “cups for kids” at 37 schools, a total of 1754 cups
— gave out 22 teaching kits that will resource a total of 66 teachers in Myanmar & Thailand — hosted 4 volunteer teams from Canada
Note — we have now installed a total of 104 water systems on both sides of the Thailand/ Myanmar border. 7 schools are currently waiting to receive one.
In Takua Pa we ...
— teach and mentor 45 to 60 children each day at the Light House Learning Centre — conducted 8 ESL camps in 8 schools, a total of 893 students
— ran a youth camp for 18 young people
— installed 4 water purification systems
— hired an intern to work at the Learning Centre
— ran a Saturday Kids (kids church) program for 15-18 kids, 30 weeks/year — helped 3 students go to university to realize their dreams
In Hat Yai we ...
— continue to teach English at Prince of Songkhla University to about 300 students per week
— offered English conversation activities in partnership with the Sela English Center
— launched the Sela Student Church in September 2019
— ran Sunday night student church, Alpha programs, student discipleship programs and student service trips to Imagine’s work in Takua Pa and Mae Sot
— hosted 3 leadership camps on the PSU campus
— hosted 3 teams to assist with English programs on campus and run ESL camps at local schools
— hosted 9 teams total, which equated to 95 volunteers, 114.5 volunteer days, and 12,177 volunteer hours
In Bangkok we ...
— ran 86 English Corner sessions, 25 game nights, and 51 frisbee evenings on the campus of Chula University
— led an English Corner service trip to Takua Pa and Mae Sot
— ran an internship program for 2 international students
— provided leadership training, coaching, and Bible studies for 3 students and 2 interns — hosted 4 teams - 2 Canadian and 2 Thai
— hosted coaching level 1 for 36 young professionals and senior leaders within their organizations
— ran three English Camps at an adjacent Temple School for 210 students.
— continuing to provide coaching and consult to the largest online education program startup in Thailand as well as another local communication education program with over 1000 volunteers
There is a lot to celebrate! But in many ways we feel there are so many things still in their infancy, so many good things still to do, still more dreams to realize. With faith in the One who strengthens and guides us daily, we WILL do more ... one kid at a time.