Duang Prateep Foundation Monthly News for June 2002

Contact details

Address: Lock 6, Art Narong Road, Klong Toey, Bangkok 10110, Thailand.

Telephone: (66 2) 671 4045, 249 4880, 249 3553.

Fax: (66 2) 249 5254

Email: <dpffound@ksc.th.com>

News from the Duang Prateep Foundation

Klong Toey youths go to USA and Italy

Last month youngsters from the Duang Prateep Foundation attended exciting meetings in Italy and the USA.

Five children from Klong Toey joined with thirteen other Thai children aged between thirteen and seventeen to attend the Super Congress of the Young for Unity 2002, organised by the Focolare Movement. In Rome the group from Thailand joined with 12,000 other children from 80 nations for activities over two days, including an eight kilometre march for peace. Subsequently the Thai children went on to Loppiano, near Florence, for a further three days of meetings, cultural activities and sightseeing with two hundred other children from around the world.

The photo shows Thai smiles and costumes on the streets of Rome.

Another two Klong Toey youths aged fifteen and sixteen went to New York last month for a meeting linked to the UN Special Session on Children. The trip was sponsored and arranged by the Arigatou Foundation of Japan. The UN Special Session on Children and related events were originally scheduled for September last year, but were cancelled in the wake of the attacks on New York’s World Trade Centre. The two Klong Toey youths joined with fifty other youths from seventeen countries for a day and a half of discussions on 'What we can do for a better future'. The meeting was a follow-up to a meeting titled 'Children of the Coming Generation' which took place in Japan in July 2000. The group presented a paper to the UN Special Session on Children and also had time for half a day of sightseeing before returning home.

The photo shows the group who attended the Arigatou meeting outside the United Nations building. One of the Thai representatives is standing on the extreme left.

Duang Prateep Foundation Secretary General Prateep Ungsongtham Hata was also in New York last month as guest of the Ramon Magsaysay Foundation. Prateep was able to join with some events arranged by the Arigatou Foundation, before attending events linked to Philippines Independence Day celebrations. Prateep was joined in New York by three other Ramon Magsaysay Foundation awardees as well as the chairman and president of the Ramon Magsaysay Foundation and the grandson of the late Ramon Magsaysay.

Prateep joined with others in speaking at a seminar titled 'Asian Pathmakers, Global Bridge Builders'. Prateep spoke about the work for which she was honoured and how she is continuing and sustaining that work. She also talked about the need to encourage and support Asian youths.

Sponsorship ceremony before new school year

The new academic year began in May, with a fresh intake of youngsters beginning their education at the Duang Prateep Kindergarten and other children's centres affiliated to the DPF.

Before the new school year started the Duang Prateep Foundation Sponsorship Section hosted the annual sponsorship ceremony. Some three hundred sponsored youngsters and their sponsors attended the event, which was presided over by DPF Chairman Dr. Sumet Jumsai na Ayudhya. Several foreign sponsors joined local sponsors in the distribution of sponsorship money for the first half of the academic year. There were speeches about the importance of education. Special prizes were given to sponsored students who have done particularly well in their studies, and eight of the ten sponsored students who completed their university level education in the last academic year were present to receive awards. The Sponsorship Section at the DPF is presently administering educational sponsorship for over 2,600 children studying at all levels from kindergarten to university.

The photo shows eight sponsored students who have completed their university education, with DPF Chairman Dr. Sumet Jumasi na Ayudhya and DPF Secretary General Prateep Ungsongtham Hata.

Before the start of the academic year the Duang Prateep Foundation also arranged training sessions for teachers at children’s centres affiliated to the Duang Prateep Foundation and for teachers at schools outside Bangkok. Twelve teachers from the Ratchada Bungkum Children's Centre made a one day visit to the Mahathai Children's Centre to exchange experiences and learn from their fellow teachers.

Help given to former addicts

The Duang Prateep Foundation is working with police and Klong Toey District officials to help juveniles who have completed a forty-five-day rehabilitation programme for addicts and have returned to living in Klong Toey Slum.

Early last month the Duang Prateep Foundation and Klong Toey District jointly arranged a two-day training programme for volunteers willing to help former addicts. A total of one hundred and forty people attended the training course at the Klong Toey District Office.

The head of the Duang Prateep Foundation's Aids Control Project, Nittaya Prompocheunboon, who is a trained psychologist, is meeting regularly with former addicts both individually and in groups. Three evenings a week, Nittaya is visiting four different centres in Klong Toey Slum to talk to former addicts. Nittaya is being assisted in the work by some of the trained volunteers. Many of the former addicts talk about the poor relationships in their families and the lack of parental understanding, other concerns include a lack of work opportunities and a lack of friends.

DPF shop at Saladaeng Skytrain station

The Sponsorship Section of the Duang Prateep Foundation recently launched a PROSEED Non-profit Gallery and Shop at Saladaeng BTS station. PROSEED stands for Poverty Reduction Operation by Slum Enterprise Development.

PROSEED is a small-scale income generation project designed to help break the cycle of poverty for poor families in Klong Toey slums by providing a decent and well-paid source of employment. The PROSEED project is working with eight low-income slum families and nine youths receiving educational sponsorship from the DPF, who work in their free time. The group members have received paid skills training and free materials for the creation of PROSEED products. PROSEED group members are promptly paid for their products, which are then sold at the Saladaeng store. Group members are the creators of the products and also collaborators in design, marketing and sales.

PROSEED targets households with daily incomes of 200 baht or less and that consist of family members of employable age who are underemployed or unemployed. All group members have children or grandchildren in primary or secondary school and are having difficulties in providing for their education. The purpose of PROSEED is to provide a supplementary source of income and actively encourages members to seek regular employment or build their own small-scale business. All members are enrolled in the DPF Credit Union, in order to inculcate good saving habits and foster financial self-sufficiency.

The shop is open every day from 11.00 to 21.00 in the central concourse area of Saladeang Station. The products for sale include T-shirts, pillows, notebooks, photo albums, jewellery and photos. A religious ceremony to celebrate the opening of the shop will take place sometime in the coming weeks.

Foreign volunteer news

May saw the departure of two foreign volunteers and the arrival of two new volunteers. We said goodbye to Swedish doctor Tobias Lindner, after a nine month period as a volunteer, and Phillip Elliott, after four months working with the Nithan Caravan puppet troupe and the children's art project.

The new arrivals are Mariko Sogo and Arika Sato, both from Japan. Mariko will be at the Duang Prateep Foundation for two years, under a programme sponsored by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency. Mariko will be helping with the development of craft activities. Arika will be at the Duang Prateep Foundation for one year to help with Japanese public relations writing.

Before leaving Tobias Linder gave a presentation about his experiences during his time at the DPF. Tobias described the health of the children he had tested as generally satisfactory, with reasonable weight and height averages. Tobias was concerned at the very poor level of dental hygiene in some 20% of the children he had seen. He was also concerned at excessive and incorrect use of medication in too many families.

Child labour report launched at DPF

Last month the Duang Prateep Foundation hosted the Launch of the International Labour Organisation report on Child Labour. Speakers at the event included the Thai Deputy Minister for Labour and Social Welfare, Ms. Ladawan Wongsriwong; Dr. Surin Pitsuwan, the former Thai Foreign Minister and member of the ILO World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalisation; Dr. Vithavas Khongkhakul representing the Duang Prateep Foundation; and the ILO Regional Director Mr. Yasuki Nodera.

The launch of the report was attended by media workers, by representatives of international organisations and embassies, by DPF staff and by people from the Klong Toey communities. After the speeches, there was a short time for questions from community representatives and the media. People from Klong Toey expressed their concern about the large numbers of young people in their communities who are being lured into working as drug dealers and runners, either as a means to finance their addiction or to support their family.

Honour for DPF Chairman

Dr. Sumet Jumsai na Ayudhya, the Chairman of the Duang Prateep Foundation, was recently elected to be the first ever Thai member of France’s Academie d’Architecture. The Academie was founded in 1840 and is limited to a hundred French members and a select number of overseas members.

Other news in brief

Well known Thai pop group Jiwa visited the Duang Prateep Foundation for an event organised by their record company RS Promotion. 150 art group members and sponsored students turned up at the DPF to meet Jiwa. The group played a few songs, donated art materials and had fun with the children during their three-hour visit. The group were given a painting by a Klong Toey artist. The three-hour visit was covered by several local television channels.

The photo shows Jiwa group members being presented a picture by children and DPF art teacher Chatchada Kruakaew, on right of painting.

Construction has started on a new dormitory at the New Life Project for Boys at Chumphon. The dormitory will sleep sixty youngsters and will double the present capacity at the project. The new building, which has been sponsored by the Japanese government should be finished in July.

Several Duang Prateep Foundation staff members have recently started training programmes in Japan. Two teachers went to Osaka for a two week stay as guests of Osaka Mai Pen Rai. A teacher for hearing-impaired children is in Japan for six months on a programme organised by the Ibaraki Prefectural Overseas Technical Training Programme. Another staff member is in Japan for one year language training as guest of Prateep Hamaoka.

Children receiving educational sponsorship through the Duang Prateep Foundation assisted with welcoming guests at the British Embassy's Annual Ball last month and other youngsters helped at the opening ceremony for an exhibition of religious amulets at the Silom Galleria.

The DPF art teacher, Chatchada Kruakaew, went to the New Life project at Kanchanaburi to run a short art programme for the children there. The young artists had fun painting the wonderful natural environment in which they live.

A youngster from the Duang Prateep Foundation's New Life Project for Boys at Chumphon and a boy from Klong Toey Slum participated together last month in a discussion about drugs on Thai television Channel 11.

Due to a vacation, the July newsletter will be distributed in early August.

News from Thailand

Number of poor declining

The World Bank reported last month that poverty in Thailand began to fall in 2000, although it remains above pre-1997 crisis levels. The incidence of poverty dropped from 15.9 per cent of the population in 1999 to 14.2 per cent in 2000. The number of individuals who live in households with an income below the poverty line has declined by almost 1 million, from about 9.8 million to 8.9 million. In rural areas, the number living in poverty fell by about 2.5 per cent, although poverty actually increased by 0.2 per cent in urban areas. Overall poverty remains above pre-crisis levels and continues to be a predominantly rural phenomenon. Urban poverty remains less significant, although the quality of life of the urban poor is probably worse than that of the rural poor, the report said.

Education has reduced numbers of child labourers

According to a report by the Thailand Development Research Institute, increased educational opportunities has resulted in the number of child labourers being reduced by 70 per cent over the past 16 years. The report said that the number of child labourers had decreased from 3.5 million in 1984 to 1.04 million in 2000 because the government had pursued a policy of giving rural children greater access to secondary education. However, the report said that working conditions for child labourers were substandard. For example, 30 per cent of those questioned said there was no medicine or medical care at their workplaces.

School fees too high for many

Before the new school year started in May it was reported by the Thai Farmers Research Centre Co (TFRC) that more than 40 per cent of parents and guardians of schoolchildren in Bangkok will find themselves short of funds for back-to-school expenses, which should total about Bt50 billion for the new academic year.

Spending on the new academic year should be about the same as last year, but nearly 40 per cent below the boom years of the mid-nineties, particularly for school uniforms. The research centre's survey found that 40.5 per cent of the respondents in the capital expected to need extra help to cover school-related expenses this year.

Parents with limited budgets said they have prepared ahead, mostly in one or more of five ways. Some dip into their savings, while others put in overtime at work or find an extra job, take out loans from chit funds, borrow from relatives or acquaintances or get advances from pawnshops. Parents have also shied away somewhat from relying on usurious sources outside the formal financial system, but there are still those who turn to loan sharks as a last resort and succumb to interest charges higher than 20 per cent per month.

Parents are caught between increases in the prices of almost all school supplies and uniforms, the general cost of living and tuition, and dwindling household incomes and fewer opportunities for moonlighting. Even though the government has implemented policies to alleviate some of the financial burden on households with students, authorities are still receiving complaints about needing to solve problems of price gouging on school-related equipment and supplies, as well as inflated tuition fees.

Physical and mental therapies to fight addiction

Physical and mental therapies will be used at ten secondary schools to curb drug addiction among students under a pioneer project funded by the Thai Red Cross. The ten Bangkok schools this year will begin using yoga, art therapy, music therapy, book therapy, play therapy and hypnotism therapy to solve school drug problems on an experimental basis. The activities are based on a hypothesis that youngsters opt for drugs because they lack endorphin, a hormone which gives a sense of happiness. The lack of endorphin among children, especially those in cities, is caused by stress and family problems and many youngsters lack skills to make themselves happy.

Under the scheme, well-trained Red Cross volunteers will train teachers on how to apply the therapies to students who must attend the class of their choice at least 2-3 periods a week.

The project will be extended to cover more schools if proven effective under an evaluation to be done in December.

Unleaded petrol cuts medical bill

The introduction of unleaded petrol has sharply decreased the level of lead in the blood of most children and traffic police over the past 10 years, according to a Chulalongkorn University study. The survey estimated that the decrease had in turn saved the country Bt7 billion in medical expenses as health problems related to lead were also declining.

Since lead was removed from petrol in 1996, the level of lead in the air had dropped by 95%. Among 800 students tested the lead-levels were only half of the maximum standard safety level of 10 microgrammes per decilitre of blood. The average level among students in 1993 tests had been about 8 microgrammes.

Global fund supports Thai war on deadly diseases

It was announced last month that Thailand will receive US$133 million (5.72 billion baht) from the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) to run a five-year programme for prevention and treatment of the deadly diseases. The money has been approved for Thailand's projects planned for 2002-2006.

GFATM was initiated in 2000 at the meeting of G8 countries in Okinawa, Japan, in order to provide financial support for prevention, control and treatment of HIV/Aids, tuberculosis and malaria which have been major causes of death among the poor in developing countries. The fund was established in January with contributions amounting to more than US$ 1.9 billion from rich countries. Thailand has been invited to be a co-founder of the fund with support from other Southeast Asian countries.

A new body, called the Country Co-ordinated Mechanism (CCM), has been set up to process Thailand;s projects. The GFATM board has already approved funding for the first two years of Thailand's five-year projects. The GFATM board will assess the outcome of the projects in the first two years before granting the rest of the money.

In the first two years, Thailand would receive US$31 million for Aids, $7 million for tuberculosis, and $5 million for malaria, or a total of 1,850 million baht. Thailand would also work with Burma to propose a bilateral project to control the spread of the three diseases along common border areas. The projects would emphasise prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, anti-retroviral treatment for Aids patients, special treatment for tuberculosis patients, and prevention of resistance to malaria drugs.

Weak knowledge hinders Thai economy

The World Bank reported last month that Thailand's competitiveness is hampered by a weak knowledge economy, which is one of the negative factors restraining the momentum of economic recovery.

The weakness of the Thai knowledge economy is summed up by the bank as follows: Secondary-school enrolment rates that lag behind other countries in the region. A skills mix that is not suited to the emergence of a knowledge economy, where new industrial and services companies seek to increase productivity through technological and organisational change. A technological capability by local firms that lags behind other countries in the region. Institutions and public programmes that have been less effective than those of other countries in helping firms to upgrade their skills development, training, technology and knowledge networks.

Recycling plan targets schools

The Environmental Quality Promotion Department has set a goal to cut the volume of garbage by 20 per cent in five years after the this year's launch of a trash recycling project in schools. Schools in 20 provinces have set up "banks" to receive recyclable garbage under the department's pilot project. Money from the sale of the trash would be put into accounts of students in proportion to the amount of trash they deposit with the banks. It was reported that some students have earned thousands of baht from junk. Recyclable garbage brought to the banks includes glass and plastic bottles, metal scraps and paper.

In Chon Buri and Nakhon Ratchasima provinces a garbage bank had been set up in every school and the department was planning to push for such full-scale implementation in other provinces.

Bangkok alone generates 9,000 tonnes of garbage daily and it costs at least Bt300 to dispose of a tonne of trash. Most of the garbage in Bangkok and elsewhere came from households, and the overall volume of trash could be substantially cut if people separated recyclable items from other kinds of rubbish.

Workers demand dole scheme

Workers marked Labour Day last month with fresh calls for better job security and welfare, including a dole scheme for the jobless, and an end to a government move to privatise state enterprises. Workers have pushed for a relief plan for the jobless since last year. The government has promised to establish an unemployment relief fund before its term ends in 2005 but has declined to give a specific time frame.