“See you next year”, that’s what the children in The Dream House prophesized when I visited them after raising fund for anti-human trafficking cause, by walking 370km, which takes 15 days from Bangkok to Sangklaburi (Burmese Border) on my birthday last year.
Instead of saying see you tomorrow which they said it to everyone but particularly not to me, unravelling these children must be some kind of oracle to be or there are some kind of karmic connections between them and me. We’re after all in Thailand, land of nearly 95% Buddhist. Anything Karmic is a mandatory here.
Whatever it is, if a child wants to see you again regardless next year or tomorrow that means they need you, and you do whatever you can even if you have to jump into the river when you can’t swim.
Due to its location, Sangklaburi has a huge migrant population made up of Burmese and home to many hill tribes. Immigrants from Myanmar, Laos and Thai Hill Tribe villagers are stateless. This means they don’t get any support from the Thai Government, have no access to education, medical relief and more.
One of the organizations supported by the walk is The Dream house. It helps support a home for stateless children along the Thai-Burmese border who are at high risk, or survivors of, human trafficking. DREAM House is run by UK Starfish Asia Foundation, and currently houses over 30 children.
Some are orphans, or they come because their families financially not capable of supporting them. Some children have no belongings, passports, or even last names or birthdays they can identify with. Regardless, these children have something in common which is they have nowhere else to go.
I spend 2 days in The Dream House after my charity walk, observing where they live and how their living conditions are. 6 - 8 young children shared a small and plain simple hut. Their food supply comes from largely other people donation or the commercial effort from Starfish organization to sustain their livelihood.
With that in mind, I booked my Bangkok air ticket this January, not knowing what my itinerary in Thailand will be (I’m a backpacker; I don’t make plans or eat Macdonald. I’m spontaneous) so just one day before I leave Singapore, I saw the Facebook post that starfish foundation is raising fund to build a Children’s home, not just any children, but those children whom said see you next year, so I “solicit” and told my friends that I would like to raise USD$1000 for the Dream wall (A dorm room) and the next 7 days of my arrival in Thailand turns out to be a trip to remember, I have received generous donations from my kind friends which I’m forever grateful to build the dream wall come true.
So with these 3 little words, see you later, I'm back in Sangklaburi, my purpose is to volunteer for 7 days, babysitting, ploughing the land or laying the bricks for children's home, whatever they need my brain or physical strength for. And also by writing my volunteer experiences, hoping that this will increase the awareness of the situations these children are going through. And you who are reading now can act upon it…
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