One of my contacts in the early childhood field is in Thailand, and upon emailing her the assignment for the week, I received an incredibly well resourced and thorough reply. I feel that I have not only learnt about poverty in her region, but also about ways educators, schools, students, and communities can help - and have helped.
Let me begin by introducing her again :
Juliet Perrin has been teaching for 16 years and this includes teaching in Australia, Turkey, England and now in Thailand. She is currently the Head of Year for the pre-nursery and nursery section at Regents School, in Pattaya, Thailand. She told me that her experience included working in deprived areas in England and as we know, there is a lot of poverty in Thailand where she has been for 6 years.
Juliet described to me some of the work that the Regents school does to fight poverty in Thailand and this included several community partnerships that were the focus of each age group of students. For the early years, where Juliet is a leader, they partner with Father Ray Day Care Center ( http://www.fr-ray.org/ ). She explained that the children from the center come to visit the early years (2.5-5 years old) students at Regents school, and vice versa. I found that fabulous and certainly a learning process for both sets of children and educators.
The poverty in Thailand can be quite sad, and Juliet further explained that some of the workers from the neighboring countries, who may be there illegally, will often bring their kids and leave them to fend for themselves, in hope for a better life. The poverty that is described is way more severe than the poverty we know of in America. Running water alone, can be a luxury in poor Asian communities, not to mention shelter, food, healthcare and safety.
Juliet listed the 10 organizations that are supported by the Regents school and quoted on of them, and so I quote Juliet's quote:
My second contact had not responded to my email, although she was very prompt when I first contacted her two weeks ago. I can only assume that there is an obstacle with getting back to me.
Let me begin by introducing her again :
Juliet Perrin has been teaching for 16 years and this includes teaching in Australia, Turkey, England and now in Thailand. She is currently the Head of Year for the pre-nursery and nursery section at Regents School, in Pattaya, Thailand. She told me that her experience included working in deprived areas in England and as we know, there is a lot of poverty in Thailand where she has been for 6 years.
Juliet described to me some of the work that the Regents school does to fight poverty in Thailand and this included several community partnerships that were the focus of each age group of students. For the early years, where Juliet is a leader, they partner with Father Ray Day Care Center ( http://www.fr-ray.org/ ). She explained that the children from the center come to visit the early years (2.5-5 years old) students at Regents school, and vice versa. I found that fabulous and certainly a learning process for both sets of children and educators.
The poverty in Thailand can be quite sad, and Juliet further explained that some of the workers from the neighboring countries, who may be there illegally, will often bring their kids and leave them to fend for themselves, in hope for a better life. The poverty that is described is way more severe than the poverty we know of in America. Running water alone, can be a luxury in poor Asian communities, not to mention shelter, food, healthcare and safety.
Juliet listed the 10 organizations that are supported by the Regents school and quoted on of them, and so I quote Juliet's quote:
" I like the quote from
Fountain of Life The Centre believes that “Poverty is the
enemy
of our children and education is the best weapon with which to fight it.” "My second contact had not responded to my email, although she was very prompt when I first contacted her two weeks ago. I can only assume that there is an obstacle with getting back to me.
Dear Zeina,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your post. It is very interesting and sad at the same time to read that people would leave their kids to fend for themselves because they feel that they would be better off than they were together.
Ana
It is terrible people would leave young children somewhere to fend for themselves. I wonder if there is a program in these countries to help those children who have been abandoned or left to fend for themselves. I wonder if a program does not exist if one can be started to help those children in need.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post about the poverty in Thailand. I was shock to read how children are left to fend for themselves.
ReplyDelete