Support “The Home of Joy” through Sustainability Projects
Based in Sangkhlaburi, North-West of Thailand, since 1990, Baan Unrak – "The Home of Joy" – has sheltered many hundreds children and single mothers, fleeing the civil war in Myanmar. At the moment we provide a safe & loving home, food, medical care, parenting and education to over 130 abandoned children from Thailand and Burma.
Donations have shrinked to a point that we are finding extremely difficult to survive and give a better future to our 130 children. Implementing these Sustainability Projects has become more and more urgent to survive. Through them we will sustain our Home of Joy, as well as educate children to become responsible, caring, and also teach them how to work, thus breaking the cycle of poverty.
We desperately need you to save Baan Unrak and help it become more indipendent through these Projects.
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ITALIAN VERSION
Bath chair and table for exercises for Ishvari
Ishwari is everyone's favorite in Baan Unrak. Her sincere smile and open look multiply the optimism around her. Her attitude always remains positive, even though every day Ishwari has to struggle with difficulties that most people have no idea about. For her daily routine, she needs special equipment. She is growing fast and has already grown out of the old equipment.
Ishvarii needs a new bath chair – it is a basic tool to take care of her.
A table for exercises is a piece of essential training equipment to improve the flexibility and strength of her muscles, develop nerve system and develop her motor skills.
Bath chair 4000 THB (105 €)
Exercise table 30500 TBH (800 €)
Braces for legs 3600 TBH (95 €)
Clinic tiles
Our clinic has served us faithfully, providing essential medical care to the children, staff and volunteers. However, when it comes to their flooring, it requires an upgrade. By replacing the old and worn-out flooring with new, durable, and easy-to-clean tiles, we can create a healthier environment for both patients and healthcare professionals.
Hygienic tiles are easier to clean and disinfect, reducing the risk of infections and cross-contamination. A clean and well-maintained clinic enhances the overall experience for patients, making them feel valued and cared for during their time of need.
The work includes tiles for the clinic rooms and top floor.
Total 70000 THB (1835 €)
Wall paint
It is great to live in a beautiful and tidy house. External aesthetics is inextricably linked with the inner state. When we are surrounded by beauty, it is easier to see the beauty within. Bright, inviting walls can transform the atmosphere, fostering positivity and a sense of belonging among the children.
The Home requires some renovation. First of all, we want to paint all the walls, make our place fresh and inspiring.
Total 20000 THB (525 €)
Music room
Behind our stage we have a soundproof room. It is ideal to store our musical equipment and sound system. The room has become very humid because of leaking bathrooms upstairs.
We need to repair the existing toilets on the floor above
(boys’ dormitories) to stop the leaking of water, to tile the floor
f the music room and paint the walls.
It will cost about 50,000 THB (1.385 €) - 50% COMPLETED
Mattresses
We would like to give each child that comes to Baan Unrak the right to have a mattress. It is his/her own property as long as they stay here. It means a lot to them to have a small corner that they can call to be their own. A place to relax, a place where they can cry or laugh.
At the moment we do not have mattresses for everybody, and some of them are really very old and practically unusable
We would like to give a clean bed to our sick children that have to be isolated termporarily form the others. With COVID we had big groups of children that had to isolate all together and did not have any dry mattresses for them.
We need 40 mattresses that cost 2.000THB each total 80,000 THB (2.215 €) - 10% COMPLETED
Engine for the Boat
A boat in Baan Unrak is not a luxury. It is necessary for our agriculture project to move our goats on the Island while we are growing vegetables on our land by the lake.
We also need to often go to check our water pump in the middle of the lake.
Moreover we can get some money by taking our guests to touristic places when our boat is free from other tasks.
If we have a fast and strong engine we will transform our project with our guests into a money-making adventure
Total 47.251 THB (1.310 €) - COMPLETED
Herbal dryer
At Baan Unrak we are trying to use every resource available to survive.
Our garden has a very poor soil, and it is difficult to grow vegetables and fruit. But it is great for herbs.
We have some very powerful herbs such as curcuma, ginger, lemon grass, butterfly pea, moringa and Neem.
Happy Life, a chain of organic food Stores, have contacted us to buy our products! This is a great opportunity, but we quickly need to buy a bigger dryer to meet their requirements! When our teens work with herbs it is so good to see them completely immersed in their task of washing, cleaning and drying.
total now: 7,022.00 THB (195 €) - COMPLETED
Sugar cane machine
On our land, sugar cane grows quite well. As children already sell cakes each day on the Market, it would be a very good opportunity to have this machine, to be able to sell sugar cane drinks as well. People on the Market would probably buy a drink together with a slice of cake!
It is an easy job if we have a machine to help us.
The sugar cane is a very refreshing drink
The machine costs 10, 000 THB (280 €) - COMPLETED
Ecological battery for solar panels
Electricity in our home in Baan Unrak is a real problem. Almost 160 people live and work here (between children, single mothers and staff).
We urgently need 3phase (we currently have only 1phase) but for many reasons we are not able to receive it from the electric Company. We are not a family or a small business. We are much bigger than that. We are in fact a small village by ourselves. During covid time our main switch exploded twice.The solution is lessening the burden of electricity by using several units of solar panels. We have in place a big unit of 42 panels, and this could be enough for the boys’ dormitories, the dining hall and the kitchen. We just need a big Battery. We found the perfect one. It is environmentally friendly and can last for many years.
It comes from a project that was financed by the European union.
It costs 300,000 THB (8.262 €) - ON HOLD
Manure project to help decrease poverty in Sangklaburi
We have on our farm 80 goats that give Baan Unrak milk for yogurt and cheese. We would like to use them also for manure.This way, male goats too will be part of the project. We need to rebuild their shelters on the slope of the mountain with a special system to gather their droppings, which will be collected for organic compost.
Once we have developed this project we can start a system to lend out our goats to the poorest villagers to make a similar product.
The building of such gathering system will cost 60.000 THB (1.660 €) - COMPLETED
Sustainability Through Hospitality
Sangkhlaburi has become a relatively good touristic area.We want to try to become more self-sufficient by attracting people to come and stay in Baan Unrak, creating a nice programme full of attractions. We will also attract groups for meditation, and people to volunteer or to visit and support the children.
The guest house in now only a big empty room with some beds and a very old bathroom.There is the opportunity to expand the ground floor and make a really nice place with 3 rooms, 3 bathrooms and a nice balcony with a great view on the lake.
Cost of 550,000 THB (15.250,00 €) - COMPLETED
In search of
drinking water
In Baan Unrak we need to pay for every glass of water. We cannot use the lake water, not even for cooking.
We found a place on our land that has an underground river with very pure water suitable for drinking.It is in a very narrow valley, and we bought a small domestic well drilling machine. We need 32.000 THB (890 €) for new head drills to finish the job and get the drinking water.
Cost of 32.000 THB (890 €) - COMPLETED
New battery and radiator for Baan Unrak water system
We depend on our daily water from a lake near our home.
The engine that we use to pump water is good, but now we need to change the radiator and the battery
Battery 3.000THB (85,00 €) - COMPLETED
Radiator 5.000THB (140,00 €) - COMPLETED
Stage for performance and dormitory
for groups
We have a very spacious place where our children can perform and dance.
But this place is also great for welcoming big groups of visitors.
We need them as they bring us new ideas,
new vitality and, most important, they help us economically to survive
These groups can sleep here for several days or more. We need to fix the floor and build several toilets for the guests. We also need to buy about 30 mattresses.
Cost about: 100,000 THB (2.770€) - COMPLETED
Art activities room,audience
space & Dormitory
for big groups
It is a large room communicating with the previous one. It is very bright and airy, ideal for all kind of artwork for the children and can be transformed into an audience space for about
200 people.
We need to repair all the linkages from the bathrooms of the floor above, to tile the floor and repaint the walls.
It can also be used as a second dormitory, so we will need
30 more mattresses.
Cost: 95,000 THB (2.630 €) - COMPLETED