The Foundation for Child Development – a responsible and involved local partner

July 2011.

In 2009, in partnership with the FCD (a NGO in Thailand which was created in 1982) and thanks to the exceptional support of the Mathieu-Lafond foundation from Quebec CCI opened the Santikham center. The main objective of the center was to welcome the child laborers coming from the countries close to Thailand.

See an abstract of the project

The daily activities of the center have been a success story. The commitment of the staff of the center has allowed the kids to start smiling again and to feel that their daily activities are well-organized. The efforts of the FCD are starting to be recognized by the people in the community. They inform the FCD’s staff when they see distressed and abused children. The centre has become a reference point for cooperation for the community. However, the necessity to renovate the building of the centre has become apparent. For instance, our local partner has problems with falling roofs. It deplores the absence of showers in the building of the center and has brought attention to the existence of zones in the building which are unsafe for the children.

The need to renovate the center

The need to renovate the center goes hand in hand with the necessity to transform the FCD into a centre for rehabilitation, in particular, by the creation of dormitories. This seems necessary in order to insure the well-being of the children. By offering them a place to sleep, we will encourage them to stay longer at the centre. We will also give the staff of the centre the time needed to increase their support to the children. Furthermore, we will allow the staff to take the necessary steps to guide the children in their lives as workers, to offer them medical care in the long term and to provide them with personal documents if needed.

Let’s remember, among other things, that a child without a birth certificate in Thailand has no rights at all in the country. Moreover, a lot of children live on the streets or in precarious conditions which endanger their safety. If the centre effectively provides dormitories, we could offer a secure place for the children to stay for the whole day. The case of the 13 years old Wanwisa Poo illustrates the extent to which the mission of the center would be strengthened if its capacity to provide sleeping accommodation is increased. Because of the particularly distressing circumstances of Wanwisa Poo who had no safe place to stay, the FCD allowed her to spend a couple of nights at the center. The center covers the cost of her esthetician course and her medical treatment, the costs of the staff, as well as the transport cost.

A multifaceted aid for the working children

The vocational training is one of the necessary tools which the children need in order to cherish the hope to have a job which is less difficult and dangerous, and which gives them a greater freedom of action. Two aspects are taken into account: firstly, increasing the awareness about children’s rights and second, learning the language to make the children more autonomous and to give them advice in view of improving their competences.

The health of everyone is also a priority. In fact, by being better educated and in a better health condition, the beneficiaries of our help can expect to find better jobs and to work in safer conditions. Thus, when the 14 years old Miss Nang, splashed acid on her leg during work the voluntary workers at the center provided the first aid while advising her to work more carefully.

The social workers are full of good will

In order to keep the environment relatively healthy, our partner had demonstrated imagination and leadership qualities. In taking the initiative to invite the public to help paint the center to make it safer for the children playing there, the speakers have managed to attract voluntary workers who took part in the activity.

Our local partner is working on several fronts on a daily basis. The defense of the status of the children by obtaining the necessary documents (birth certificates) is a major step towards the protection of the rights of the children. The speakers of the centre accompany the children in the administrative procedures necessary to acquire a birth certificate.

Even though the local partner has succeeded in addressing the urgent need for renovation, the up to date renovations have been superficial and they have exemplified the lack of funds. The centre also lacks the funds necessary to finish what has already been started. It’s for this reason that we need your donations and your support!

See an abstract of the project

See this project in images

Consult the previous news about the project in Thailand:
May 2011, February 2011, December 2010, March 2009.