Category: News

SHORT UPDATE 29-01-’24: the date to visit the schools have been set on the 22nd of March of 2024. Target 1 has been reached; target 2 has been reached; so let’s focus and achieve target 3, 4 and 5 (see targets below). We can only reach these targets with your support! 🙂

Project 2024: Baan Mae La Na & Baan Amya Schools

Exciting news! The Kharma Foundation is back! The volunteers are eager to continue the charitable cause post-Covid. Recently the return of civil war in Myanmar has intensified the stress upon the Northern border regions, making support important for the often forgotten kids of the hill tribes. We are happy to invite you to be part of our Kharma family (once more).

Our mantra is simple: 100% of your donation directly reaches the children; No overhead, No marketing, No lease cars – 100% pure impact! The schools for this year are Baan Mae La Na & Baan Amya in Tha Song Yang District. They are located right on the border of Myanmar (full info below).

Your help will provide better dormitories for the kids, upgraded facilities for teaching, desks, chairs, and more study and sports equipment for these schools. Additionally, we welcome donations of food, clothing, and toys – 2^nd hand or new. We plan to visit the schools in March 2024, trying to make a tangible impact before the rainy season.

We have 5 targets:
Target 1 = School books, school material & sports equipment, individual toys, flip flops, snacks, dry food, rice & more
Target 2 = Dormitory / Activity room for the Mae La Na School, fix the roof for the teacher’s dorm
Target 3 = Desks and Chairs for the Amya School
Target 4 = Mattresses, pillows, blankets for the 143 kids that sleep at the schools
Target 5 = Extra water tanks, 2nd hand laptops for both schools

Share our cause with friends and family as you know us and 100% of a donation will actually reach their goals, which sadly is rare in charity-land. Let’s make 2024 a year of positive change for these children. Join us: Together we can do amazing things!

Once more: We have no overhead, no marketing, no paid employees, no lease cars, no legal fees and no offices. A full 100% of the donations are for the benefit of the children and their educators… 100%!

Greetings from the Volunteers of the Kharma Foundation

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOLS

School 1: Baan Mae La Na 
(https://maps.app.goo.gl/NaQrMpM3aAoBadaDA)

Original name: Learning Center Border patrol survey of Ban Mae La Na

Under the jurisdiction of Border Patrol Police Division 34

Officially established on 16 May 2003.

Telephone 055-577426 – 0871994512

e-mail: [email protected]

Name of the school coordination contact: Police Sergeant Major Chatri Kongchalermjai

Location: Baan Mae Lana is located at house number 232, Village No. 6, Tha Song Yang Subdistrict, Tha Song Yang District, Tak Province.

Teachers: 7

Students:
Kindergarten 1 (3 – 4 years) = 3 Boys & 7 Girls

Kindergarten 2 ( 5 years) = 4 Boys & 3 Girls

Kindergarten 3 (6years) = 14 Boys & 10 Girls

Sub Total  = 21 Boys & 20 Girls = 41 Kids

Primary year 1 = 13 Boys & 11 Girls

Primary year 2 = 12 Boys & 10 Girls

Primary year 3 = 11 Boys & 20 Girls

Primary year 4 = 10 Boys & 12 Girls

Primary year 5 = 10 Boys & 11 Girls

Primary year 6 = 9 Boys & 5 Girls

Sub Total = 55 Boys & 69 Girls = 124 Kids

GRAND TOTAL = 86 Boys & 89 Girls = 175 Kids

Students that sleepover at school: total 71 students

School wishes: A new dormitory for the children & renovate dormitory for the teachers

 

     

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School 2: Baan Amya 
(https://maps.app.goo.gl/Dn7TTVoLRUnXTm8v6).

Original name: Baan Mae Amya Border Patrol Police Learning Center
Under the jurisdiction of Border Patrol Police Division 34

Officially established on February 13, 2002.

Telephone 0953072389 / e-mail [email protected]

Name of school coordination contact person: Police Sergeant Kanpitcha Kiriraran

Location: Baan Mae Amya 57 Village No. 7 Tha Song Yang Subdistrict Tha Song Yang District, Tak Province.

Teachers: 7

Students:
Kindergarten 1 (3 – 4 years) = 6 Boys & 4 Girls

Kindergarten 2 ( 5 years) = 3 Boys & 6 Girls

Kindergarten 3 (6years) = 9 Boys & 5 Girls

Sub Total = 18 Boys & 15 Girls = 33 Kids

Primary year 1 = 17 Boys & 10 Girls 

Primary year 2 = 13 Boys & 9 Girls 

Primary year 3 = 14 Boys & 7 Girls 

Primary year 4 = 13 Boys & 9 Girls

Primary year 5 = 5 Boys & 11 Girls

Primary year 6 = 8 Boys & 8 Girls

Sub Total = 70 Boys & 54 Girls = 124 Kids

GRAND TOTAL = 88 Boys & 69 Girls = 157 Kids

Students that sleepover at school: total 73 students

School wishes: desks and chairs for the children & help with upgrading the sleeping quarters with mats, pillows and blankets

 

 

 Pictures of previous years… just to enjoy! 🙂

  

  

  

                                                                 

 

Kharma Goes Valentine!

 

Pattaya, Thailand. 7-November-2105

Dear donors and supporters of the Kharma Foundation,

I hope this letter finds you in the best health possible and in a positive place in your life.
For the ninth time I’m writing an email to inform you about this year’s plans, with of course help from your generous donations.

9 great years with a lot of highs, lots of happy kids and a lot of wise lessons learned!

Over the course of this year there have been some changes within the Kharma Foundation’s organizational structure. Co-founder Nion together with some new and old volunteers will keep focusing on the troubled South of Thailand. For this goal she has made a daughter to the Kharma Foundation; the Kharma Family (KFAM). A beautiful saying about change is “who fears change, will fear life. Who embraces change, will embrace happiness”. So we face the changes with a smile, and will make the best of it.

Our most loyal supporter & volunteer over the years Scott, Janpen my beautiful girlfriend & volunteer and I will continue with the Kharma Foundation (KF), together with old and new volunteers. Two new faces that will be helping with the planning this year are Mark and Lucy who have prior experience with handling donations and supporting schools and orphanages. New faces bring new energy.

We would like to wish Nion and her group the best of luck.

So with that said and done we return to the North of Thailand. KFAM will continue to support the South and KF will explore more of the North and the North-East in the future.

The border region in the North is where we have been multiple times in our short history. This year the KF will travel to Umphang district of the Tak province, the most secluded and remote region in Thailand. We are going to the Le Tang Ku School, close to the Myanmar border. It is accessible only by one road, romantically named the ‘Death Highway’ as in rainy season this road is full of dangers and sometimes is closed down. We are NOT going in rainy season so please do not worry. Being so remote means that not much support finds its way to the area we are going to support.

 

Stateless citizens, refugees and hill tribe people are the inhabitants of these mountainous areas. Like in the year 2010 we will get support of the Border Patrol Police (BPP). You may remember from our previous visit, at that time it was in the Sangkhlaburi province, where we visited 4 schools.

Our choice for the Le Tang Ku School in Umphang is the remoteness and that this school is under solid management. All the support the children get is very much appreciated by the teachers, the leaders and the whole community.

The children are made up from mainly hill tribes with some refugees from Myanmar. Along with the children of the families of that area, there are also some children that have great distances to travel to the school so they board during the week and go home at weekends and we have some orphan children that stay at the school permanently.

We are aiming to support two schools if donations allow it. If we manage to get enough funds we will also support the Mae Chanta School about 40 kilometers from the first school connected via a dirt road through the mountains.

As always we are focusing on 4 main targets:
1. Nutrition.
2. Education.
3. Sports & Games.
4. And just plain old fun.

We are in contact with the BPP (Border Patrol Police) and they will help us with transportation, with the building and also supporting our activities at the school when we are on site. We want to create a new sanitary building with toilets and wash area and extend the mess hall. The current toilet block is now so old, very dirty, in some places dangerous and a breeding ground for all sorts of water borne diseases and infections.  The mess hall is completely overcrowded and is way too small for the 360 children that have to pass through there each meal time.

Thanks to one of our new volunteers Mark, a good friend and old business partner, we are lucky to have the full support of the highest ranking Border Patrol Police General of Thailand, General Payoon Amarit. With his support and clear orders towards the district leader and army staff working in the area, I feel very confident that we will get the full cooperation we need.

 

But also with the backing of the General we feel more positive that all donated goods will be distributed to the children and the donated structures will be properly maintained. It is these two things that are so important in our view.

When you do your best to gather donations and spend the funds on a project but the teachers, the people in charge or parts of the community are not supportive for whatever reason; all your good deeds are at risk of going to waste. Only with positive support and understanding from all sides can a long lasting effect be reached and this is the ultimate goal we want to achieve: to have a long lasting, positive effect on the lives of the kids we visit.

At the time of reading, the Kharma Foundation is still the same. The goals are the same, the children we want to help are the same and ‘doing something positive together’ remains the same. The faces that help may change over the years, but it has never been about us or our faces. Charity should be faceless and nameless. It is the fact that you give what makes it positive, not exactly how much.
“Do your good deeds and let it go and flow down the river” …a wise saying from ancient India. Doing good is not for showing off but for the good of the persons you try to help and maybe also about feeling good within yourself.

We keep the same philosophy that every donated Baht/Euro/Dollar/Pound or any other currency you wish to donate will go directly to the benefit of the children we visit. All volunteers pay their own way, all the way. Companies can donate via our ‘buy direct of a VAT registered company’ principle like previous years. We also like to open more options to get second hand toys donated of people in Thailand that have children.
A second hand toy in the city is pure gold in the hands of child in the North.

All the details about donating, bank accounts in Thailand and the Netherlands, donating goods and the important info of the school will follow below this letter.

I am very happy to be part of this 9^th year of the Kharma Foundation. 9 is a lucky number in Thailand. I hope it is lucky for us too. I wish you all a great last couple of months of 2015. May Christmas come soon and may happiness fill your hearts with your family and friends. Thank you for your ongoing support.

I will close with the words of President Franklin D. Roosevelt: “The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.”

Thank you for your time and of course you’re much needed support that makes it all possible. Thank you from our volunteers and of course: a BIG thank you from the kids…
Kindest regards,

The volunteers of The Kharma Foundation

 

“Kharma goes Valentine!”

 

 

Jomtien, Thailand 9-2-2015

Dear supporters of the Kharma Foundation,

We have concluded the 8^th project, the 8^th year, the project “The Deep South”.

A few figures to start with… the 4 goals to achieve this year were:
1. improving the quality of life for the kids
2. Changing the attitude of the children towards school and the future
3. Increase relationships between school-army-community
4. Trying to achieve a positive result so other foundations will dare to go here

We had 16 volunteers for this year with a few cancellations and one or two last moment additions; 4 Schools in 6 days; over 800 kids; over a 800 kilometers traveled within the 4 provinces of Songkla, Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat; the highest amount of donations reached in our history of over a 1,000,000 Baht; countless happy villagers; proud and happy soldiers and their commanders up to the general of the 4^th region; hundreds of stories; thousands of smiles.

May we proudly say it has been a success! The Kharma Family has reached a new height. Not that other years were less, not at all, but I feel that this year we managed to excel and to be different than all others.

In a world where everyone seems to have a (negative) opinion about Muslims lately and where a small bunch of evil men hold a world and a religion hostage for their own gain and sickening views of other humans, we as a small bunch of volunteers tried to make a different and positive sound.

A sound and a signal to the children that have been living in a surreal area of Thailand where there has been a civil war between religious freaks/criminals and the Thai army. These children have lost their parents, family members and/or friends. A signal to the parents and villagers that not all foreigners or people of other religions or of no religion are evil as some of the hate preachers try to make them believe. A sound to the people hiding in the shadows that we as outsiders have not forgotten these children that are caught in a sick adult game of power and death. A signal to the army that guns and bullets alone will not solve this problem, but genuine help from sincere people will be a big part of the answer… A sound that can be heard by friends and foes: the Kharma Family is small but not afraid.

Did I have my worries before? I would be lying if I said no. I think every volunteer was a bit tenser this year over previous years. Nion and I both had our worries: worries about the safety of the volunteers, worries about the reactions of the villagers and ‘the people in the shadows’. The collaboration with the army and the previous visits of Nion to the schools took away the worries bit by bit, but closer and closer to the day of leaving my head was spinning with both positive and negative thoughts.

 

A few volunteers canceled their trip, some with understandable reasons of work, but I can imagine some also due to the healthy fear of own life and limb. We are happy these people made their own choices and are happy these volunteers have helped us in years before and hopefully in the years to come.
But we are amazingly proud of all the volunteers that did show up. They found that the goals we tried to achieve were more important than their worries, and believed Nion that the safety would be as much as possible guaranteed by the good guys of army Special Forces Unit Suntisuk.

I like to thank these heroes! We had the familiar faces like Michal, Heide, Michelle, Scott, Andrew, Neung and of course Nion. And the new faces of Edwin, Woot, Ray, Nick, Radoslaw, Poom, Top and Noodle.

We all like to thank the army lieutenant colonel Natthagarn also known as Mr. Act; the leader of the troops to protect us, and his brave men. A thank you to the commander of the Suntisuk unit Colonel Chalit Puangmaleepradap. They did not only make us feel safe, but also had a great interaction with the children and villagers. From the famous rope pull and other games to helping us painting and construct, they have been versatile and they have been our protecting angels. The army also helped with transporting all the goods which saved us a huge amount in transport fees.
It was great to see that our presence created such a wave that not only Channel 5 news came on two separate days but also the 4^th regional Army Commander, the top of the top, came to see it for himself. He was impressed by the projects and complimented us that this had never happened before.
A thank you as well to the National Thai Railways for delivering all our goods for free in two completely packed and overloaded train carts.

 

We also like to thank each and every donor that supported this year. We had a seemingly unachievable target but you still believed in us and supported us. There are too many donors to mention all but we like to pick a few that have gone out of their way to make this year happen. The companies we like to thank are Syndicatum and Michelle; Parker Bridge via Richard and their 4 volunteers Edwin, Woot, Ray and Poom; BrainTrainerPlus and Hendrik; Vetz Petz and Kevin & Meji; Vizrt and khun Ju; SLC and nong Mui; the foundation Care 4 Kids and Woody & Ray and private donor Michal. But as said, each and every donation, small, big or huge has helped us, so our many thanks goes out to all of you.

This year we try to motivate the volunteers to write their stories and their emotions in their own language. We had (of course) Thai, English, Australian, Taiwanese, Irish, Dutch, Malaysian, French and German volunteers, so it has been a multi-national group of good hearted people. These stories will be added to the website www.kharmafoundation.com and also many pictures will be added over the next few weeks and months.

 

Of course I will add some photos with this letter so you can all get an impression of what was done with your donations and what we have seen.

I would like to finish this letter to you with bits out of a ‘thank you’ note to all volunteers received from Nion after we returned home safely. It shows a bit of the impact we created and the gratitude we have towards our volunteers.

Dear Kharma family,

This morning I received some calls from the girls from Islahuddin School; the difficult school we all visited together. They all told me that they miss you all very much. They all don’t eat the snacks they got as their rewards. They said they don’t want eat it because they can look at it when they think about us. They keep it to remind about us that we have been there. Afterward they asked Neung’s number and also called her to say that they miss us all.

Not only that, so far many girls and boys texting, posting and telling the soldiers that they want us to go back there again. They all miss us. Some of them trying to practice English with me because they want to communicate with you. I wish you could read Thai so I can show you those messages, I sent many of them to the military already

I told you these stories just because I’m very thankful for what you all did. These are the things money can’t buy. One of the goals was to create ‘curiosity’ for them and to realize the world is bigger. The results are more than expected. I want to bow and say thank you for you all a 1,000 times. I have you all as volunteers and many sponsors to help us achieved the goals.

Do you realize you all are the superstars down those provinces already? One more story is the reaction from the military from other units when they had a big meeting together. Some of military leaders said that what we did is saving the country. Do you realize how much people appreciating this!? Because of there was ‘NO ONE’ trying to do this such a thing before.

I’m really happy we did it together. I’m so thankful that I have a chance to know you all and really appreciate your efforts to help. I’m overwhelmed with the result what we achieve together. Thank you thank you thank you. Khop Khun mâak mâak ka.

Be proud of yourself. And I’m really proud of you all. I can’t come up with the beautiful English words, but I want you to know khop Khun mâak mâak from bottom of my heart ka.

Nion

 

This shows the impact we have had on the children, but also the impact the volunteers had on the founder Nion and she was speaking for me too. No matter how big or small the group, it’s the spirit, the energy and the love of the volunteers that made this year such a success.

May I conclude once more from my comfortable couch in my nice house living in moderate luxury to all of you that are living in similar conditions that what I have seen this year, the poverty that these kids have to endure and the horrible circumstances that is the daily life in that area that this year has made me the most proud ever that I founded this Kharma Family of ours. I thank Buddha for the amazing support this little movement has been given by you all, and via this mail one more time I want to put the spot light on Nion who has excelled this year over other years, from all of the supporters of the KF: Thank you!

Any other organization or foundation that would like to help this region, please contact the Suntisuk Unit. If people come together in this region to help the children, we could possibly change the future for a more positive one in this region and who knows…

There are still so many things we want to do for both kids and the people that take care of them, and luckily we have some money left so more updates will follow. For now, just items like mattresses, pillows and towels have made a huge difference for children that never had such ‘luxury’.

More stories, impressions and photos will follow. For now I am sitting here with a smile and a proud feeling. No arrogance, no self-indulgent… just extremely proud of the volunteers and proud of the support of the donors.
Kind regards,

Martin & Nion
[email protected]
[email protected]

 

Things achieved:

School 1 : Darulhikma, Narathiwas
A: construction= new toilets
B: giving school, sport and food goods for kids and school
C: activity = teaching + sport day

School 2 : Tadiga Mabuwoh, Narathiwas
A: construction = renovating class rooms
B: giving school and sport stuff for kids and food supplies for school + playground
C: activity = teaching + sport day

School 3 : Issarahuddin, Songkhla
A: construction = renovating girls dorm
B: giving sport equipment, food and study material for kids and school
C: activity = teaching + sport day + big cleaning day + veggies gardening competition

School 4 : Jaroensaat, Yala
A: construction = new boys dorm
B: giving sport equipment, food and study material for kids and school + extra kindergarten school
C: activity = teaching + sport day + big cleaning day

Stuff we donated via our Kharma Family members:

• 1000 kilos of rice
• 1000 bags of vermicelli
• 1000 underwear and clothing
• 2 playgrounds
• Gardening tools and seeds
• 2060 bags of sanitary napkin
• 6 ceiling fan
• 1010 towels
• 12 small tables and 12 book shelves
• 1,000 toothbrushes
• 1000 underwear
• 1,000 buckets + 1,000 soaps
• Paint for toilets and sleeping quarters
• 1 Cooler tank
• Sporting equipment for 4 schools
• 170 mattresses
• 50kg of detergent
• 40 big cooking spoons
• 600 bra’s
• 2,000 notebooks
• 100 boxes of color pencil
• 200 cans of canned fish
• 20 brooms
• Snacks for 4 schools
• 20 kitchen knives
• 10 cutting boards
• 1,000 bags of snacks
• 3,200 pens and pencils
• 1,000 rulers
• 50 liters of fish sauce
• 50 Kg of sugar
• 50 liters of cooking oil
• 50 liters of soy sauce
• 40 Kg of salt
• 18 water bottles
• 2 lunch boxes
• 12 puppets
• 2 umbrellas
• 17 handbags

 

• Roofing for soldier huts (private sponsor)