January 2015
We are very pleased to announce that one of our past Project Managers, Bill Taylor, has created his own non-profit the SE Asia Childrens Foundation. The Thailand Girls Scholarship has been greatly expanded in the last year. If you are interested in supporting girl’s education in Thailand please visit http://asiachildrensfoundation.org/
September 2014
This was another exciting year for our Thailand, Hill Tribe Girls Scholarship Project. Our project assists the girls with tuition, uniforms and transportation to school to enable them to finish their 10th, 11th and 12th grades. In several instances, these girls will be the first in their families to complete High School. While doing this, they are able to remain in their family home, stay in their culture and continue as part of their community.
Hill Tribe girls with only a 9th grade education make very meager wages in difficult, low paying jobs, working long hours. In many cases as little as 60 baht a day (less than $2.00). With the skills they learn, they should be able to find employment paying several times that, enough to help their families and themselves after graduation.
Several of these girls are not recognized as Thai citizens, though they were born in Thailand and their parents may have been born here also. Their travel is restricted to their own ‘local area’, and they have never been out of it.
This year, we awarded out 11th, 12th and 13th scholarship. It was our 9th and 10 scholarship for graduates (9th grade) of the RoMite school and our 2nd scholarship to a young girl heading to University.
We’ve had our first graduate of one of our ‘scholarship girls’ (a one year scholarship that we awarded last year). She is now enrolled in Chiang Mai University. She is an exceptionally talented student enrolled in their ‘teacher training’ program. Our project is assisting her with her tuition. She is our 2nd University student (4 year scholarship).
This March three more of our girls should be graduating from High School and I am hopeful that we will be able to help at least one of them with their University costs.
The 2 new High School awards went to two very exception young girls with G.P.A.s of over 3.3. Each year I am so proud of the quality of the girls that receive our awards. We have now awarded scholarships to girls from the Akha, Karen Hmong, Thai Yi (Shan) and Lisu Hill Tribes. As there are over 600 Hill Tribe students that attend this school, I am hopeful that we can expand this project to assist more students. The costs are very low and the changes that this project makes for these girls are enormous.
2012 – C.O.L.O.R. has girl’s educational scholarships in Thailand. Project Manager, Gary Van Haneghan handed out 3 year scholarships to 4 girls. The funds will enable them to complete their high school educations; each will be the first in their family to graduate. Gary wrote, “It was a very touching moment when one father told me, “I think my daughter is very smart, but without this help, I am just a poor farmer, and wouldn’t be able to send my daughter to school” and he wrote of one of the girls at the ceremony, she was “crying from the joy of being able to ‘go on’ to school”. This is person to person philanthropy at its best! This project is expected to grow, if you are interested in supporting this effort you can donate at www. ColorAid.org and specify your donation go to the Thailand Girls Scholarship Fund.
