With the start of the new school year, we are welcoming some new students, but we are also saying goodbye to others, such as Nang Leng and Sai Khur. Both of them have worked incredibly hard to be able to leave Somwang behind and take the next step continuing their education in a public Thai School. Their teachers and classmates organized a great send-off for the two at the end of the school year. Though we are all really sad to see them go, we are also so incredibly proud of them and wish them nothing but the very best.

Even though Thailand's domestic legislation guarantees that all children, regardless of legal status, have a right to basic education provided by the State, most refugee children are largely unable to access Thai schools due to language barriers. At Somwang, we have thus made it our goal to prepare students with the necessary Thai, English and Math skills to give them the chance to continue their education beyond Somwang by attending  public Thai schools. Thus, seeing students move on means that we are fulfilling that goal and that is a great success for us, and for everyone involved, really.

Though the funds that we collect through events and donations are all invested into Somwang School, we have extended our scope and are working with private sponsors in order to give children the necessary financial support to allow them to continue their education once they leave Somwang. It is thanks to a very generous sponsor that Nang Leng and Sai Khur, along with Chai Khwan (who already attended a Thai school last year) are able to keep learning and building a better future for themselves and their families. Thank you so much!

School is back in session, and we couldn't be more excited!

After a month of summer vacation our kids weathered the rain this morning to make it back to Somwang School for the first day of the new school year 2018/19.

Our kids are currently enjoying a well-deserved vacation, which means that another school year at Somwang has come to an end, and a moment to look back on it all presents itself.
 
It was a big and important year for Somwang School, one filled with laughter, successes and big steps.
 
Over the course of the year, Somwang was home to an average of 70 children. To keep them healthy and happy, our cook, who is also one of the teachers, cooked about a total of 17000 meals. No easy task!
 
Helping her take care of the kids, we had 3 more teachers, one of which is Aoi Som, whose story we shared with you earlier this year and which you can reread again here, in case you missed it.
 
This year marked also the transition of our first student, Chai Khwan, from Somwang to a public Thai school; a proud moment for all that were involved, which you can revisit here.
 
The school itself also went through some changes and with the help of our valued sponsors, we were able to build a new roof, install our own solar panel, have access to electricity and can now further our student’s education through the use of computers.
 
Moreover, we visited the school again and held important parent-teacher-sponsor meetings, where we give the students’ families a possibility to voice their concerns, brainstorm new ideas and problem solve together.
 
Needless to say, we are incredibly grateful for all the continued support we are getting from so many of you, and we can’t wait to see what the new year will have in store for us.
 
Somwang opens again on April 17th, so stay tuned!