Our team has been active in the field, ramping up our latest efforts to bring essential goods and services to the community in this time of extraordinary need.

Here are some of the things we’ve accomplished

The Freedom Story recently organized a two-day campaign collaborating efforts in making masks in Nan Province. Two villages and a total of 70 people came together. Doctors, nurses, village leaders and health workers attended the event, where we taught them how to make masks. We made over 2,000 masks, which were given out to the community and surrounding villages. 

We also brought masks to migrant communities, who are in especially vulnerable situations, and we’ve made and shared informative videos about the virus and safe hygiene in ethnic minority languages, and even helped negotiate safe repatriation of Burmese migrant workers who got stuck at the border when it closed.

We’ve also distributed essential goods, things like noodles, shampoo, soap, toothpaste etc., to those of our students who have urgent needs.

All of this on top of shifting our regular mentorship and outreach programs online to continue staying in touch with our students and their families.

Thailand has thus far about 2,792 confirmed coronavirus cases and 47 deaths. Hopefully that means that the swift lockdown of the country leads to successful containment of the virus, so then ostensibly the biggest threat to the communities we work with would be managing the economic fallout and disruption to social life – which, of course, has a huge impact on vulnerable communities. The extent of the risk will only become clear as the situation unfolds, so our focus, which as always is prevention, is on buttressing vulnerable communities to strengthen them as much as we can, to keep them as resilient as we can, for however long this storm rages on.

We’re just under $800 away from our $10,000 goal of funds raised for emergency needs. If you can chip in a few bucks, you can help us meet these needs!