Evening at Jomtien Boathouse

On Thursday 25^th September, a special dinner and evening of entertainment with Elvis was  held at the Jomtien Boathouse Restaurant, Jomtien Beach Road.  A wonderful dinner was served by the Boathouse Restaurant staff and organized by Khun Kannika. A slide show of the projects in Mae Sot was presented along with a presentation by Bronwyn, Kylie and Rosanne.  On this evening 150,000 Baht was raised for the WWM education programs in the Thai / Burma Border Camps. All proceeds from the evening will go to support the welfare and educational needs of refuge Myanmar children living in camps on the Thailand border.

A special thank you goes to our Sponsors for the evening DHL and a special friend Chitra for her generous donation.  Also sincere thanks for the wonderful auction and raffle items donated by Ursula Antiques, Kalae, Arlette Cykman, Nancy Srikumpol, Patricia Foulstone, Indian by Nature Restaurant, La Luna Restaurant, Café New Orleans, Boathouse Restaurant, Residence Inn Restaurant.

Women with a Mission (WWM) is a private group of women who work to organise help for people who need it most.  We are currently working to help provide educational supplies (such as a photocopier which will enable to copying of text books for distribution to 54 community schools) to benefit some of the thousands of Burmese children living in the camps along the Thailand/Myanmar border (previously Burma). We are also trying to raise money to supply the children with food, clothing and medical supplies.  These children have been displaced by both political uncertainty and more recently a natural disaster, namely the devastating Cyclone Nagis, which left thousands of children orphaned.

If you were unable to attend this charity event for Women With A Mission and would like to learn more. Contact us by email at wwm.burma@gmail.com.

An Evening of Dinner and Entertainment!

We're preparing for our second fundraising event - it's so exciting! Bron and I (Kylie) will both be back in Thailand with Rosanne in September and it's the perfect time for us to host a dinner together.

We're planning an evening of dinner and entertainment (by ELVIS of all people!) at Jomtien Boathouse on Thursday 25 September 2008 at 7:00pm and we'd love to see you there.

If you're not able to join us but would like to contribute towards our effort to raise funds needed to help meet nutritional needs, provide safe living conditions and educational needs for Burmese children living in Thailand, our bank account details are;

Women With A Mission

Kasikornbank

Branch - Lotus Pattaya (sub-branch)

Account No. - 533 2 056427

SWIFT CODE - KASITHBK

For more information, email wwm.burma@gmail.com.

Article in Pattaya Newspapers - July 08

This past week WWM has been able to send food, clothing, medical supplies and funds into Burma and the Mae Sot area to help feed, clothe and educate the children of Burmese migrant workers and survivors of Cyclone Nagis.

The management of Regent Park, Naklua, provided a house to use as a collection point for all of the food and clothing items over a period of one month and DHL Logistics provided a truck and staff to load and deliver the items to Mae Sot.  

Arriving into Mae Sot around 7:30am on Sunday 13 July the truck was greeted by the children and director of Hsa Thoo Lei Orphanage and Learning Centre, home to 210 orphaned Burmese/Karen children and children of Internally Displaced People (IDP).  Within three hours the two truck drivers and children had unloaded the large truck and separated the items for ease of distribution.  Within an hour of the truck being unloaded, a local volunteer organisation was able to take the boxes of men’s, women’s and children’s clothing for distribution to survivors of Cyclone Nagis.   

The remainder of the food and clothing items were distributed between Hsa Thoo Lei and two orphanages inside Burma, who through their various channels help the survivors of Cyclone Nagis.  Due to the difficulties in transporting relief items into Burma, the orphanage house mother and her driver will make three trips in a small van over the next few weeks so as not to draw unnecessary attention to their activities.  WWM left additional funds to be used for transportation.

It has proven difficult to give assistance to the people in need inside Burma.  Many obstacles stand in the way of sending in large quantities of relief items and the high cost of fuel has prevented even small shipments going in, along with unrest at the border.  We have been able to direct funds collected (over half a million baht so far) to an organisation operating inside Burma.  They are utilising the funds to provide food and medical supplies, re-build homes and repair boats so the fishermen are able to start earning a living again.  Your donations of money, food and clothing have had, and continue to have, a positive effect on their recovery.

Women With a Mission will continue to assist the Burmese families inside Burma with funds to help rebuild their lives in addition to providing children living in refuges camps along the Thai/Burma border with daily meals, educational materials, uniforms and medicines.  

A big thank you goes out to so many people, but first of all Marjolijn for co-ordinating the food and clothing drive, along with her many friends.  We also thank the following people, schools and organisations for their generosity.

Management of Regent Park (Bangkok Sunday Co. Ltd) 

DHL Logistics

Thai Thani Management Co. Ltd

St Andrews International School

International School Eastern Seaboard (ISE) 

Montessori Children’s Centre International   

Neighbours of Regent’s Park

De Nederlandse Vereniging in Pattaya 

AGS Four Winds

Pattaya International Ladies Club  

Dana Spicer (Rayong) 

There were many individuals who helped in collecting the goods, sort and label boxes, produce packing lists and others who provided medical supplies.  Our thanks go out to you all for making this a successful collection.  

Help is still needed by the Burmese people.  Please contact WWM on how you can make a difference to the lives of those with so little.  We’d also like to hear from you if you wanted some more information or updates on our activities.  

Email – wwm.burma@gmail.com.

Rosanne, Bronwyn and Kylie

Arrival...

Rosy and I arrived mid-morning into Mae Sot, ably driven from Pattaya by Khun Thani, soon after the DHL truck had been unloaded and departed for it's return journey to Pattaya.  After a quick visit to Hsa Thoo Lei - it was Sunday after all and we wanted to give the Director some time to herself, we checked into our guesthouse (Pin Guesthouse on Highway 105), rested for an hour or so then headed out to find a fruit vendor eager to sell us fruit in bulk at a good price to take to the schools we'll be visiting tomorrow.  We're told we may need a 4WD to get to one of the schools, so we'll see!

Kylie

Fab fundraising night to raise money for the children in boarding House

Photo: Delivering food to the canteen at Boarding House, Thailand border.

Newly formed Melbourne group of women "EMPOWA" used their first fundraising and community awareness raising activity to empower the Burmese children at a boarding house within a refugee camp on the Thai border. The women held a dinner and silent auction at the Burmese restaurant, Burmese House, in Richmond, Melbourne. Great food, including traditional dishes from Burma, was served in between information sessions and a photo presentation of the living conditions of Burmese migrant children and refugees living in Thailand. The night was a good time for old friends to catch up, and new friends to be made. Great contributions to the cause, $3,500 AUD was raised, all of which is going to the boarding house.

So thanks to everyone who contributed, 85 children will have protein, fruit and vegetables included in their daily meals for the next year.

Special thanks to:

EMPOWA Women's Group - Vic, Kim, Kerry, Kerri, Karen, Michelle, and Bron (who is a member of WWM).
Burmese House - thanks to Mimi for fabulous cooking and the great staff support.
Orient Express for donating beautiful Burmese items for the auction.
D'Fine/Creative - for donating the art work and printing for the banners.
Kim King and her party for their great support for the night.

FOOTNOTE:

The boarding house is located within a refugee camp near Mae Sot, Thailand.  It is home to between 85 - 100 children who cross the border from Burma to have the opportunity for education and to live safely, free from the threat of the army burning down their villages, and worse. They come without their parents (if they are still alive) and often do not see their families for many years. Some of the children receive rice rations from the main camp, but many are totally dependant on people such as us for food, clothing, and hygiene supplies. With the increasing price of rice since Cyclone Nargis, food is now at a critical level for these children, who receive only two meals a day, unless substantial extra funding is received.