Rice Seeds Child Sponsorship Program 2012

The new school year started today. The kids in our sponsorship program were excitedly waiting for the school bus this morning along with all of the other children in the neighborhood. For most of the children in the neighborhood, this is just another school year, but for the children that we sponsor we know that every year that they are allowed to stay in school counts. Every year is a sacrifice for their families and we are thankful (as we know the kids are) for some of the parents who have begun to see the value in having their kids stay in school.

For 2 years now, we have had sponsors for the Burmese children in our sponsorship program and we are grateful for each and every sponsor. Over the past year however, we have begun to reach out to other children, both Thai children in our neighborhood and children in a Karen community about an hour away from where we live. These children also desperately need help to be able to stay in school, and we would love to find sponsors for them.

Would you consider sponsoring a child to stay in school? For only US$30 a month, you could help one of these children continue pursuing their education - we believe for some of them, it will be a helping hand towards a better future.Our hope is that some may grow up to be a helping hand to their own community - helping to stop the cycle of poverty.

If you would like to sponsor a child to stay in school you can give online:  http://www.ywamthai.org/donate/?to=Ratchaburi 

A Second Rice Seeds Library

There is a community of Karen migrants that we began to reach out to around a year ago. Most of the parents have very low paying jobs, if they can find jobs in their area at all. Many times families cannot afford for the children to stay in school and they are forced to take their children out of formal education and send them to work at the end of their primary school years.

This is not a unique story, and is one that can be heard in many slum areas throughout Thailand, as well as in many other places in the world. Each person however does have a unique story of their own, with hopes and dreams that perhaps will never come true because of the family situation that they were born into. 

With around fifty children in the community, there is much hope that the future of the community need not be as grim as it now appears - should someone just step in and help them to continue on with their education.

Just as we have done with the Burmese community in Ratchaburi, we would like to find sponsors for some of these children to stay in school. We cannot force them to continue on with their education, but with friends and supporters standing alongside us, we hope to at least offer the chance of a better future to some of these children and their families, should they so choose to walk that path with us.

Presently, we don't have sponsors for any of the children, but we do have plans to build a library for the Karen community as we did with the Burmese community. A place in their own community where they can go to do their homework, study the Bible, have toys to play with, and books to read.

We will be starting to build this library during the third week of May 2012. Right now we have no books, or games. Just a few second hand toys, a small starting budget and a dream of a special place where these kids can be safe, and feel the freedom to nurture their dreams.

Do you have second hand books/toys or games that you would like to donate? Would you like to bless these kids with some new books or games? In a project like this, every donation truly makes a difference, no matter how small. 

You can donate online here. (please specify in the note that the money should be allocated to the Rice Seeds Library) Or contact us to find out more about donating second hand items to the library.