Baan Mae Tob Tai School is located close to Mae Sariang town in the Northern province Mae Hong Son. In the Northern Thailand many families, especially those part of Karen hilltribes live far away in the mountains. Accessing bigger villages and towns can be challenging due to long distances and poor roads. If these families are lucky and wealthy enough to have their children attend school, the kids usually stay in school dormitories throughout school terms.
Helping students staying at the dormitory
For some families in the most remote areas, getting a dormitory placement can be the key factor in having their child attend school in the first place. The teachers in Tob Tai School are doing their best to accommodate as many students as possible, while providing all with good care. They also accept students from their sister school Baan Mae Tob Nuea to stay in the dormitory.
Currently in the small 2-storey dormitory they have 6 girls staying on the second floor and 6 boys on the first floor. Recently, however they have been forced to turn down some families searching for a dormitory placement for their children, as the small building is completely full.
Elephant Hills Children’s Project has been supporting schools in the Northern Thailand for several years. In the past, we have donated two wall fans amongst other essential items to make the dormitory more comfortable for the children and teachers.
To further help with accommodating the students, our team returned to Tob Tai School. We brought mattresses and bedding, food supplies, gardening equipment and hair clippers, as requested by the school. We had also gathered some of the simple English books for the school’s library, as well as stationery donated by our generous visitors.
All of the much-needed donations were received with great appreciation and gratitude. In fact, the kids started to cut each other’s hair with the clippers and using the sauces and seasoning to cook dinner before we even left the school!
More help is needed in Baan Mae Tob Tai School to accommodate students from the most remote areas. New mattresses and bedding will initially improve the situation, but eventually a new, bigger dormitory building will be needed.
Elephant Hills Children’s Project will continue to support the school and we are currently looking into more ways to help them with the accommodation. If you would like to help the children in Northern Thailand and Khao Sok area, please contact us at projects@elephanthills.com
