British Women's Group Bangkok

Karen Hill Tribe Weaving Co-operation

Welfare Team

offering a helping hand  

The Mercy Centre/Human Development Foundation

The mission of The Mercy Centre, which is home to the HDF, is to improve the quality of life for the children and communities living within the slums of Bangkok. They have built, and currently run, 31 schools which have educated more than 55,000 children so far. They are working to improve family health and welfare in the area and are well known for the work they do in protecting street children's rights, in responding to daily emergencies (They are currently co-ordinating the rebuilding work on the Klong Toey fire site), and offer shelter to street kids, to orphans and to children and adults with aids. The lovely thing about this non-profit, non-denominational organisation is that they work hand-in-hand with the people they are trying to help and aim to give them the confidence and skills to be self reliant

How you can help……

Work from Home (with the occasional visit)

If you take on this role you will get the amazing opportunity to learn about all the HDF’s different projects and how they are run. The organisation really does offer a life line to those that need it most but unfortunately, due to a common but inaccurate belief that it is well funded, they are in danger of having to close down. This is not a traditional fundraising role (You will not be contacting people asking for donations) - you will be asked to look at each project in turn detailing the purpose of the project, who is helped, who is involved and what the running costs are of that particular project are. The final outcome of all this delving will be to produce a document for each project that can be used as a ‘Funding Proposal’. You will be instrumental in allowing this charity to continue it’s fantastic work so if you have a way with words then we need you!!

An hour a day – two days a week

This is an easy but essential role which doesn’t require giving up too much of your time. Living in Thailand you must have experienced the frustration of sending off an e-mail and then……….nothing!! The lovely people working within the HDF don’t want to miss a single request but recognise the fact that sometimes they struggle to understand and respond to e-mails written in English. You could really make a difference to this charity by popping into the HDF offices for an hour a day on a Wednesday and Thursday to answer their e-mails? They are a great group of people who would go out of their way to make sure that you feel like part of the team.

Work on your own, as a pair or in a team and choose your own hours

When speaking to any charity or community group in Thailand you will be told that one of the area’s that could be improved upon is their English communication skills - the HDF is no different. The lovely thing about this position is that it’s not the usual ‘Teaching English’ post that has no clear starting point and no end in sight!! After a discussion around the needs of the group, the staff can already speak English but want to polish their skills, we agreed that the best approach to this role would be to break it up into ‘modules’. Have a think about what a typical day at the office entails, what is expected of you and what skills you need to have to meet those expectations - You could design and deliver a ‘module’ around the language and the do’s and don’ts of answering the telephone for example. This could be a role for one person, for two people who would like to join forces or for a group of friends who would like to take on a worthwhile project together – however you decide to do it….you will have fun!!

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer please contact: welfare@bwgbangkok.com

Many BWG ladies do voluntary work in a variety of ways.  Each of us has personal skills which can be utilized by so many organisations to help society.