Copy Right (2007) 'Little Siam Trust' Duang Dhamma Building, 49 Castle Street, Banbury OX16 5NU UK

Email: mail@littlesiamtrust.org Website: www.littlesiamtrust.org

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Registered Charity 1112381

Sugsasongkro School

The Sugsasongkro School (Chai-Nat) is a residential school for the orphaned, impoverished and disabled children. It is home to over 960 children aged between 5-18 years old.  Though the children originate from all over the county, most derive from the most deprived areas of north and north-eastern Thailand, where educational opportunities are very limited.  Some of the children come from parents (mostly single) who suffer from or have passed away due to AIDS.  Others, especially the girls, were at high risk of being sold into the sex trade.  The Thai Government does help support the children at Sugsasongkro School, but this is only for the academic year of 37 weeks - for the remaining 15 weeks, the school is left to rely solely on donations.  The previous school’s director, Mr. Pancum, gave us a tour on our first visit, where it was easy to see that though this was a safe haven for the children, the facilities are very basic.  The children sleep on bunk beds and share lockers for their clothing and belongings, which they do not have much of.  Textbooks are also shared, one between ten students!  The school works very hard to educate the children in preparation for life. Nonetheless, merely a few academically bright children were able to attain higher education as resources are very limited and unaffordable university fees.  Therefore the first gift we assisted with was the purchase of six hundred textbooks during 2006.