Tsunami Relief and Redevelopment

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            The aftermath of the Indian Ocean tsunami, which hit countries around the Indian Ocean with such devastation in December 2004, has provided a major new challenge for the Duang Prateep Foundation (DPF).

            Immediately after the tsunami, DPF volunteer fire-fighters set out to help with the rescue work. By dawn on the day after the disaster struck, the team was at work in Phang Nga Province, the worst affected area just north of Phuket, to assist survivors and help locate bodies of the dead.  A DPF social worker was able to use her experience of dealing with fire disasters in Khlong Toei Slum and her training as a psychologist to assist the bereaved and injured. Youths from the Duang Prateep Foundations New Life Project at Chumphon (drug rehabilitation) also went to volunteer their help in clearing up the area.    

            The Duang Prateep Foundation decided that the expertise accumulated in almost thirty years of working with disadvantaged children could be very beneficial in the areas ravaged by the tsunami. Therefore, in the first week of January 2005, Ms. Rotjana Phraesrithong, the head of Nithan Caravan Puppet Theatre, was appointed to head the southern activities of the Duang Prateep Foundation and plans were formulated for a long-term programme of assistance.            

            By the end of January 2005, the Duang Prateep Foundation had already set up activity centres in Baan Nam Khem and Phru Teaw communities of Phang Nga Province.

            Each centre was set up in a tent, offering a range of activities for children and youths. The centres provided mother and young child care, art activities, play activities, toy libraries, sports activities, play ground equipment, computer activities and similar.

            At a time when the local economy was in deep depression through the absence of tourists and the destruction of fishing boats, craft items were soon being made out of locally available material. Mothers and older children became busy sewing items for sale and very quickly many other activities were taking place, which boosted incomes and self-esteem, helping people piece their lives together again after the tsunami. 

            The Duang Prateep Foundation was also able to find finance for new fishing boats and start-up capital for other income generating activities. The Foundation was also able to provide educational sponsorship for over four hundred tsunami affected children, so that their education faced the minimum possible disruption.            

            Also in 2005, Nithan Caravan started a two-year programme of visiting two hundred and sixty kindergartens and primary schools in the six tsunami affected provinces. At each school the puppet troupe was performing, and training teachers in the making and use of puppets and story-telling and drama techniques. In each province Nithan Caravan set up one or more resource centres for teachers. The resource centres enhance activity-based learning in the local schools.

            Within a few months of the disaster, the Duang Prateep Foundation moved to recruit local staff, who were trained by DPF workers from Bangkok. Soon the locals were replacing the Bangkok based staff, who had provided the initial assistance. Under Ms. Rotjana Phraesrithong's guidance, the local recruits responded superbly to the many new challenges they faced.

            In the second half of 2006, DPF staff were able to move their programme of activities from the tents to permanent community centres. In August 2006 the Baan Tharn Namchai orphanage for tsunami victims opened in the village of Phru Teaw.  The orphanage is home for over fifty children.

            The orphanage is also a centre for activities for children in the wider local community. At weekends and in the school vacations, the children at the orphanage are joined by many other local children who join with the orphans in a wide range of activities. Children come together to enjoy the toy library, to practise music and dance, to learn craft skills, to play sports and to help care for the garden and farm. There are also many weekend outings to special events. 

            In the nearby village of Baan iTV, a new village built inland from the coast in the months after the tsunami, the DPF has a small after-school and weekend activity centre for the local children.

            By 2008, the Baan Tharn Namchai orphanage had become very crowded, so at the end of 2008 , the Hands Across the Water building will be opened alongside, to provide additional living space for the children. The new building will also provide more room for social and development activities with the local community.  In addition, plans are being made for another DPF social centre for young people in nearby Baan Nam Khem village.

            The Nithan Caravan puppet troupe based at the Phang-nga orphanage continues to outreach to children throughout the south.

            The Duang Prateep Foundation is committed to working with tsunami affected children, both in full time care and others, over the long term. Through the children, the DPF will also reach out to the wider local community and help people with the medium and long-term consequences of the disaster.