Conditions in Northern Thailand are slowly, slowly returning to a new type of "normal".
We read media reports that quarantine requirements for those wishing to enter Thailand may be loosened in the near future for those who have been vaccinated and look forward to the return of our members who have been "locked out" for over a year, after they receive their vaccinations overseas.
Sadly, implementation of Covid-19 vaccinations here does not seem to be a top priority of the Thai government and, so far, private hospitals have been unable to secure their own supply and the government's supply has been very limited, with few sources approved and local manufacture many months distant. It's been many weeks since there has been a new Covid-19 case in Chiang Mai province, but new cases occur daily in and around Bangkok and Tak province, adjacent to Myanmar, where Covid-19 rages and which is the location of some of our service project activity.
We learn about the political situation in Myanmar from local news media, available to anyone in the world via the internet. At this time, we have not been asked directly for assistance from any of our program partners who work along the border, although that could change as more people from Burma relocate into Thailand.
Many of our members have temporarily left left Chiang Mai due to the "normal" poor seasonal air quality, with Phuket seeming to be a popular destination. It's also the time of school holidays and since most of our service projects involve children, our projects are also "on holiday".
On the subject of holidays, the Thai government has decided to reinstate the traditional time of the multi-day Songkran holiday, mid-April, unlike last year. However, the holiday is to be low-keyed with no water or powder throwing, no public drunkenness and strict curfews. Instead, it is to be celebrated in the "traditional way", with washing of Buddha images plus young people washing the hands of elders and receiving blessings from them (pictured above). It will be a welcome relief to venture outside our condo building during Songkran without being drenched with water.
In the future we will be hearing more about the need for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) within our Rotary Clubs, Rotary Districts and Rotary International. Might not the need for DEI be motivated by a swapping of the “I” with “E” in the acronym?
The following is the RI statement regarding DEI:
"A top priority for Rotary is growing and diversifying our membership to make sure we reflect the communities we serve and are inclusive of all cultures, experiences, and identities.
We're creating an organization that is more open and inclusive, fair to all, builds goodwill, and benefits our communities.
To help us achieve our goal, the RI Board of Directors passed a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) statement:
As a global network that strives to build a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change, Rotary values diversity and celebrates the contributions of people of all backgrounds, regardless of their age, ethnicity, race, color, abilities, religion, socioeconomic status, culture, sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity.
Rotary will cultivate a diverse, equitable, and inclusive culture in which people from underrepresented groups have greater opportunities to participate as members and leaders.
Making diversity, equity, and inclusion a priority is everyone's responsibility — from Rotary members to staff at the Secretariat."
March was yet another very busy month at the Burma Children Medical Fund's (BCMF) B.K. Kee Patient House with the Sewing Skills and English Language Development programs running with the cooperation of BEAM Education Foundation and the Interact Club students from Chiang Mai International School. By the time this newsletter is published the 8-session sewing workshop will be completed and in our next bulletin I will go into more depth about this program. The English Language Development program will continue but without the participation of CMIS Interact club (pictured, above, with B.K. Kee House patients and caregivers) as they will be on a month-long break during April. During this time members of CMIRC will follow up on some of the units that have been introduced so far as well as work on some basic conversational phrases.
This month I would like to take the opportunity to focus on a very important employee, Mi Aye, who has been working as part of the BCMF team since 2015. In addition to her many contributions to the success of the BCMF B.K. Kee Patient House, her personal story is quite remarkable. Many thanks to BCMF’s director, Kanchana Thornton for providing Mi Aye’s background story.
Mi Aye’s connection to BCMF began when she was referred in 2009 as a young cardiac patient who needed help to have her pacemaker checked and replaced. This device helps regulate her heartbeat to a normal rate so she can carry on with her everyday life.
At the age of three, Mi Aye’s parents moved the family to Mae La refugee camp as unregistered refugees to escape conflict in their home village in Karen State, Burma. It was during this time when her mother noticed Mi Aye had a heart problem. Her first pacemaker was inserted in 2004 at the age of 11 years old with the help from a medical NGO that was working in the camp at the time. She is one of four sisters that was lucky enough to receive support from her aunt who helped her parents cover the cost of her education in a Thai school near the refugee camp. Mi Aye completed grade 12 and by then, the family had moved out of the camp to set up home in Tha Song Yang District in Tak Province, Thailand. Her father worked as a day laborer on a farm and her mother worked as a daycare provider. Mi Aye was able to finish her schooling and then got a job in a phone shop.
In 2009, Mi Aye had her pacemaker replaced and needed annual check-ups. BCMF was able to provide the ongoing support she required during the time at the BCMF’s house as a patient. At the house she provided help with translation for other Karen patients. Mi Aye made it known that if an opportunity was available to formally take a paid position at the house, she was very interested. In 2015 a need for someone with her skills and background became available and Mi Aye joined the team and was provided with more training for the position. Her job is to translate for the patients during their hospital visits, helping communicate with the hospital medical staff as well as applying computer and phone skills to assist the patients and caregivers. Mi Aye is also responsible for accounting as well as managing the patients who are older than her and getting them to understand and follow through on treatment and aftercare.
In addition, Mi Aye also helps the house residents with recreation and supports projects at the head office in Mae Sot. In 2019 Mi Aye taught herself and the residents how to make washable pencil cases for BCMF’s school stationery project in Karen State and Mae Sot (left). They made a total of 1,100 pencil cases.
In 2020, due to the COVID 19 pandemic, the patients and caregivers were unable to return home. The staff have the responsibility to keep the house residents occupied and make the best use of their time. With the support from Mae Sot office, Mi Aye started to search on YouTube for how to make face masks and transform used clothing into mats, bags and quilts in order to teach the house residents useful skills. Together, they have sewn over 400 face masks that were given out to Thai hospital staff and used for BCMF’s projects in Mae Sot. Mi Aye continues to expand her arts and crafts skills to share with the patients and caregivers.
It has been a pleasure to work with Mi Aye as well as to get to know more of the BCMF staff both here in Chiang Mai and in Mae Sot. Kanchana has assembled a most impressive team and we can all be grateful to be supporting such an amazing program.
Below left, Mi Aye is helping a patient before Covid-19. At right, she displays her artistic ability with her facemask removed just for the photo.
If any Rotarians are interested in joining us on our every other Sunday visits, please reach out to Bill Pierce, B.K. Kee Patient House Project Champion. Temperature screening is done when we arrive and we are required to wear face coverings during the entire visit. We leave the Shell station at 11:00 (on Huay Kaew Rd.) on Sunday mornings and usually complete our visit around 12:45.
With the Covid-19 lockdown in Mae Sot, along the border with Burma, the residents at the Burma Children Medical Fund's B K Kee Patient House in Chiang Mai are unable to return home.
What to do, how can we use this time to help the residents? The solution was to help and give life-long skills.
The B K Kee team initiated sewing and English lessons classes -- skills patients and their caregivers could use when returning to Mae Sot. B K Kee's staff put out a call for support in their new ventures. BEAM Education Foundation's Vocational Training Program came to their aid though their Certificate Sewing Program run at the BEAM school by Michele Maclellan. CMIRC's B K Kee Project Champion Bill organized a trip to B K Kee for Michele to meet the team to establish the type of support needed.
Michele and her team from BEAM are extremely well organized and were able to support the B K Kee team, taking sewing machines, together with all other needed supplies. Classes were established for Tuesday and Thursday each week for the month of March with each class lasting for two hours.
Meanwhile, in other news from BEAM.......
The request for applicants has been sent out into the community for the BEAM New Year 2021 - 2022, (below is a copy of their Newsletter; note that the live links in the image aren't active)
Most students of 2020 – 2021 now have heads in books in preparation for exams in April, as with last year there are some serious challenges for students residing in Myanmar with no reliable internet access and borders closed with Thailand. But with the support from BEAM, together with their determination and earnest intentions, these obstacles will be overcome; it just takes time.
This year there is a very high demand for university places, with delays, and changes to the system because of Covid 19 many students were unable to apply, let alone find sponsorship, so they have waited a year to apply. With this awareness many students are planning to write the exams early giving them time to make their applications.
There is more to the story which is not going to make the editors publication date, so do not miss next month’s CMIRC Bulletin for the concluding installment.
This has been a fantastic experience for all in having different CMIRC projects come together, supporting each other’s needs.
Our team at Kru Payu Swim and Bronco Kids Sport Club did it!! In spite of all the Covid-19 closings, we completed our program for all of our twelve Chiang Mai schools during this school year. Congratulations Kru Payu Swim and Bronco Kids Sport Club!!
Planning for next year is already underway. In Chiang Mai we will train all 4th-graders at all eleven municipal schools again this year. And, with the help of the Rotary Club of Chiang Mai-Wattana we will again include the Wat Suan Dok School as our 12th school. We will teach a total of approximately 350 4th-graders in Chiang Mai this school year.
The CMIRC Children’s Water Safety and Drowning Prevention Program (CWSDPP) in Chiang Mai is nearly completely funded this year by an Australian Embassy Direct Assistance Grant. Australian Honorary Consul Ron Elliott visited recently and we were able to thank him personally for his support and the support of the Australian government. (Below Australian Hon. Consul Ron Elliott is shown with Kru Payu at far left and Khun Pomme, owner of Bronco Kids Sports Club.)
In our Phrao Water Safety Program, working with our Warm Heart Foundation partners, we are planning next year to add five schools to the seven we already teach there, bringing our total in Phrao for the next school year up to twelve schools. This will result in a record number of 197 4th-graders taking our survival swim course in Phrao.
The last two years in Phrao we have relied on funding from the British Community in Thailand Foundation for the Needy (BCTFN). Due to Covid-19, BCTFN was unable to stage their major fundraiser this year and they are unable to fund our program in 2021. Fortunately, working with the BCTFN Northern Region Coordinator, Ian Bushell, we have been able to identify a private donor to fund our Phrao program this year, so there will be no interruption in our survival swim work in Phrao!
More good news, recently we were contacted by the Rotary Club Royal Hua Hin (RCRHH) with a request to learn more about how to set up and run a children’s water safety and drowning prevention program. They liked the information we sent and are now very interested in using our model to establish a RCRHH CWSDPP! I have been invited to speak to their club on April 27. As it happened my wife and I had already planned to vacation in Hua Hin from April 22 to 30, a very happy coincidence, or maybe some things are just meant to be!
THIS JUST IN:
The Grand Monadnock Rotary Clubof New Hampshire where our friend Tom Westheimer is a member just announced a very much needed donation to our Chiang Mai International Rotary Club Children’s Water Safety and Drowning Prevention Program. The donated funds in the amount of $1250 will be used to buy swim equipment (bathing suits, swim caps, goggles, and float boards) for three programs. We will purchase equipment for 25 boys and 25 girls at three swim program locations (Chiang Mai, Phrao, and the Banya Migrant Learning Centre). The Rotary Club of Grand Monadnock donation will allow us to purchase 150 swim equipment sets. Since we reuse the equipment for each new class, hundreds of children will benefit from their generosity!
Finally, we welcome donations and new Rotary partners to help us continue and expand our program as we move into our 7th year of this life saving program.
We started this program in 2015 and we are still going strong and serving more children every year thanks to our wonderful sponsors and CMIRC volunteers! If you wish to help please contact Project Champion John Schorr at johnkschorr@gmail.com for more information.
CMIRC Children’s Water Safety and Drowning Prevention Team and Sponsors:
Great news: our CMIRC School Vision Screening Program is being funded for next year, so we can proceed! We just learned from our partners at the Rotary Club of Spokane 21 that we can rely on them for at least US $2,000 for the 2021-2022 Rotary Year. They are also seeking additional funds from their Rotary District for our SVSP. Many thanks to their International Committee and Rtn. Fred Peck at RC-Spokane 21!!
More great news, we just received a shipment of almost 500 New Balance children’s eyeglass frames. These are high quality, stainless steel, flexible spring-hinged frames. These frames were donated by Eyewear Designs of Bethpage, NY through a former student of mine, Steve Horowitz and stored and shipped by my daughter Anne Schorr and her partner John Schultz. Many thanks to them all!!
Finally, we just learned from Charter President Pong that the Rotary Club of Chiang Mai-Wattana will once again this year support the SVSP project at the Wat Suan Dok School. And, the Rotary Club of Chiang Mai-North has pledged continued support for those children needing ophthalmological surgery.
So, we can now proceed with planning for next year, probably beginning our screenings of 3rd and 5th graders in May or June, at the start of the new school year. The screenings next year will also include a follow-up examination with the children who received glasses in 2020 (most will be 4th and 6th-graders at the same schools) and then screen the new 3rd and 5th-graders at each of the twelve schools.
Finally, while our plans are coming together nicely for the 2021-2022 Rotary Year, we have not yet found full funding for the project. The program cost per prescription including the optician’s fees, frames, and lenses this past year was about 600 Baht (US$20); the glasses are provided for free to the children. The total program budget for next year is estimated at about US$3,000.
If you wish to learn how you can help, please contact Project Champion John Schorr at johnkschorr@gmail.com or tel.: 66 (0)8 5030 2143
I live in rural thailand; my farm is right next to a small village. During harvest season, huge trucks come to the village to pick up villagers and take them away with their motorcycles, bedding and clothing to cut sugarcane fields over the country. They leave their children with the elders and are gone for a few months. The village is then filled with children and their grandparents with few resources. I decided that the best way for me to help the kids was through the local school.
Ban Phasak school is the small local school with a small budget. There are sixty-five students. A few months ago, my wife, Nid (pictured to the immediate right of the sign, below), and her friends organized a special meal for the kids. While we were there, the principal pointed to a space and said that he wanted to put a sports court in that location. Two friends chipped in with me to supply the money needed. A few weeks later one of the teachers who spoke some English and the principal invited me to come to the school on Friday morning to show that they had built a gravel area that I can only compare to a bocce court. The kids were very happy with their new sports court. (about half the school is pictured below, thanking Joe and Nid on the sports court)
I have decided that the best way for me to serve my community is with the school and I intend to continue helping them to improve the resources available to the children. It is an honor, privilege and joy to be of service to these wonderful children.
Editor's Note: Joe Evans (to the immediate left of the sign, above) is a Passport Member and Past President of CMIRC. Joe now lives in Isaan, in the rural northeast of Thailand. We look forward to him visiting the club in Chiang Mai when it's safe to travel in Thailand. We welcome reports of community service activities from other Passport and Overseas Members.
Starting July 1, 2018, any club or district that applies for a global grant to support a humanitarian project or a vocational training team will need to conduct a community needs assessment first and include the results in the grant application. Assessing the strengths, weaknesses, needs, and assets of the community you’re helping is an essential first step in planning an effective project. Not only do assessments lead to projects that have the most meaningful impact, but the process itself also builds valuable relationships, involves residents in decisions that will shape their communities, and encourages them to participate in making lasting improvements. Most important, projects that are informed by community assessments are more sustainable.
Global grants require both a host partner and an international partner. The host partner, because of its local expertise and proximity to the project location, usually conducts the mandatory community needs assessment and manages project implementation and expenses.
Through the assessment, you’ll collect information about resources as well as needs, whether and how issues are being addressed, and what actions will most likely improve the community. Keep these general assessment principles in mind: • Talk to everyone. Gather perspectives from a broad cross-section of the community, involving those who will plan, participate in, and benefit from the project. • Trust local knowledge. • Identify needs that community members are passionate about tackling. • Use available human assets.
Financial resources available for any project will be limited. Ask all those involved how they can contribute to improving their community. All participants can and should provide valuable contributions to the effort. • Think long term. Involve community members in identifying long-term goals for maintaining the project outcomes on their own after the grant funds are spent. • If the assessment identifies multiple needs, consider which issue or need community members are most passionate about and how your club can help them address it. • Determine which need your club is best able to meet through a Foundation grant and available club resources. • Consider factors such as Rotarian technical expertise, location of the project site, required time commitment, and financial resources.
You can combine or adapt the following six assessments to best suit your club’s resources and the preferences of community members: Community meeting; Asset inventory; Survey; Interview; Focus group; and Community mapping.
A thoroughly conducted Community Needs Assessment will help improve the likelihood of the project being sustainable. The community has input into the project identification process to meet their needs. It will be a project that they want and are more willing to support long term after implementation. Remember in the assessment process – it is not what you think the community needs; it is what the community thinks they need. It may be the case that what they think they need does not fit into the seven areas of focus as identified by the Rotary Foundation. A global grant project must be qualifiable under at least one of the seven areas of focus.
Maternal health: Refers to the health of women during pregnancy, childbirth and the postnatal period.
Each stage should be a positive experience, ensuring women and their babies reach their full potential for health and well-being.
Although important progress has been made in the last two decades, about 295,000 women died during and following pregnancy and childbirth in 2017. This number is unacceptably high.
The most common direct causes of maternal injury and death are excessive blood loss, infection, high blood pressure, unsafe abortion, and obstructed labor, as well as indirect causes such as anemia, malaria, and heart disease.
Most maternal deaths are preventable with timely management by a skilled health professional working in a supportive environment.
Ending preventable maternal death must remain at the top of the global agenda. At the same time, simply surviving pregnancy and childbirth can never be the marker of successful maternal health care. It is critical to expand efforts reducing maternal injury and disability to promote health and well-being.
Every pregnancy and birth is unique. Addressing inequalities that affect health outcomes, especially sexual and reproductive health and rights and gender, is fundamental to ensuring all women have access to respectful and high-quality maternity care.
In Thailand:
Maternal mortality rate: 37 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.)
Definition: The maternal mortality ratio (MMRatio) is the annual number of female deaths per 100,000 live births from any cause related to or aggravated by pregnancy or its management (excluding accidental or incidental causes). The MMRatio includes deaths during pregnancy, childbirth, or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy, for a specified year. Source: CIA World Factbook
Child Health: Protecting and improving the health of children is of fundamental importance. Over the past several decades, we have seen dramatic progress in improving the health and reducing the mortality rate of young children. Among other encouraging statistics, the number of children dying before the age of five was halved from 2000 to 2017, and more mothers and children are surviving today than ever before.
However, a great deal of work remains to further improve the health outcomes for children. The world is facing a double mandate. More than half of child deaths are due to conditions that could be easily prevented or treated given access to health care and improvements to their quality of life.
At the same time, children must also be given a stable environment in which to thrive, including good health and nutrition, protection from threats and access to opportunities to learn and grow. Investing in children is one of the most important things a society can do to build a better future.
Over 50% of child deaths are preventable with simple, affordable interventions.
In Thailand:
Infant mortality rates: Male: 7.2 deaths/1,000 live births. Female: 5.92 deaths/1,000 live births (2021 est.) Source: CIA World Factbook
Globally: An average of 29 deaths per 1000 live births in 2018
The regular every other Sunday morning visits by club members to the patients and their families at Burma Children Medical Fund B.K. Kee Patient House here in Chiang Mai where members socialize, play games, bring food and engage in craft projects with the patients and their families. A big thank you to the Chiang Mai International School (CMIS) Interactors for joining us in these activities.
The first and third Fridays of the month Chiang Mai Expats Club breakfasts, where we promote CMIRC and swap "Change for Children" owl banks, were cancelled due to low attendance during Smokey Season.
Saturday - Monday, March 6 - 8, District 3350's Virtual English Language President Elect Training Seminar (PETS) via Zoom. CP Roger and PE Dylan attended, along with PEs and others from D3350 which includes Bangkok region, Myanmar and Cambodia.
Tuesday, March 9, our 9@9 ZOOM meeting with members who are outside of Chiang Mai.
Tuesday, March 16, CMIRC's regular meeting at the Royal Peninsula Hotelwith the program presented by Wanida Lertvorapreecha Chong (left), advanced doctoral student at Chiang Mai University on the topic "Myanmar Migrant Student Education in Thailand".
The needed protection measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have caused the cancellation of many events. Others are being conducted online and others have been postponed. Below is a list of events and their status, as we currently understand them. Please remember the situation is extremely fluid and things change daily. Some of our scheduled speakers may be willing to participate in online meetings. The latest news for CMIRC events is at: https://cmirotary.org/events/calendar
Here are just a few of the important dates for members of Chiang Mai International Rotary Club (CMIRC). These are opportunities to meet some of us and to meet other Rotarians from around the world!
Every other Sunday visits by club members to Burma Children Medical Fund's (BCMF) B. K. Kee Patient House to socialize, play games, do crafts with the patients and their families. Interested? Contact Rotarian Bill Pierce.
6 April 2021 CMIRC Club Meeting Meeting, 7 pm. at Royal Peninsula Hotel. Program by IPP John Schorr PhD on the topic " Thailand and SE Asia: A Demographic Look at the Future". Gather at 5:45 pm for an optional dinner; order off the menu of the hotel's restaurant.
9 April 2021 CMIRC "9 at 9" 9 pm Thai time. A ZOOM social meeting for members in and out of Thailand. Contact IPP John.
15 April 2021 Rtn. Raphael's birthday
20 April 2021 IPP. John's birthday
20 April 2021 CMIRC Club Meeting, 7 pm. at Royal Peninsula Hotel. Speaker: TBA Gather at 5:45 pm for an optional dinner; order off the menu of the hotel's restaurant.
27 April 2021 CMIRC Board Meeting at Royal Peninsula Hotel, 1:00 - 3:00 pm Contact CP. Roger
30 April 2021 "Let's Talk Rotary" A re-start of the last Friday of the month social lunches. The lunch will be at noon in a reserved space in the main dining room at Al Dente Italian Restaurant by Chef Aot (right) with space for up to fifteen people. The restaurant opens at noon and the luncheon menu is very reasonably priced and you can order off the a la carte menu, also. The restaurant is a 3-min walk from Buak Hard Public Park in the southwest corner of the Old City. Map to location https://restaurantguru.com/Al-Dente-Italian-Restaurant-by.... To reserve a space please contact Julia at jemerkt22@gmail.com by noon Thursday April 29th.
15 - 16 May Rotary District Conference, Phitsanulok. The date has changed so many times, I wouldn't recommend writing in ink if you still use a paper diary (like me).
29 - 30 May Rotary District Training Assembly, Uttaradit. How this is different from the Rotary District Conference two weeks earlier, Roger and I are still trying to determine.
Rotary is not free; we give our hearts, we give our time and to some extent we give our money. Most of our heart, most of our time and most of our money goes to support our children’s projects. Yet we have operational expenses, for example, our website with its powerful tools such as this bulletin. We ask that you consider our sponsors for your needs.
The Lila Thai Massage Ex-Inmate Employment and Skill Development Center was established in 2014 by "Naowarat Thanasrisutharat" to help and support women being released from prison. The ladies receive a massage training course from certified massage instructors (ex-inmates who work for Lila Thai Massage); these programs are endorsed by and meet the requirements of the Chiang Mai Public Health Department. This project reduces the women conviction rates in Chiang Mai and helps to solve the societal problems that perpetuate the situation, bringing about our long-cherished dream for a better community. The quality of massage at Lila Thai Massage is consistently superb.
Royal Peninsula Hotel is an excellent international standard hotel located in the heart of Chiang Mai. They have 150 guest rooms with all amenities including free wi-fi. There is ample onsite, covered parking. The outdoor swimming pool and Jacuzzi are available to guests. There is both an indoor restaurant, featuring Thai cuisine and outdoor beer garden next to the swimming pool. The Royal Peninsula Hotel has two conference and banquet rooms, well decorated, with good acoustics. The staff at Royal Peninsula are very accommodating. The Chiang Mai International Rotary Club meets at the Royal Peninsula at 7:00 PM on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month, with many members and guests gathering about an hour before the meeting in the hotel's restaurant for fellowship and an optional meal, ordering from the restaurant's menu of reasonably-priced Thai food.
Our sponsors donate money that supports our operational expenses, freeing funds for the projects we love. Please give them your support.