SOS Children's Village & Sunshine Village
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Phuket is one of the southern provinces and the largest island of Thailand. On December 26, 2004, Phuket was hit badly by the tsunami; 250 were reported dead and a lot of children were orphaned. The tourist industry is the biggest income source, but many are unable to find jobs in that sector and end up working in the informal sector, or are lured into the sex industry. Unfortunately, some children grow up in slums or construction sites, often with nobody looking after them during the day.
The SOS Children´s Village and the Sunshine Village were opened after the Tsunami to protect and assist disadvantaged children affected by the disaster in the 4 southern Thailand provinces, and also provide a new home for children whose families can no longer take care of them. The Uncle Pitak Home is a day-care center that takes care of children where their mothers are imprisoned. During night the children sleep with their mother in the prison in poor conditions. The Holland house provides a shelter for street kids, needy children in one-parent families or full orphans. The Coconut-Club provides after-school, weekend and inter-session experiences, to the residential students (mainly orphans) of the Primary Schools in Kamala and Kalim (was completely destroyed by the Tsunami).
This project was undertaken by employees of CellMark Singapore under our Local+Global initiative. The PaperSeed Day Activity offered the unique chance for CellMark employees to actively participate, and to provide donations directly to children in need instead of donating in a larger, more anonymous way.