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• School Gardening
The objectives of school gardens are to produce food
that can be used at the school canteen to increase self-
sufficiency of the village school; to integrate agricultural
activities in the school curriculum and provide hands on
learning opportunities for students; to foster responsibility and
independence in students that are involved in maintaining
the project; to earn income by selling the extra produce
that can be used by the school for future projects. The
mushroom project at the Huai Nam Khun Primary School
was set up early in the year. The students are now able to
harvest 5-10 kg per day of mushrooms.
• Uday Marthy Computer Lab
Thanks to the generous donation of Intel Singapore of 10
laptop computers and of 1000SGD, as part of a fundraising
initiative in memory of late colleague Uday Marthy, Intel
Vice President in Singapore, a new Computer Lab at the
VBAC Professional School Campus Dormitory in Chiang Rai
has been inaugurated. The Computer Lab was used by
Intel volunteers in September during their mission in Chiang
Rai to impart IT and English lessons to Professional School
Students. During the year, the Lab will allow students to
better organize their work, to use the internet for research,
and to improve their IT and English language skills.
Going Digital
Our new database system, created on a pro bono basis
by Patrice Palmero, intended to digitalize our beneficiaries’
files and village files information, is now operational. We
have trained Professional School students to volunteer in
our yearly task of collecting beneficiary data and entering
them into our system. Our database will allow us to track
more easily indicators on progress of students and hence
improve our interventions.
Volunteer Missions
We have had two volunteer missions during the year.
Francesca Ferrari and Paolo Bertolani in the beginning of
the year visited schools conducting interviews to school
staff and beneficiaries, and documented projects through
videos, photos, and written accounts. Francesca Ferrari
has produced several short documentary films which are
available on our website.
In October, a volunteer team of nine professionals from
Singapore led full immersion English and IT Lessons and
Workshops in Primary, Secondary and Professional Schools.
In addition, the wonderful team composed also of Intel
staff members, raised 15,000 SGD for our Scholarship
Program, and raised awareness on our projects amongst
their colleagues and community.
Installation of new toilets at Pa Kia Village preschool
Volunteers Paolo Bertolani and Francesca Ferrari with Giovanni
Santavicca
Volunteers from Singapore with Giovanni Santavicca
Collage created by Singapore Volunteers