January
Evaluated all activities from the year 2005
Attended management training at the IRC office in Mae Hong Son
Home visits to poor children in five communities along the border to distribute food and recreation supplies
Provided a pig farming project for the poor ethnic families at a KMT village
Regular activities: Teaching evening English class. The OPC volunteer also taught English in the local Thai public school.
February
Provided pig farming project to ethnic women in border communities
Home visits to poor children in five communities along the border to distribute food and recreation supplies
OPC volunteer Peter Ford updated the website
March
Registered 8 young children for Thai school
Prepared summer English and computer course
Regular activities:
Teaching Shan language and culture, English language, and Thai language to children at OPC shelter Extended shelter roof
Problems encountered in March:
We had no resources to care for our HIV positive children at OPC.
We had to return our borrowed farmland to the owner and search for a new site to grow vegetables.
April
Started chicken and fish farming project at the OPC sustainable farm location
Moved vegetable farm from OPC shelter to the OPC sustainable farm location
Arranged accommodation at OPC shelter for 8 new migrant children
Started summer English and computer course on 20 April
Field trip tour of Mae Hong Son town with children
Reorganized the water system at OPC shelter (dug a new water well)
May
Continued organizing and designing sustainable chicken and fish farm
Attended training on treatment and prevention of HIV
Built a new network of contacts with other organizations concerning HIV in Mae Hong Son and Chiang Mai
Finished summer English and computer course
Approached Thai schools and MOE concerning OPC children’s education.
Registered 35 children for public school
Attended child development and teacher training at the MOE headquarters in Mae Hong Son
Registered 18 new children in one day to live at the OPC shelter.
OPC sent employee Usa to Burma to assess this unusual influx of homeless children
Parent training in the local communities around Mae Hong Son
Raised emergency funds for Thai school.
Purchased all school materials (stationary, uniforms, transportation) for Thai school.
Reorganized teaching system at OPC learning center
Regular activities: Teaching Shan language and culture, English, and Thai language
June
Two new volunteers from France and America joined OPC
Prepared for community training and child development project in conjunction with IRC
Upgraded evening English course
OPC volunteers taught English in the local Thai school
Follow-up child development training at MOE
July
Conducted community child development and nutrition training in surrounding communities in conjunction with the IRC
Mobile counseling in two surrounding communities
Enlarged fish pond at OPC sustainable farm. First fish harvest
August
Finished community child development training
OPC staff conducted field work to visit trainees and follow-up with child development course. Distributed food, mobile counseling, and arranged public schooling for one village child.
A new volunteer arrived from Austria to assist OPC for one month
Problem encountered in August
The OPC shelter experienced major flooding around the facility. The children were evacuated at 5 a.m. to the sustainable farm until the water level fell. They returned to the shelter the next day. With much of the river bank now gone, with more erosion soon several OPC structures will be in danger of falling into the water.