Bangkok, rated the world's 22nd largest city by population, has approximately nine million registered residents.
Due to large unregistered influxes of migrants from the North East of Thailand & other neighboring countries, the population of greater Bangkok is estimated at nearly 15 million people.
Project Managers: Deborah and Magnus Ekner
Since 1997, Central Thailand Mission – based in Bangkok – has been working to improve the lives of disadvantaged communities in Thailand in the following ways:
- Providing a bridge between people with the needs and those with the resources.
- Providing basic essentials of food, water, and clothes for destitute communities.
- Initiating the sponsorship of major needs and projects eg. A seminar for teachers from rural schools to upgrade teaching skills, building a daycare center.
- Counseling and encouragement for the handicapped, the terminally-ill (death coaching/grief counseling) , AIDS patients, abused women & children.
- Counseling and preparing orphans for adoption.
- Utilizing the assistance of international volunteers who want to give of their time, talents or resources to help others.
- Sharing spiritual strength and comfort with those who need and seek a purpose and direction for a meaningful life.
Volunteers from Central Thailand Mission assist in the following programs:
- The Rangsit Babies' Home (orphanage for about 300 children), an ongoing program to prepare the children for adoption which includes teaching English and socialization activities.
- Volunteer program, coordinating logistics and projects for students and professionals who want to volunteer for a hands-on experience working with the orphans or other humanitarian aid programs.
- Emergency Home for Women: a shelter for women or children who seek refuge from abusive domestic situations with husbands or family/relatives. CTM organizes activities such as: Mother's Day programs; song and dance therapy for children, visits to HIV patients, counseling.
- Prison ministry: Volunteers serve at the maximum security prison in Bangkok to provide counseling, encouragement, spiritual support and help with some legal paperwork.
- Home for the Blind and Multiply-Handicapped: CTM provides a supply of fruits, vegetables, rice and other food essentials to this institution.
Travelogue activity of Central Thailand Mission, below:
Bangkok, Thailand
Project Manager Deborah Ekner (center) with Padaung tribal women.
Debbie with Hmong hilltribe children.
CTM volunteer Sunny with orphans.
A Pipe Dream Come TrueFamily Care Foundation helped Central Thailand Mission with a grant to supply a clean water system for deprived Karen villagers in a settlement for Internationally Displaced Persons (IDP) in northwestern Thailand. The grant also provided for the establishment of a self-sustaining fish farm, as well as providing educational materials for a school for the children of these Burmese refugees.
Socialization Program for Potential AdopteesWe conduct a weekly program at Ban Dek On Ransit Babies’ Home geared to prepare Thai orphans who are to be adopted by foreign families. The aim of the program is to provide lessons and experiences that will enable them to more easily adjust to their new environments.
Volunteer ProgramEveryone has a talent – and many people are happy to share this with those less fortunate . Many international students, professionals, housewives, backpackers from the US, Japan, Sweden, Korea, Canada, Denmark, Singapore, China, England, Thailand and India have joined us during their vacation for a short stint.
Helping others to help othersBy Debbie Ekner, Central Thailand Mission (CTM)We were recently able to provide an opportunity for some enthusiastic young people discover the joy of serving others & doing their part to help the disadvantaged.
Emergency Home for WomenCTM Volunteers spend time at a shelter for women and children who have sought refuge there from abusive domestic situations.
Educational Programs for Provincial SchoolsMuch of our work upcountry is in the province of Pathumthani, as well as Rajburi and Kanchanaburi. In order to boost the children's curriculum in these poorer schools, we make sponsored sets of educational videos available to each of these schools.
CTM coordinator receives Thayer Academy Alumni Humanitarian AwardPeter Frost, our senior programs coordinator was presented with the Thayer Academy Alumni Humanitarian Award 2004 at an official ceremony held at the respected institution in Braintree, Massachusetts.This award is annually presented to those of the Academy's alumni who have shown outstanding work in the field of humanitarian aid.
Helping bring dental services to the needyIt was the first time Chartchai was seeing a dentist—also it was the first time he was face to face with a “farang” (a white-skinned foreigner). Abandoned by his parents and now a resident of the Maharaj Boys’ Home Foundation, an orphanage for abandoned children, Chartchai (12) was suffering from a badly infected molar. Along with a number of other children from the orphanage with serious dental needs, Chartchai was about to be treated by a team of American dentists.
Supplies for Villages and Needy CommunitiesDuring our travels to other parts of the country during the course of providing educational videos to rural schools, we take the opportunity to supply essentials for the communities that we come in contact with.
