Judy's Story

In 2007, Sue and I met over the Internet to negotiate a House Exchange. A unique bond formed and thanks to email, we stayed in touch.

After hearing about the wonderful work of FreeSchools in northern Thailand from Sue, my daughter Joanna and I decided to see if we could contribute something to this amazing charity. Jo is a TV journalist so her skills were directed towards publicity and as I am a teacher/librarian, I hoped to add some educational expertise. I am happy to report that we achieved major media coverage on television, in magazines and newspapers, but the educational side was so well covered, that my expected role changed considerably.

Teacher training is expertly covered by the Mirror Foundation, a big established Thai NGO that tackles statehood and citizenship rights for hill tribes and refugees. In addition, they work to provide education and drug rehabilitation among indigenous communities. I felt that a better role for me would be to try to raise some much needed funds for this amazing work to continue.

We were inspired by each school that we visited, seeing an educational standard well above anything we had expected. What impressed us most was the total devotion of the teachers and the way in which each tribe’s traditions were honoured and encouraged. The children often presented themselves very proudly in their traditional costume and the involvement of the families in the school was very evident.

Before I left for northern Thailand, all my local schools contributed huge amounts of educational supplies for the village schools. However, it became a logistical nightmare to get over 150 kg of supplies to the villages. In the future I would send the money to buy it all in Thailand. Certainly, gathering all the supplies, organising freight sponsors, fundraising for postage, and finally distributing all those pens and pencils etc, will be something we will never forget!

After seeing the stark difference between villages with a FreeSchool and villages without, we decided to try to raise enough money to start a school in one particular village that seemed to hold no hope for the children. The children of this village (Huay Muang ) were in complete contrast to the vibrant, enthusiastic children that we had visited the days before. Going along with the custom of Freeschools, which is to spend their money on teacher training, teacher salaries and school supplies – there was a building that usually houses adult evening classes – and we thought this would be perfect in which to start a new school and give the children back their hope.

To that end, we returned to Australia and immediately got creative. We held afternoon teas where we showed our photos of the villages and the wonderful children, watched the DVD from the TV coverage, raffled donated quilts, sold lucky dips (all donated), ate lovely food and drank great coffee. Our first afternoon tea was a huge success raising $2000, plus a $1000 donation from a local service club. Our next, featured great food and some fun with our futures being read. It raised over $1000. Our local high school held a Mufti Day with the kids all coming out of uniform and this raised almost $1000 as well.

Next came some clothes swap parties that don’t raise as much money but did raise awareness (we have our third next week). In October, we are hoping to hold a huge ladies afternoon of indulgence where ladies can get their nails painted, drink donated champagne, get their future told, enjoy Devonshire tea, have a good book recommended, try out new perfume, make-up and hairspray and meet some other like minded people who care for the world.

A feature of this day will be the opportunity to sponsor a child FOR FREE! It costs $15 to sponsor a child for a year and we hope to have donated packs valued well over $15. When someone sponsors a child, they will receive their pack as a “refund!” So far we have beautiful gift soap and hairspray and we just need one more thing to make up the “sponsor” packs. It is easier for us to get donations of goods that we can transfer into educational sponsorship. We found people like to get something back for their money and involvement, so this has been our method of fundraising.

If you are looking for a charity that gives all funds raised directly to the children and not to administration, then you have found it in FreeSchools. I can honestly tell you after touring these Hill Tribe villages that your dollar will be very well spent. Sadly, in this part of the world, these beautiful children can be easily exploited. It was a privilege to be there in the presence of people who care so much for these children and are helping to protect them with basic literacy.