The primary role of Baan San Fan is to take-in and care for vulnerable children. They normally come to us because they’ve lost their families or because their families can not (or will not) care for them. Many came after the tsunami, but, the majority come after a father has remarried and cannot afford to look after his extended family. Typically the new wife will look after her own children but will shun the others.
The main role of any orphanage is to make sure that the children are protected and looked after, but often these childen can end-up being exploited as adults because they do not have the necessary ability (or opportunity) to generate an income. Baan San Fan works hard to provide its kids with the skills they need to go out into the community as adults. During the day the children go to school and if they demonstrate academic skills they will be given the opportunity to further their education and attend university. For those that are less scholarly, the orphanage works hard to provide them with alternative skills which will help them to find work. No child will be asked to leave until they have secured a job.
The orphanage itself has a very effective structure where the older children provide support to the younger ones and they all pull together as one big family unit. Gai and Sam sit at the top of the tree and use their extensive experience to ensure that each child is receiving the care and attention that they need. While the children are expected to live within the disciplines of this regime, they are also encouraged to express themselves and grow their individual characters. The result is intelligent and balanced adults.
Baan San Fan receives very little outside funding and is working towards becoming self-sustainable by creating products that it can sell and a farm where it can grow its own (organic) produce. In order to achieve our goals we rely on donations from the public. If you would like to help you can visit our Donate page.
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