Project Name: SOI (Sisters of Isan) Environmental Awareness and Activism Campaign
Start Date: October 2010 Finish Date: January 2011
Funding Amount Requested: $1,988.43
Applicant Organization Name: SOI (Sisters of Isan) est. 2006
Main Organizational Activities:
1. SOI promotes leadership and personal development in young women, through instilling a sense of social responsibility in its members towards the local community.
2. SOI members work to expand their knowledge about the environment through trainings, research, and practice of specific eco-friendly skills in daily life, while having fun and working with other like-minded and highly motivated young women.
3. SOI works to spread awareness and inspire activism amongst youth and adults of the Non Khun District, specifically concerning eco-friendly living and thinking as well as recycling.
Background:
The youth group Sisters of Isaan or SOI is an all girls’ youth group that was started by two Teacher Collaboration and Community Outreach (TCCO) Peace Corps Volunteers during their service from 2006-2008. The group’s name, Sisters of Issan derives from the Northeastern Region of Thailand known as Isaan. Isaan is the agricultural center of Thailand wherein Lao traditions passed down from generation to generation largely influence the culture and language. Though it is the poorest region of the country, Isaan’s people take great pride in their culture and work, specifically concerning agriculture and farming. This is evident in the group’s name, SOI—young women bound by sisterhood and culture in Issan.
As the poorest region, the average household income of villagers in Issan, level of education, and overall opportunities available are considerably low according to the National Average[1]. Therefore, due to economic and educational shortcoming, youth in Issan are at a disadvantage as compared to their peers in the rest of the country. Despite hardship and lack off opportunity, SOI continues to thrive with students from the local high school (25 members) who are eager to collaborate with their peers in attaining leadership skills and personal development. They are also very committed to community service. Since the departure of the Peace Corps Volunteers in 2008, the girls’ former teacher, Mrs. Thichaya Wongyai, has managed the group. Upon arriving in Non Khun during April 2009, the current Peace Corps Volunteer Sarah Brooks of the Community Based Organizational Development sector has attended meetings for the group and engaged the girls in activities such as community mapping and goal setting.
In September of 2009, two SOI members, Mrs. Wongyai, and Sarah attended the annual Peace Corps Thailand Youth Conference. During this conference, attendees were given the opportunity to discuss their communities and formulate methods through which local issues could be addressed. During this activity, the girls decided that pollution is a major issue in the local community and they would like to pursue a project focused on how to take better care of the environment. The two SOI members were quick to point out the multitude of environmental problems in Thailand (and indeed the world) that people seemed to be unaware of. Together, they recognized that if community members remain unaware and unchanged by the environmental degradation around them, they would not be equipped to address the issues, therefore causing more severe environmental problems. Both Mrs. Wongyai and Sarah, the Peace Corps Volunteer, were impressed and inspired by the girls’ acute sense of their surrounding environment and motivation to improve it.
This awareness is particularly impressive since environmental studies are not taught in schools, and even though the society is mostly agrarian the majority of Thais do not consider the environment and important issue. Since the conference, the SOI leaders have set many goals for the group and outlined a project dealing with cleaning up the community and leading a recycling initiative. Following a Peace Corps development model, SOI members and Sarah conducted a community assessment, to make sure that the community would likely support the project. The group found that many teachers, village headmen, and other community members had heard of the recycling initiatives in Thailand and were excited about the possibility of starting a recycling project in this community.
Subsequently, SOI has built, opened, and now operates a recycling center based out of the primary school. Construction of this center was funded by the local hospital, in-kind donations via labor from community members, and a grant awarded by the Thai government. Students and teachers alike are now recycling waste from the school and more and more students have been bringing recyclables from home. In June 2010, SOI hosted their first community clean up day, in which more 200 villagers gathered to clean the streets of the six surrounding villages. During this time, SOI was inspired to start an environmental campaign and expand their recycling initiative.
The Environmental Activism and Awareness Campaign Project Description:
The Environmental Activism and Awareness Campaign will serve to further train and educate the members of SOI and enable them to expand their recycling program.
Phase 1 Training
Through a seminar led by the local hospital, SOI members have learned to make several products from recycled waste, such as purses, tote bags, wallets, key chains, and recycled paper notebooks. However, at present SOI lacks the proper knowledge needed to market and sell these products. Peace Corps Thailand fosters a global initiative group known as the Community Enterprise Committee. This Committee is comprised of 3 individual Peace Corps Volunteers holding degrees relating to business and or applicable experience. These committee members generate a business manual, updated annually, that consists of a curriculum and activities pertaining to the aspects of business—specifically, as related to the way business is conducted in Thailand and generally, worldwide. For instance, some topics include: Accounting, Group Administration, Marketing, Label and Logo Creating, Formulating a Business Plan, Group Dynamics & Responsibilities for Small Income-Generating Groups, and Re-investment. With the help of Peace Corps Thailand’s Community Enterprise Committee (CEC) in conjunction with a two-day seminar, SOI members would receive the proper training in relevant aspects of business needed to start a small business. In order to hold such an event, funding is needed for the transportation of three CEC members to the community of Non Khun, as well as for all materials that are required. This training will give the girls the opportunity to strengthen their business plan, interact and interface with well-trained, passionate Peace Corps Volunteers, and learn skills that would valuably serve their futures.
Phase 2 Training
A second training will focus on the group’s ongoing vision to promote educational understanding and activism. This specific activity will allow members to expand their knowledge of environmental conservation and protection techniques. For this training, members will travel on a field-study trip to
Khon Kaen University, Isaan’s oldest university. At the University, the girls will learn from professors about making organic fertilizer, new uses for recycled material, building and installing biogas generators (an alternate, natural source for propane). This trip will not only teach the girls important concepts for the environmental campaign, but also provides a visit to a University, inevitably inspiring them to set higher educational goals for themselves.
Phase 3 Training
A third training will synthesize the new knowledge of business skills and environmental preservation techniques as the girls prepare to lead their own seminars to all youth of the six surrounding villages (100 people). Meeting with 2-3 Peace Corps Volunteers from nearby sites, members of SOI will work together with the volunteers to plan activities and information sessions for the youth seminars. Specifically, the Peace Corps volunteers will train SOI in activities specific to environmental issues in Thailand. This training will be modeled on the training that the Volunteers received upon their arrival in Thailand, and will include how to search for resources, games for younger students, and how to teach youth to think critically about the environment. Since this training will take place after the business skills training and field-study trip, the Volunteers will also help the girls to synthesize the new concepts. After coming up with a comprehensive plan the members of SOI will lead six seminars on there own, one in each village. Funding is necessary for the transportation of volunteers and for the implementation of the seminars (materials and food). Working in small group, the girls will plan their activities, put together a materials list, and be given a certain amount of money in order to implement their plans. This will teach them the valuable skills of planning and working within a confined budget.
Phase 4: Implementation
The final component of the campaign concerns the implementation of a recycling collection and pick-up program for the six villages. After talking with community members and village headman, SOI has strategically mapped out locations where recycling bins are needed and will be used. Funding is needed for the construction of 21 such bins and SOI has received a donation from the local hospital that will cover some but not all of these costs. SOI has designed a model for the bins and created a prototype. SOI members will be responsible for all construction. As part of the pick-up program, SOI will purchase a motorcycle side cart, which will enable the girls to travel from village to village and pick up the waste on their own, without relying on an adult with a car to do so. Funding is needed for the purchase of such a cart.
Sustainability:
All aspects of this project lead to increased confidence among a group of smart and motivated young women. Though women, especially young women, are traditionally not as respected as much as men in Thai culture, SOI is already gaining the skills they will need to be leaders of this community in the future. What is more, they are setting an example for females young and old by proving their ability to initiate and start something overwhelmingly important and positive in the community.
Given the nature of the business training, the girls will be able to apply these new skills not only through their work with SOI but also to any business endeavor in their future. They will be learning concepts not taught in school and thus are gaining advantageous knowledge. In a world where basic business concepts are extremely practical in everyday life, there is no doubt that this business training will give SOI members a head start in their adult careers.
The series of “Environmental Camps” will teach youth to think about the environment in new ways and spark changes in the everyday lifestyles of these youth. They can take what they learn back to their homes and share with family, friends and neighbors. Additionally, the presence of recycling bins at important places in the community will serve as a reminder to those villagers to recycle and to be more eco-friendly citizens.
Working with Mrs. Wongyai and Peace Corps Volunteer Sarah Brooks, SOI has created an action plan to monitor and evaluate all activities should their project be funded.
[1] According to the National Statistics Office, Kingdom of Thailand (2007) Household Socio Economic Report. Available at: http://web.nso.go.th/en/survey/house_seco/socio.htm
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