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I'm consistently amazed at how Andaman Discoveries' staff makes it through each month with the variety and quantity of projects we have running. Highlights this month include a new initiative to help disabled children, assisting under-staffed local schools, a visit from CNN and other International media and community-based marketing efforts to ensure long-term sustainability of both the eco tourism and handicraft projects.
- Kelly May, Co-Director, Andaman Discoveries. | |
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Expanding with New Projects
"Staff at the Phuket Special School is severely over-worked. By spending time with the children, volunteers can make a real contribution to their lives."
Wirach Klaharm
Director, Phuket Special School
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| 1. SEED Initiative Award - Andaman Discoveries is a Finalist
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Additional funding with allow Andaman Discoveries to continue our work in community-based tourism.
| Andaman Discoveries is one of 15 organizations that have been selected from nearly 400 applicants from 100 countries that applied for the SEED Initiative Award. The Award helps small organizations like ourselves, help others by providing much-needed services (not hard cash unfortunately) in terms of business planning, accounting, fund raising etc. Awards are given to socially innovative and entrepreneurial organizations who work closely with communities to help them achieve their goals. "Locally driven projects and activities were the up most importance to AD as they knew well for any project to succeed and be sustainable local ownership is central," wrote Jim Enright, the Asia Coordinator for Mangrove Action Project in his letter of support of AD's application. AD would like to thank Reef Check, Go Differently, IUCN, Intervol, Lan Som National Park, USAid and the communities for their kind words of support for our work. We hope to be one of the five winners which will be announced later this year. |
2. Assisting Disabled Children - Volunteers Needed
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AD Intern Renske gives much needed love and attention to a young student at the Phuket Special School. | The Phuket Special School provides a safe and educational haven for 270 disabled, autistic and deaf children from the ages six to 21. The school serves six provinces in the south and is severely understaffed. The children are cared for by a team of dedicated staff who require additional assistance with caring for and teaching the children from kindergarten to secondary level. Andaman Discoveries is using its expertise in volunteering to help send volunteers to the school to help the staff provide the care and attention that the children need. "Volunteers can make a worthwhile contribution by just spending time with the children," explained the school's Director, Wirach Klaharm. "Love and kindness can help the children develop vital life skills and we welcome everyone who would like to come and meet the children."
Assisting with disabled children is a valuable and worthwhile way to spend your time overseas, so contact info@andamandiscoveries.com for more information.
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| 3. Youth Conservation Group - Making Friends in the Region
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| The Ban Talae Nok Youth Group developing youth leadership skills and conservation awareness. | The Ban Talae Nok Youth Conservation Group joined a meeting at the Happhrapad Research Centre to share ideas and experience with other conservation and eco groups in the region. The meeting hopes to encourage cooperation to ensure strength through unity and understanding. "We should not work in isolation," said one of the organizers. "We need to show community-based groups that there are other people around them with similar aspirations, hopes and dreams. Through collective action we change make a positive change." As a result of the meeting, the BTN Youth Conservation Group will now be invited to similar workshops and meetings. "It's great that we young people are being taken seriously," said one young conservationist. "We hope to make new friends and protect our planet by working together."
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4. North Andaman Community Tourism Network - Sharing Experiences
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| Tung Nang Dam Community-based Tourism host families doing the Muang Kluang nature trail. | Twenty-seven community members of Pak Triam, Tung Nang Dam, Muang Kluang, Laem Naew and Nakha, all either actively participating in community-based tourism or want to develop an eco/cultural program participated in the IUCN's N-ACT (North Andaman Community Tourism Network) study trip. Andaman Discoveries' local staff, Pink and Cha from Ban Talae Nok, joined the activities in each of the different villages to see how they compared to the work of Ban Talae Nok. "There's high potential for future cooperation and information sharing in the area of conservation," explained Pink, the community centre manager. "We can use tourism to draw attention to urgent conservation needs." The participants were impressed by the work of the BTN Youth Conservation Group which could serve as a model for Muang Kluang, where a number of conservation programs are active, but are not yet developing youth leadership. "United like this, I believe we can overcome many obstacles in our communities," noted Ma Sebsabay from Muang Kluang Muslim Homestay Group.
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5. Adult Education - More Adult Learners Join
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| Adult learners getting a second chance at education with Andaman Discoveries. | In its second year, the weekly Adult Education classes are growing in size, now with 26 students from the ages of 20 - 40 years, studying for their primary and high school certificates. "Many villagers had to leave school early to help their parents," said Juri Buasri, teaching the adults literary skills. "These classes give them a second chance in life to read and write and discover new things." |
6. Tourism Authority of Thailand and Rajaphat University
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| Tourism Authority of Thailand representatives and Rajaphat University students learning about nipa palm roof weaving in Ban Talae Nok. |
Andaman Discoveries has been assisting the Community-based Tourism Group of
Ban Talae Nok for the past two and a half years in developing the eco tours and homestay program. In addition to this, we have been training individuals in the area of marketing and promotion, encouraging them to make contacts and locate resources and assistance available to them, so that they are not over dependent on Andaman Discoveries for marketing support and tourists. The villagers' efforts paid off this month as Ban Talae Nok welcomed 30 people from the Tourism Authority of Thailand and Rajaphat University who visited the village as part of a study trip. "The homestays here exceed the Thailand Homestay Standard," said a TAT representative." They are clean and have all the facilities needed to make sure guests are comfortable. The host families have a really friendly manner, and we were made to feel like family. This is a great selling point." The villagers were nervous and excited to have a Thai group in their village. "The overnight trip went really well," said a homestay host mother. "It's made me realize even if we don't have foreign tourists or volunteers, we can still welcome Thai guests into our village and share our way of life with them." |
7. CNN.com Visits - G8 Summit and Community-based Tourism
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| AD Co-Director Kelly, AD Intern Renske, AD Co-Director Tui, AD Intern Nicolas, IUCN Coordinator Mai and CNN.com journalist Dean Irvine. | Hong Kong-based CNN.com journalist Dean Irvine visited Ban Talae Nok to experience first hand how communities are using tourism as a tool for community-led conservation in the lead up to the G8 Summit. "I'm interested in learning more about community tourism, how they fit into the larger sphere of eco-tourism, 'explained Dean. "And in the case of the Andaman region, how it's helped reconstruct lives after the tsunami." Dean participated in a three day program encompassing all the different aspects of Andaman Discoveries work in relation to community development and conservation. "CNN.com is putting together a number of articles and interactive elements to go with a week of environmental coverage for the G8 summit," said Andaman Discoveries Co-Director Kelly May. "We're delighted to share our positive experience of tourism with the world, it's not all about environmental degradation, exploitation and five-star hotels." Please go to:
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/06/30/green.communitytourism/index.html
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8. Thai Craft Fair - Bangkok Fair a Sell Out!
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| Ban Talae Nok Tsunami Cooperative member, Ja Min making soap. | Thai Craft have been helping local artisans keep their traditions alive since 1992. Thai Craft have been working with the Ban Talae Nok Tsunami Soap Cooperative with new products and packaging which were showcased at the Thai Craft fair held at the Ambassador Hotel, titled Overcoming Tragedy with Soap. "The soaps were so popular, we sold out in a few hours," explained soap member Ja Min. "This has given us a huge boost in confidence and made us realize the importance of making contacts with organizations like Thai Craft, who have markets and selling outlets established."
The group have had many issues with management differences and product quality, however, "I think it will be the happiest day for Andaman Discoveries and the village, when the soap group and truly stand on its own two feet and be independent," smiled soap group member, Ladda Ardharn. We would like to congratulate the group on a successful trip to Bangkok, let's hope it's the first of many. We've always known that the soaps are great! |
9. Students Left Without Teacher - Andaman Discoveries to the Rescue
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| Phillipe teaching children who would otherwise be left alone for the entire lesson. | This month, we welcome Philippe Celis, a London-based Belgium financier who will be teaching at a local school all this month. His timing was perfect as three teachers were absent which meant children would have been left to sit in the classroom with no adult supervision. Philippe has been a huge hit with both teachers and students and is currently helping the school to prepare for a national speech competition. "We need more volunteers like Philippe to come and help improve our English language skills,' said Kru Lek, an English teacher at the school. Philippe is assessing each class's level of English to make it easier for future volunteers to plan their lessons. |
10. Annual Thailand Tourism Festival - Networking for Success
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| AD Intern Renske and Co-Director Tui presenting AD's homestay and eco tourism activities at the Thailand Tourism Festival. | Annual Thailand Tourism Festival is Thailand's biggest event of its kind and attracted over 150,000 visitors over four days. Over 250 exhibitors from across the country, including Andaman Discoveries, were there to show the variety of tourism activities available in the Kingdom. Our booth received a lot of interest from Thais, curious about the homestay program. "I think an AD trip would be a good way to educate my children about village life and the environment." said one Bangkokian. "The world is getting hotter and we are all to blame, its time we wake up and change our bad habits in the way we live, work and travel." Another Thai visitor commented on the community aspect of the homestay program, "It's time the villagers stood up to mass tourism and did it on their own terms, Thailand doesn't need another Phuket or Samui. We need to protect both our environmental and cultural heritage before it's too late and we have nothing left."
We would like to thank Khun Anoma of TAT Phuket for providing us with a free booth. Without her assistance we would not be able to afford the US$593 needed to exhibit at the event. The TAT's support of small community projects is a great step forward in acknowledging the benefits of grassroots tourism. |
11. University of California Los Angeles - Summer Course with Andaman Discoveries
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| Professor Michael Silverman from UCLA with AD staff and community leaders of the Tung Rac Community Conservation Mangrove Centre. | Professor Michael Silverman has been a close friend of Andaman Discoveries for the fast few years and will be bringing 21 University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) students to stay with AD as part of their Travel Summer Course, titled, Thailand - Sustainable Ecosystems: Natural and Social Science Service Learning with multi-cultural communities on the North Andaman Seacoast. AD will coordinate the month-long program which introduces and directly involves students in applying social and natural science methods and practices for coastal community planning, management, and conservation in general, and in development contexts. The program includes two courses: Environmental Science: Gender and Sustainability, and Oceanography. To prepare for the trip, Professor Michael and AD staff visited staff and communities of the Hadphrapad Coastal Research Station, Tung Rac Community Conservation Mangrove Centre, Kampuan Learning Centre, The Kampuan Housewife Cooperative, Ban Talae Nok Community-based Tourism Group, The Ban Talae Nok Youth Conservation Group, the Rufford Mangrove Conservation Project to begin dialogues and plan next month's trip. |
12. Muang Gluang Muslim Homestay Group - Opening up the Network
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| (Left to right) Khun Witaya, Kelly, Khun Jo Jo and Mimi at the Muang Gluang Muslim Homestay Group. | Andaman Discoveries is committed to sharing information and assisting communities, our work is not limited to Ban Talae Nok and Tung Nang Dam villages only. Sixty kilometers from our office is the Muang Gluang Muslim Homestay Group, who has been established for eight years. As our network expands, we are keen to include other groups doing great things in the area of eco tourism, as a result of this. Co-Director Kelly May and Mimi Cheung, AD's Programs and Pricing Manager decided to visit the group to see what they are doing and how they could potentially benefit from our resources. We hope to include their group in the future and offer volunteer programs and homestay for our clients. "We appreciate any advice and resources," explained the Muang Gluang Muslim Homestay Group's Coordinator Khun Jo Jo. "Constructive feedback is the only way that we can improve our activities and services."
"The Muang Gluang Homestay Group is very well organized and it will be a win-win solution for Andaman Discoveries and the Group to benefit from a partnership," said Mimi.
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13. Tourism Authority of Thailand, Los Angeles - Media Trip
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| The Tourism Authority of Thailand, Los Angeles, 10 journalists and the Tsunami Soap Cooperative getting to know each other during an interactive workshop. | Peggy Peterka from Thailand Tourism Authority of Thailand, Los Angeles along with 10 distinguished American journalists joined us for a media 'fam' trip. They participated in a number of volunteer and eco activities to learn about the villagers and our work. "After a few days of 5-star luxury, is was great to get them back to reality and to experience the other, more genuine side of Thailand," said Kelly, who accompanied them. "Keep up the good work, you are all angels," said Krystina Price from Brentwood Magazine.
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Andaman Discoveries is North Andaman Tsunami Relief's
commitment to long-term sustainable development.
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Copyright 2008 Andaman Discoveries
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