Greyman Blog

We recently visited a trekking lodge that Grey Man seed money built in one of the Lahu villages of northern Thailand.  We trekked with the Lahu four years ago and looked at their infrastructure.  They approached us about building a trekking lodge to support their fledgling trekking venture and bring income into the village (an important step in trafficking prevention).  So, we provided the initial funding to build the lodge and now only two years later the lodge provides a rotating income for 25 of the villagers who assist with the trekking as well as a percentage going to the community fund.

When we visited we were impressed with the job they had done.  It is such a nice place with a beautiful view that we will always stay there when we vist the Lahu in the future to check on the progress of various projects.  Eventually we may organise treks from Australia to raise more income for the village but for now we look forward to our next visit.  Providing people with income is one more nail in the traffickers coffin as there is less incentive to sell children when an alternative income is available

Lodge funded by The Grey Man

We realised a long-time back that rescuing children was not enough.  The real answer lies in giving children a future and that requires education.  Ethnic minority children often do not go to school or for only a minimal time.  This leads to lower employment prospects in the future.  To combat this issue we partnered with Kid’s Ark Foundation  in Thailand.  Their main focus is the support and care of AIDS orphans but they also have provided education to hundreds of children.

We liked their style and their philosophy.  They made financial support for a family conditional on the children attending school.  If the children were removed from school to be trafficked or for any other reason the money stopped coming.  This works very well and all of the children supported this way remain in school.  Grey Man started our prevention programme by supporting 28 families in one of the Lahu hill-tribe villages.  We continue this but have since expanded into providing transport for 100 children spread across three villages.  Without this transport many of these children would never receive an education. 

Motorbike donated by The Grey Man

We have also provided a motorbike for one child shelter that will allow the social workers to take information on trafficking to the villages at risk and will be used to travel to the families of trafficking victims to discuss re-integration into the family. 

Kru Nam is one of our favourite people so we have just provided the final payment for a truck to take Burmese ethnic minority kids from Kru Nam’s shelter to school. 

These two last projects were accomplished in partnership with Rotary Australia World Community Service (RAWCS).  They are all small steps but have the potential to create a major impact in the life of these children.