San Kamphaeng Property

A piece of Sangsan work that often gets overlooked is the training and work done at the San Kamphaeng property. This is the newest edition to Sangsan programming in which students and staff engage in hands-on learning about sustainable agriculture and construction. When the land was purchased it was simply a field with a lot of potential. After a few years work, the property has become quite useful in that it provides rice for consumption for an entire year as well as other fruits and vegetables. Currently Sangsan is in its second phase of transforming the property into a place for trainings and gatherings. Electricity was recently installed and staff are working around the clock to build the first house using sustainable materials such as stucco bricks. The goal is to establish a property that not only produces all the food the organization will need throughout the year, it will also become a place for trainings on sustainable methods, civil rights, and other issues dedicated to the mission of Sangsan. We have high hopes for this property to not only serve as a office headquarters but to serve our students in providing hands-on, practical training in sustainable methods that they can then use when they return home or in future employment. This property will also help us as we seek to establish partnerships with other organizations and build a network. Below are some pictures of the property and what's been going on. We'll keep you posted along the way as the property is transformed into a beautiful, working space.

 Left: First we needed to make the property more accessible as it is located in a rural suburb of Chiang Mai called San Kamphaeng. This road took a lot of work but now the property is accessible and open for business!

Right: Rice is an integral part of the Thai diet. By producing our own rice we are able to save money and be self-sustaining. The property had to be prepped as rice fields did not exist. Here is one of our junior staff members using the plow to prep the rice fields for planting. Last year our rice fields produced over 500kg of rice, this year the yield was over 700kg. That's plenty for an entire year and then some!

Rice fields and banana trees! Not ready for harvest but getting there.

2013 rice harvest - beating the stalks to get the rice.

By growing our own food we are able to produce and collect our own seeds! This process is self-sustaining and a great concept for students to learn about. Seed collection helps address issues such as food insecurity and resilience.

The property also produces much more than rice, we grow green beans, roselle, chiles, bananas, herbs and spices, and other items that provide food for staff and students as well as teaches students about nutrition and cooking healthy meals.

This is a design of the house for staff members. Other buildings will include female and male dormitories, an organization office and training center. All made of sustainable materials.

It took awhile but electricity was finally installed at the property!

Handmade bricks laying out to dry. Staff and students made 83 bricks in one day! At this rate, construction will be done in no time!

Brick making process, dirty but satisfying!

As you can see, this property is important to staff and students as well as helps Sangsan achieve its mission of giving the students a well rounded educational experience. We will keep posting updates on construction as it happens. Once again thanks for your continued to support and if you feel the urge to jump in the mud, I'm sure the staff and students would love some extra helping hands!

Sangsan Defined

As Sangsan ventures into the world of blogging, I figured the first blog entry should briefly explain what Sangsan is, how it's evolved over time, go into its true core values of what makes it tick, and the impact the organization and its people had on me during my brief time in Thailand.

Sangsan Anakot Yawachon (Sangsan) was established in 2008 by an energetic and passionate woman who was witness to the inequalities that ethnic minority youth faced in Thailand. These youth suffer because of their origin and of not being of the predominate race. Many of them on top of other factors also do not have Thai IDs which cuts them off from education, employment, and healthcare. Sangsan was established to combat this through youth empowerment and trainings that demonstrated to these youth that no matter where you come from, stateless or not, your voice and ideas matter. The program initially targeted high school boarding students through scholarships and life and vocational skills trainings. Slowly throughout the past six years, the program has expanded to help students from primary school to university, supporting many of these students in every step until they gain employment or no longer need the organization's support. Currently over 80 students receive full-ride scholarships that help them successfully complete school and become productive community members. Along with academic support, Sangsan engages youth in bi-annual trainings covering a broad spectrum of subjects including English, test prep, civil rights, public speaking, entrepreneurship, and sustainable agriculture and construction. Through this holistic approach, these youth walk away with skills, knowledge, and awareness that allows for them to return to their home communities and change lives. And this is exactly what these youth do, they go home, become community leaders and engage others, while making significant changes within their community and the attitudes of community members. Sangsan knows that governmental and societal changes start small and steadily grow. By engaging the youth at the local level, Sangsan is planting the seed that will lead to change and a better Thailand for everyone.

At the core of Sangsan is the students it serves. It is evident among the staff and volunteers that working for the betterment of these young people is what makes them get out of bed each day. The staff and volunteers have a deep relationship with each and every student. Every time a student faces a hardship, the staff experiences it along with them. Monthly check-ins often results in tears of joy and pain, laughter, frustration, and pride. Sangsan is a family before it is an organization and it builds the crucial relationships that other organizations often put little importance on. Although the services Sangsan provides are important, students come first.

I was fortunate enough to become a part of this family during my five months in Thailand. The staff and volunteers welcomed me with open arms and taught me a lot. I found role models within the staff members and characteristics that I hope to emulate within myself and organizations that I work with in the future. To date I have never met people so passionate, energetic, and selfless than those working for Sangsan.

Although small, Sangsan is mighty and is currently in the process of building the organization's capacity to reach more students and bring more awareness to issues at hand. If you're interested in learning more about Sangsan please like us on Facebook, email us at sangsanngo@gmail.com, or join our monthly newsletter mailing list. In between newsletters look to the blog for updates on organization happenings and current events related to the organization's mission.

Thank you for your interest in Sangsan!
Whitney + the Staff of Sangsan