SAN DIEGO CHRISTIAN COLLEGE: POST-TRIP
WATER, EDUCATION AND COFFEE!
What an eventful summer it has been! Many of you have been waiting to hear updates, like we promised. We thank you for your patience. As summer begins to unwind, we would like to dedicate a separate blog post about each volunteer team to recap and follow up on all that has happened on these trips.
SAN DIEGO CHRISTIAN COLLEGE
We kicked off the summer with 12 volunteers from San Diego Christian College. They traveled six hours southwest of Chiang Mai to Mae Hon Song Province en route to Ma Oh Jo village community. The community consists of over 15 villages. This community is very special to us. We have been working with Ma Oh Jo for over 15 years. SDCC has been volunteering there for the past 8 years!
In the beginning, this Karen tribal community had very few basic needs met and there was no sort of infrastructure to join the villages. But in the last 15 years, ITDP volunteers have helped to develop the community. Our volunteers have constructed water systems, an education system and a medical clinic. The school and medical buildings are located in the center village (Ma Oh Jo) and serves to the surrounding villages. It has been a lengthy and exciting process.
SDCC has played an enormous role in the development of the Ma Oh Jo community and hold a special place in the lives of the villagers. This summer, SDCC built a water tank for the school and the student/teacher housing. Now, over 150 people have access to clean water! They also built a second hostel for the students, enabling the students to have single-sex housing and the opportunity to house more students.
Additionally, volunteers planted coffee in an agricultural nursery for a new demonstration center. The goal of the demonstration center is to encourage and educate farmers on growing coffee. Coffee has become a main cash crop and ameans for supporting these village families.
Since this trip, we have had very positive feedback from the villagers. We will continue to access and check up on these completed projects to make sure they are maintained properly. The hill tribe people are always in such awe at how a group of strangers will dedicate two weeks of their time to help them. On behalf of the villagers and ITDP staff, we thank you SO much for your hard work and dedication and for sharing God’s love and grace to the people of Ma Oh Jo. It’s amazing how many lives are touched through the help of every single volunteer.
Bless you all! We hope it was a rewarding and unforgettable experience, like it is for us. We would love to see you again. Please stay in touch.
