Thailand
COVID-19 Relief in Thailand: Food and hygiene kits
Helping church partners in Thailand provide Karen people groups with essential care during COVID-19
Crisis Response
The Need
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Compassion Thailand has been implementing disaster relief initiatives to help families in need by providing emergency food and hygiene kits. Since March 2020, these interventions have been conducted in several phases and have supported thousands of vulnerable children and their family members.
In addition to serving Thai citizens, many of our partners in the Omkoi and Mae Hong Son regions are also serving the Karen people, a displaced people group who have migrated from Myanmar. Since January 2021, the resurgence of COVID-19 in these regions has had a severe impact on families living in poverty. Community lockdowns and restrictions on movement have prevented many caregivers from earning a living and feeding their families. Migrant families like the Karen people are especially vulnerable, as they are considered stateless and therefore ineligible for any kind of government relief. Without the ability to work, they have no way of providing for their children’s most basic needs.
Forty-five of our church partners in Thailand wanted to continue to provide much-needed support to children and families during this difficult time by supplying food relief and essential hygiene items. They wanted to target support to the local migrant community, who are highly vulnerable to the economic impact of the pandemic.
Our Response
Compassion Thailand is committed to supporting vulnerable children and families through the pandemic. With your generous support, our frontline church partners have been able to provide 4,200 families in the Omkoi and Mae Hong Son regions with essential food and hygiene kits during this most recent wave of infection.
Centre staff met to plan how to manage the relief package intervention. They planned which items to purchase and which vendors to purchase them from. Then, they filled the bags with essential items for families, according to each families’ needs. Staff and church leaders also organized the distribution process. Some families came to the centre to receive packages, while those who were unable to leave their homes waited for centre staff and volunteers to deliver them to their homes. This especially worked well for those families with young children and for the elderly.
The packages included rice bags, dried fish, eggs, instant noodles, cooking ingredients, canned fish, hygiene kits, shampoo, toothpaste and more. In total, nearly 5,000 registered Compassion beneficiaries and their families received emergency aid—a total of 21,809 people. Churches were able to extend the support to some non-registered children in the community, as well as to church pastors and staff.
Activities
Preparing the relief packs: Centre staff worked hard to pack the relief items and prepare the food and hygiene packages for distribution.
Food and hygiene kit distribution: Children, parents and caregivers were so happy to receive packages containing enough essential food and hygiene items to last 60 days.
Spiritual support: Centre staff prayed with families after they delivered the food and hygiene packages to families. Families felt encouraged, loved and hopeful for the future.
Your Gift Provides...
● Locally-sourced food packs and hygiene items for 4,200 households:
○ Food items included rice, dried noodles, eggs, cooking oil, dried fish, salt, canned fish, instant noodles, sugar, fish sauce, etc.
○ Hygiene items included soap, shampoo, sanitizer, toothpaste, etc.
ReportA message from those your gift helped
There are five people in my family. My mother and grandmother are the breadwinners for our family. They used to do general labour jobs. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they became unemployed and could not go to work anymore. Now, they are unable to find a job. My mother has to go to another province, seeking a job opportunity. During this time, we are not earning any income to cover everyday meals, schooling expenses or transportation fees.
The food package that my family received has helped us to feel more relieved, as we have less stress about what we are going to eat or where we can get money. My father and grandmother do not fight or argue with each other as much. We can smile while having a meal together, even though COVID-19 is still going on out there.
We are thankful for the help that we received. We can continue living with hope again. We dare to hope that we will have jobs again in the future. We are thankful for God’s love and provision through the support from the centre staff. They came to ask about our challenges and encouraged us through a difficult time.
We have learned that God’s love can flow to us even through a person we have never met before. I believe that God’s love will be with us and help us always.
Thank you so much for your help to my family in a difficult time like this. May God bless you and your family with happiness and good health.
ReportThank you for your generosity
With your help, 4,200 families were able to access essential food and hygiene items. The packages contained enough supplies for 60 days, so that families could maintain their health and well-being during this most recent wave of the pandemic. Many of these families are migrants who do not qualify for support from the state. They are so grateful for your support during these difficult times.
Our partners want to provide vulnerable families with long-term solutions for food security and sustainable income. Their next goal is to provide families with chickens, pigs, goats and vegetable seeds, so they can raise/grow their own food and start selling it as well.
Thanks to you, thousands of children and their families have had meals to eat. They have received the basic hygiene items they need to stay safe and healthy during this time. Church staff and volunteers are grateful, too. Your timely gift has equipped these 45 churches to reach their communities during the crisis and minister the love of Jesus in a profound way. Many lives have been touched forever as a result of your generosity. Thank you for showing God’s love in such a tangible way!
ReportA message from a centre director
The beneficiaries have learned how to protect themselves from the risks of getting infected with the COVID-19. The relief packages have helped them so much while they were waiting for government support, which takes a very long time to access.
This intervention has brought everyone to get involved in helping each other. Besides the centre staff, there were some volunteers in the community who came to help set up the packages and distribute them to the beneficiaries.
The church has received a good contribution from the community as they see how we pay attention to our beneficiaries as well as others.
Thank you so much for your kind support through this intervention. You have encouraged us to get through the crisis with hope. May God bless you and strengthen you always.