BackgroundTo live in Kraeng Khro, a small village in Chaiyaphum province, can be very difficult especially for a single mother. It is located in Isaan, the northeast region of Thailand. Isaan is Thailand’s poorest region. The peoples’ livelihood is dependent on agriculture, mostly from rice. Rice farming is seasonal work, and therefore there are high rates of unemployment and poverty. Due to the unreliable work many of the young people go to the city, leaving the older generation behind to care for the land, and (grand) children.
Many of the single mothers are encouraged to try and find a foreign husband and in this way achieve economic stability for the family. The women hear stories of other women finding a man to love them and care for them, so they go to Pattaya hoping for the same. Upon arrival in Pattaya they see the truth of the situation; they have to work in the bars as prostitutes.
Tamar Center thought it was important to start setting up prevention centers in the most at risk areas, because often the girls who come to work in Pattaya have not heard what the work truly is about. We wanted to create a place where single mothers could feel safe to leave their children, but also where they could get help finding a job. Most of all Tamar felt it was important to create a place that was safe and loving for the women. That is when one of Tamar’s staff decided to move to her home village, Kraeng Khro and start a ministry there.
It is a very new ministry (opened in May 2010) and therefore still developing; currently, placing a focus on the children of the village, as they are the future generation that can bring hope and change to the entire village.
There is a nursery for children of single mothers. The mothers have to work to provide for the family, and we want to provide a safe place for them to leave their children. We also run an afterschool program for the older children, so that the mothers know they are in a safe and stimulating environment even after school hours.
The ministry seeks to be a place of light and hope in the Kraeng Khro. Most of the women who leave the villages to work in prostitution, in places such as Pattaya, do so because they see no other solution and no hope.
As the ministry becomes more established and deeper relationships develop with the village, the vision is to provide jobs for single mothers in Kraeng Khro. As well as to build a business that can easily be taught and has opportunity for growth.