Kamala School Fund

Dear Readers,

This appeal came to me from some very close yachtie friends. Please take a few minutes to read about this fund that has been organized by a fellow yachtie to rebuild the Kamala School on Phuket.

- Kim Davis - editor@extraordinary-jobs.com

Kamala School Fund
Hello friends

As you may have heard, Kamala was the hardest hit beach and village on Phuket Island. Here you can view some pictures of the school and local village. Please be patient while the image gallery loads. http://www.eyenav.com/Downloads/KamalaTsunami Huge devastation, loss of lives, injuries and destruction are visible everywhere.

However, the resilience of the Thai people, and the human spirit of everyone is phenomenal. Removal of rubble, cleanup operations and the rebuilding of this village is the immediate focus of this community.

We have received so many encouraging responses from so many of you, and the pledges for donations are accumulating.

In the name of the Children of Kamala, a huge thank you for your support, generosity, kind words and cooperation. Simply fantastic!

We know now that with your help we will be able to make a real difference in the life of these Kids and bring back the smiles to their faces and lighten up their hearts.

Here is an update of our progress in helping the Children of Kamala.

We went to Kamala School, which is right at the beach. We met with the school master, and some of the teachers to assess the status of damage and the school needs.


STATUS OF DAMAGE
• The school is 80% destroyed.
• There are 374 children at this primary school / kindergarten aged between 3 and 12 years of age.
• 2 children died during the Tsunami wave. (luckily, on Sunday 26th of December the school was closed, otherwise there would have been a huge loss of these young lives.)
• 16 teachers work at the school, 8 of which used to live on the school grounds, 1 teacher died, the teachers' living quarters are also totally gone.
• The kindergarten building was annihilated.
• The only building that is still standing contains 8 class rooms. It is unsafe, and in need of major repairs and reinforcement.
• This is a government funded school, so most of the basic repair work will be financed by the government, and this may prove a slow and tedious process.
• All schools in Thailand reopened last Monday 3rd of January. Kamala school will reopen next Monday 10th of January, and classes will probably place outdoors.
SCHOOL NEEDS

A. Find urgently child psychiatrists to counsel and comfort the five young children who lost their mothers.

B. Purchase equipment for the playground :: swings / slides / climbing walls / little play cottages / sea-saw riders and more ( a list was written up by the
teachers) and have such equipment installed.

C. Purchase equipment for the sportsground and a basketball court and supervise it's installation.

D. When a list is established next Monday, when the kids return for their first day back, we can purchase school uniforms / shoes / educational material.



We have our work cut out for us for this project over the coming months and looking forward to it.


As mentioned previously, the amount of help that we will be able to provide depends on the amount and speed of incoming funds.

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This Kamala School Fund for the children of Kamala project will collect your donations, and such funds will be used directly by us to help rebuild a future for the local kids.

We will avoid any bureaucratic involvement and promise you that every cent will be directly spent on reconstruction of the structures that were totally demolished by the tsunami wave.

We will contribute to the rebuilding of the local school, kindergarten and playground, and start recreating a future for the local kids who represent the hope and spirit of this village.

How much we can do will depend on the amount of incoming funds, so please do not hesitate to contact your friends and ask for their help in this process, as every bit will be wisely used and not a cent will be wasted, this I pledge to you.

I have opened a separate bank account for this appeal, details are as follows:
Sorry, This is a non tax deductible Fund.

Bank of Ayudhya (Thailand)
Chaweng Beach Branch
Account Name: Mr Charles Dwyer for Kamala School Fund
Account # : 423-1-10682-2
SWIFT CODE: AYUDTHBK


Thank you all,
Charles Dwyer