The impact of the AIDS virus on society is, and will continue to be borne most heavily by the very young and the very old. They will lose mothers, fathers, children, and in some cases their entire immediate families to the epidemic.

Throughout the poorer rural areas of Thailand, orphanages are quite literally turning away children in need. They are already running at over capacity and barely, if at all, making ends meet. Those children fortunate enough to be given shelter will enjoy that respite for a few brief years before being cast out into an unkind world. A world where without friends, family or reasonable job prospects, they will be prime candidates for induction into the ranks of the criminal elements in society.

The aged in these same rural areas, are traditionally dependant on their adult children for the provision of food and shelter during their twilight years. A huge number now find themselves alone, homeless and uncared for.

Given the scale of the problem, the government, (any government) and the bureaucracy are not capable of responding to the problem in a manner, or within a timeframe, that could do anywhere near enough to alleviate, let alone solve the problem.

Not only are the people dying, the land itself is dying.

Years and years of chemical overuse in the agricultural sector, aided and abetted by the adherence to mono crop farming techniques, have rendered large tracts of land infertile. The ever increasing amounts of chemical used, and the cost thereof, combined with a lack of direct market access have played a major role in keeping the farmer destitute. The evidence is overwhelming, one need only review the figures readily available through normal government agencies, and plot those figures on a graph against the area of land farmed.

The solutions to minimising the effects of both these problems must be so designed that once implemented, they become a model in self reliance, and those who benefit from them go on to provide training for others in similar circumstances.

We at Track of the Tiger Tours & Maekok River Village Resort, run a small farm and are firm believers in organic as opposed to chemical based farming. We are keen on putting some of His Majesty the King’s recommendations into practice by promoting both small and large scale, multi crop, organic farming.

We are not an NGO nor are we established as a philanthropic organisation.

We are, as a long established and concerned member of our local community, keenly aware of four things:

1. The probable medium term affects of the AIDS epidemic on the labour pool, on the social fabric of the kingdom, and on our potential overseas client base.
2. The rapidly growing demand by the general public in the USA, Europe and Australia, that they be served organically, non genetically modified foodstuffs.
3. The role tourism plays in the Thai economy.
4. The inability of the public sector alone, to provide an adequate or timely response to the problem.

In our community, not much different from any other in the north, we have an orphanage for children. Some of the children have Aids/HIV, others have been orphaned by the loss of one or more family members, and those remaining cannot afford to support them.

I will not put forward statistics, but will merely point out that in our Amphur alone we have some 81 villages. The local orphanage serving that catchment area alone is home to 710 children between the ages of 3 – 17. Those under 3, 40 – 50 in number, are at another orphanage under the jurisdiction of the Mae Ai hospital.

With good management, a degree of audacity, and support from the private sector, we believe that we can establish a viable model for rebuilding the lives of those many children and elder members of our community who are unfortunate enough to get caught in the path of the Aids virus as it cuts a swathe through the kingdom.

Our proposal is quite simple. We intend to provide as many of these disenfranchised people as possible with the opportunity to establish their own community within the existing village structure. We intend to provide them with a grounding, and employment opportunities in (initially) organic farming.

Whilst nurturing themselves back to good mental, emotional and physical health, they will be charged with the task of bringing the land itself back to good health.

Are 3 months in duration, conducted every Saturday at the Maekok River Village Resort Organic for months 1 & 2, the 3^rd month on land provided in the school grounds in Ban Mae Ai. The first course commenced on Saturday July 8^th 2000 and will run through to the end of September 2000. Subsequent courses will be run throughout the year, subject to the availability of donor funding.

At the organic farm, each student is given the equivalent of a 30m x 1m plot of land. Half of this land area is farmed by the individual students, and a variety of 4 or 5 crops are planted. These crops will be given to the orphanage kitchen.

The other half is an area worked collectively and is planted being with carrots which the children will sell direct to the market. The earnings being shared amongst them to be used as each individual chooses.

The students will also work a small area of rice paddy on which a crop of rice will be grown organically.

The allocated area to be farmed at the orphanage will be roughly the same as that provided at the MRVR organic farm. All produce will go to the orphanage kitchen.

By Mr Thomas Loke, representing Healthy Agro. Produce Co. Ltd. an organic farm management company with a long record of running organic farming projects throughout SE Asia, who has volunteered his services as a teacher for at least the first course. He will make himself available for problem solving thereafter. He is also able to offer employment opportunities to the students, once graduated, on the farms his company manages throughout the north of Thailand.

He is assisted by staff from the student field studies centre, a component part of the Maekok River Village Resort project.

App. Baht 40’000.-

Track of the Tiger tours will be responsible for running the project and to ensure transparency will upload a new section to its web site on which;

Corporate or individual sponsors will be provided with complimentary room nights

( family villa – 4 beds) at Maekok River Village Resort for their first visit to the project, and at heavily discounted prices for subsequent visits.

On visiting they will be shown around the project and if so requested taken to visit the orphanage itself. They may ask to review the accounts on any visit.

Any assistance at all will be gratefully received. Money, 2^nd hand goods/equipment , or clothes, books, for the orphanage(s) or that we can use or sell to raise funds etc. will all be put to good use.

We would be grateful for any assistance you can provide in fund raising for either our own project or the orphanage(s) direct.

For project bank account details or for answers to any specific questions you may have please contact me.

I look forward to your positive response.

Shane K Beary,
Managing Director,
Track of the Tiger.

Ph: 053-459355-6
Fax: 053-459329

Email: tiger@loxinfo.co.th