The Whispering Seed (WS) is a village-based Sustainable Living and Learning Community Center as well as a Home for Children coming from orphaned and abusive backgrounds. We are a US non-profit charitable organization, founded in 2004, and located on a farm in a Karen village near the town of Sangkhlaburi in Western Thailand, eight kilometers from the Burmese border. We provide emotional, medical, and nutritional support and care, as well as housing and learning opportunities for Burmese refugee children and displaced and disadvantaged people from Burmese, Karen, Karang, and Mon ethnic minority groups in the region. Our mission is to provide models for sustainable living and learning consistent with the traditions of the varied local cultures.

A Different Approach
By living and working directly with the communities that we serve, WS uses a different approach than other organizations in the region in assisting the local disadvantaged population. With our sustainable approach, we consider the entire situation, working together with local villagers and displaced people, assisting them to identify the problems they face, and supporting them to create long-lasting solutions for themselves by addressing the roots of their struggles, rather than by pacifying surface issues. WS maintains a family environment, living and learning together in small groups, allowing personal care and attention for all.

Ongoing Programs of Whispering Seed

1.Youth Empowerment
a.Ongoing care for orphaned and refugee children as well as young single mothers, including those affected by HIV/AIDS
b.Working to provide all of the children in our care with proper documentation in hopes that they will gain citizenship in the near future
c.Community service learning trips for local Karen, Karang, and Mon children
d.International cultural immersion programs for local and international youth, partnering with other organizations
e.Local youth weekend workshops and camps with university students from Bangkok; activities include bird watching, water detective activities (to test river water quality), games, stories, and music
f.Workshops and training in supporting Karen culture (language, dance, singing, and weaving)

2.Holistic Education
a.Teacher training for educators from ethnic minority groups within Burma and along the Thai/Burmese border, including Shan, Mon, and Karen
b.Natural child development and skills training for young mothers
c.An alternative education film festival in collaboration with Shikshantar from India
d.Conferences and gatherings to support alternative democratic models of learning with participants from Japan, Korea, Russia, New Zealand, India, Laos, Thailand, and the United States
e.A permanent library at Whispering Seed

3.Sustainable Living
a.Living and Learning in Community, a three-month internship program
b.Permaculture certification courses for local Thai and Burmese as well as foreigners
c.Training local Karen, Mon, Burmese, and Thai people in sustainable living by instructors from Australia and throughout Thailand
d.Earthen-building training and workshops
e.Instruction on use of appropriate technology

4.Traditional Crafts and Culture and Media Art
a.Building a museum and cultural center for Moken people (sea gypsies) displaced by the 2004 tsunami
b.Flowers from Real Leaves; natural crafts supporting local indigent women
c.Documentary filmmaking and the production of claymation films
d.Traditional backstrap weaving, spinning, natural dyeing, music, and dance

New Initiatives of Whispering Seed

5.The Training of Local Wisdom Teachers
Creating employment opportunities through training local men and women in backstrap weaving, spinning cotton, natural dyeing, herbal medicine, sewing, flower making, bamboo toy making and woven natural straw mats.

6.A Local Cooperative Store in Sangkhlaburi Selling and promoting the handicrafts of local women

7.A Mobile Library Project
Including books, arts and crafts materials, and theater activities. Acquiring a vehicle expressly for the mobile library project will allow us to share the resources of WS with Karen, Karang, Mon, and Burmese peoples in remote areas along the Thai/Burmese border

8.An Educational Resource Center
Providing necessary educational materials for formal and informal education in both the Thai and Burmese languages

9.Karen Cultural Education Within The Tung Yai Narasuan Wildlife Sanctuary
Through cooperation with local and regional governments, the Development for Children and Youth Foundation, and the Kemp Chai Foundations in Bangkok, creating educational and cultural projects for nine remote Karen villages that include:
a.A new curriculum for grades 1-6, to better reflect the local Karen culture and traditions
b.Training Karen teachers
c.Developing an alternative curriculum for grades 7-12, as Karen youth have no further education options beyond grade 6
d.Creating a Karen cultural museum to promote the diversity and richness of Karen culture
e.Constructing a mud-brick dormitory for students in grades 7-12 attending a government school

10.Medical Assistance for local villagers
Recently WS have been assisting many local villagers with medical care. We do so by providing basic health care assistance for common illnesses and wounds. However, we have also assisted many local residents by taking them to local hospitals and covering their bills, as most of the people we work with do not have Thai citizenship and therefore lack the basic rights to free or inexpensive healthcare. We have cared for several individuals suffering from HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and other emergency situations. Together with Kemchai Foundation in Bangkok we are setting up a healthcare loan system, in which local villagers will be able to borrow funds of up to three hundred baht for medical bills. Their repayment schedule is set up so a small amount, roughly one baht, will be repaid each month over an extended period.