The
Chiang Rai Good Shepherd Youth Centre began when the Good Shepherd Sisters realised how crucial it was to offer a safe refuge to the impoverishe young women of the Hill Tribe regions of the Northern Thailand. The Centre opened in 1996 in Phan has help to bring light and hope to many lives.
There are currently 45 girls living here aged between 13 to 20 years old. Girls from Lisu, Hmong, Karen and other tribes, recive a well-rounded education and are trained in practical skills in a safe and nurturing environment. They are boarded in bright and cheerful lodgings at the Centre and all their needs are taken care of.
Human Trafficking is a serious problem in Thailand and many poor young women are forced into prostitution or hard labour through a lack of the other options. They are often sent to Bangkok or neighbouring countries via prostitution networks. The Good Shepherd Youth Centre gives these young women from Northern Thailand a chance to escape this desperate cycle by giving them the skills to make a living for themselves through trade or to go to University.
Young Women from Hill Tribes of Northern Thailand and the border region of Burma are very vulnerable, possessing no identity papers. With help from Good Shepherd Sisters,
other congregations, international NGOs and the Thai Government, they now have the opportunity to obtain identity cards, and are taught that they have the same rights as Thai citizens.
They recive a professional education at the Centre, where they usually stay from one to three years.
In the Youth Centre, the girls are tutored in the Thai and English languages practical and domestic skills and personal development. Some of them have never been to school before.
Each of the girls is taught 5 subjects:
- cooking
- fruit cultivation and agriculture
- computer skills
- dressmaking
- craft production
Sisters and teachers organise exhibitions of dancing, singing, and craft-making in order to promote and maintain the tribal culture of Northern Thailand. This plays a vital role in developing the confidence and self-belief of the girls, and their pride in their unique cultures.
The girls also participate in the meal preparation, house cleaning and other daily domestic tasks.
They are taught to sew, a skill that will help them to earn money for their families when they return home. During their time at the Centre, they make decorative bags and beautifully hand-embroidered goods to earn an allowence. This income is supplemented by loans and funding from NGOs.
The Good Shepherd Sisters'work needs to be supported. They enable so many women to learn about their rights as human beings, helping them to realize that they deserve the same right to an education that many Thai males take for granted. In this Centre, the girls regain a sense of dignity and power over their own destinies.
The sale of the products presented in this catalogue is therefore of the critical importance. When you purchase these products, you support the education of young women who are very much in need and you give them the chance to raise both themselves and their families out of lives of desperate poverty.
From the
Good Shepherd Sisters Community in Chiang Rai,
the educational team and the girls and their families,
we THANK YOU for your support.
