During the last 5 years the Norwegian football club, Vestkysten Sportsklubb has supported and financed rice for several schools, dormitories and one orphanage in the outskirts of Mae Sot. As of January 2017 PlayOnside took over the responsibility of the delivery, so every month we fill the PlayOnside truck with footballs and rice, and take a weekend road trip into the jungle.
Access to enough and nutritious food has been a challenge in this area, and as rice is the staple food in the region, and consumed for every meal, it is essential for the children’s education and individual growth and development. As school enrollment in this region is a problemfree school lunch is also a motivational factor for parents to send their children to school. Free food means one less mouth to feed during the day, and that is a financial incentive for poor families to send their children to school.
The project is externally financed through Vestkysten Sportsklubb, and the cost of this program does not affect the running cost of the PlayOnside program.
PlayOnside buys and delivers monthly 30 bags of rice, a total of 1.500 kilos to the Primary Schools Maw Kwee, and Gol La Hay, two dormitories in Noh Bo and Mae Salitt, and to Safe Haven Orphanage in Mae Tawo.
Maw Kwee is a small Karen School, hidden in the jungle in the hills on the Thai side of the border. It is a small school with around 60 students, and 50 of the boarding students. The children come from surrounding villages and live at the school during the school years.
Even though the school gets a bit of support from Karen Education Department it is not enough to cover the food cost for the children living at the school. This was the first school supported by the Rice Project, dating back to March 2012.
The Rice Project support the school and its boarding students with 6 bags of rice a month, totally 300 kilo.
The approximate cost of the rice is 3.600 baht a month.
Safe Haven Orphanage is located around two hours drive from Mae Sot. It is home from around 60 children from a few months to 18 years old. The orphanage is run by our good friend Tasanee Keereepraneed, or "Big Mama as she is also called. At Safe Haven, the children get the love, care and attention they deserve, and it is a very good place to grow up. When PlayOnside delivers the rice in this region, we stay the night at the orphanage, and spent time playing with the children, or watching a movie at night.
The Rice Project support the orphanage with 9 bags of rice a month, totally 450 kilo.
The approximate cost of the rice is 5.600 baht a month.
Gaw La Heh Primary School is located on the Burmese side of the border. Since the school was opended in 2009, has grown and is now hosting approximately 200 children divided in 7 classes from kindergarten to grade 6. Of these, approximately 100 residence in the dormitories. The school get some support from Karen Education Department, and some from Karen Youth Organisation, but this is hardly enough to cover the running costs of the school.
The Rice Project support the school and its boarding students with 7 bags of rice a month, totally 350 kilo.
The approximate cost of the rice is 4.200 baht a month.
Along the Moei River, the border river separating Thailand from is the small village of Mae Salitt. Here there is a small boarding house, hosting 21 students from Burma.
The lack of secondary educational opportunities (grade 10 - 12) in this area on the Burmese side, means the students have to move across the river to the Thai side to continue their education.
PlayOnside and the rice project is very happy to support this small boarding house and its students with 5 bags every month, or totally 250 kilos.
The approximate cost of the rice is 3.000 baht a month.
Noh Boh is a medium sized Karen village on the river banks of Moei River. There are several good educational programs in the village, one of them being Noh Bo Academy. a big school with all the grades from Kindergarten to grade 12.
The Noh Bo Dormitory is home for 12 students from the Burmese side, getting their education at Noh Bo Academy.
The Rice Project support the boarding students with 3 bags of rice a month, totally 150 kilo.
The approximate cost of the rice is 1.800 baht a month.
Pah Deh Summer School is an emergency educational program run by PlayOnside. Three days a week, PlayOnside together with our friends Sam Tack and Anna Morcilo Salas run a small school with focus on English, critical thinking, art and sports. Free and nutritious school lunch is imperative for the children's education and learning, and every day we serve a free school lunch. The staple food is rice, and the rice project supported this cost.
The Rice Project support the boarding students with 2 bags of rice a month, totally 100 kilo.
The approximate cost of the rice is 1.200 baht a month.
Ole G. Michelsen joined PlayOnside at the very beginning, becoming one of the main responsible of the growth and the professionalization of the organization. His wide range of knowledge and resources made him go through every single task of the program, from driver, fruit cutter, English teacher to Fundraiser, M&E and Finance responsible. His sense of humor, his “casual” clothing style and his solid “Na Lay La?” are really missed in the office.
Jame is a former Avoda School teacher and joined PlayOnside in 2017 as a part-time coach. Many years of teaching experience and knowledge of the community makes him a key player to identify the needs of the community. Also his Thai skills are very useful for the organization, especially when it is a phone call where body language is useless. As his name “James” His driving skills are as good as James Bond. When he retires he will probably own his own Songteaw. In the meantime…watch out! If you leave him alone he will be already running 3 different projects!
Oshape graduated from Minmahaw School in 2019. She was part of the PlayOnside Leadership Program at Minmahaw and her confidence, her smile and charm created a great impression on the team. She has developed her skills to become a role model in the community. She is passionate about learning more about gender equality and together with Yadanar they are the change-makers for many women in the community. A fast and sneaky football player, she also uses these skills off the field!
Zar Ni Win joined PlayOnside in 2017 with the responsibility of taking care of the fruits, the equipment and logistics around the field during the events. She shortly became a Field Manager. She has been growing a lot over the years being a key team member when it comes to the daily life of the organization. Nobody makes better nets than her in all of Tak province. Her conversations with Ole are still a mystery but somehow they always worked!
Evenly is one of the most talented former students from Minmahaw school. In 2018, she volunteered at PlayOnside Summer School in Thone Sae Thone Sue village. Then she continued her studies at ACU for 2 years and in February 2021, she joined PlayOnside as an intern. Her motivation, diligence and willingness to learn impressed the organization and there was no doubt to offer her a position as a staff. She is a great support in the different areas of the organization. Her participation in the meetings is the most efficient in the organization, breaking the previous record of 3 seconds per meeting.
Laura is the first female coach in PlayOnside. She joined the PlayOnisde family in 2017 creating a huge impact in the community. After that she has been leaving and coming back. That’s why we never remove her from the website. She’s currently enrolled in AUW University in Bangladesh. Due to the pandemic, she returned to Mae Sot to continue her studies online and provide PlayOnside with her knowledge and experience she has gained over the last 2 years abroad. It is easier to win the lottery than to predict when she will leave and break our hearts again.
Bway is a former Minmahaw school student. He completed the Teacher Education program in his second year at the school that equipped him with teaching tools and skills to start a teaching career. With a wide teaching experience, his critical thinking skill, initiative, and care for education bring a great resource to support the Star Flower project, creating and implementing the lesson according to individual student’s needs.Also his talent and passion for art makes him the “Canva Specialist”, bringing light and inspiration to our Social Media.
Throwback to 2018, Yair Yint is a Farm House school teacher and part-time coach. He was helping PlayOnside teaching at Green Island Summer school. His enthusiasm and his leadership skills help him to become a PlayOnside staff with full responsibility for Green Island since 2019. He shares “General Worker” tasks with Pyae Sone and James, creating a team not different from the Messi-Neymar-Suarez team. He is the best goalkeeper (and the only one we have) in the PlayOnside team and the ball rarely hits the goal net.
Esther was the defender of the Love and Care team during the 2018 Rainy Season Tournament. She was called “The Rock” for her strength, clearing every single ball that came close to her. In 2020, she applied and was selected for an internship position. After three months she has become a staff member responsible for the Global Goal E-learning project, and the communication of the SRHR program. She also has passion for the M & E Department where she has to deal with Zin Min Naing! Not an easy task!
Smallay joined PlayOnside in 2017. Former Minmahaw student, he is a natural fighter in order to reach his dreams. He learns as quickly as makes jokes in the team which makes him one of the most multifaceted staff in the organization. His football career was interrupted after a bad pass from Javier, a fact that he will never forget, that’s why he is moving to Bangkok to continue his studies while becoming a part-time job and web-designer. Before that, he has had the ability to hire half of his family in the organization.
Javier founded PlayOnside in 2013 intending to use the potential of football to promote different values around the migrant community in Mae Sot. He is a crazy Atletico Madrid fan which provided him with lots of experience to manage frustration, anger and disappointment. He likes to work (sometimes too much), and never stops thinking of new projects or new ideas to improve the organization and its staff.
Naing Zaw, is the tallest and the most smiley Burmese person you will ever meet. He joined the PlayOniside team in 2018 and went to Wide Horizons program to improve his skills in Community Development. After a year, he came back to the organization to share and implement his skill as a Fundraiser to keep the organization financially healthy. He likes to take photos and also courses online. His personal folder is full of certificates.
Zin Min Naing is one of the most humble people in the organization. After he graduated from CDC school he joined PlayOnside to create a happy environment and to keep staff satisfied in the workplace. His leadership skills, critical thinking and enthusiasm have helped him to organize the task in the team. He is a problem solver. If you have a problem, you will see him. If he shouts “One clap!”, you better follow!
Yadanar joined PlayOnside in 2018. Thanks to her strong character, quickly she became one of the important people to keep the office’s materials and the finances under control. She is an Excel expert and one of the best football players in the PlayOnside Female team. She scored more goals than her husband did this year (which is not surprising). Her new haircut will become trendy in the community (give time to time).
Pyae Sone is the first staff hired by PlayOnside since its foundation. He was a KM 42 school teacher. His leadership skills and motivation for the sports as well as his willingness to create a safe environment around the children brought him as Education and Child Protection Manager with big responsibilities in most of the activities. His passion for playing football (not his skills though) is as big as his body. He is not only responsible for Child Protection but also he protects all the staff who are in danger. (He is a snake killer)