Summary
Safe Haven Orphanage is located on the Thai-Burma border in western Thailand and provides a safe environment to orphans, victims of child abuse and disabled and ill children.
Safe Haven Orphanage is committed to providing over 50 children with full care including food, accommodation, educational support, and medical care. The main goal of the orphanage is to protect the children and prepare them for an independent, healthy life in society.
In early 2014, ten new children were taken in at the orphanage, six of whom were boys. There was not enough space to house all the boys in the dormitory and as a result some of the older boys had to sleep in the library. To address this issue, Philanthropy Connections approached long-term sponsor Peter Brodtbeck and requested his support to fund the boys’ dormitory extension to accommodate all the boys.
Background
In 1987 Safe Haven Orphanage was established by Ms. Tasanee Keereepraneed in Ban Tha Song Yang village after she took in a Karen baby girl whose mother had died during child birth. The baby was at risk of being killed by villagers who believed the child was carrying a curse that had caused her mother’s death. With Tasanee’s compassion and strong sense of humanity, she raised the child as a member of her family. Since then more and more orphans, and later abused and neglected children, have been referred to Safe Haven.
In early 2014, ten additional children were taken in at Safe Haven, six of whom were boys. The children were from poor neighbouring families and had recently graduated from primary education. While the orphanage had the capacity to support these children, there was inadequate space to accommodate the extra boys in the dormitory. As a result some of the older boys had to give up their beds and sleep in the library or in Tasanee’s old house, which was neither appropriate nor safe.
This posed a risk for the boys’ safety and an extension of the dormitory was urgently needed to provide suitable sleeping arrangements for the boys.
Goals and Results
In 2014 we approached Peter Brodtbeck to help finance the boys’ dormitory extension at Safe Haven Orphanage, to which he generously agreed. The construction of the extension was completed later that year, with the larger dormitory ensuring that all 35 boys would sleep in a safe and protected environment.
