THAILAND: Students volunteer at wildlife sanctuary
Activities include cleanup, building dam
THAILAND
(MissionNewswire) Students from Don Bosco Saengthong Vitthaya School, and the Thidanukhro School, run by the Sisters of Mary Help of Christians in the Songkhla Province, volunteered to do nature conservation work at the Ton Nga Chang Wildlife Sanctuary National Park in Thailand. The volunteers consisted of 53 students along with teachers and parents.
The Songkhla and Satun provinces, where the schools are located, have a large area of forest with abundant wildlife. The area serves as watershed for many streams that flow into the basin of Lake Songkhla, an important water source for the surrounding environment.
The volunteer day started with the group listening to Panapon Chiva Sereechon, director of the park, who spoke about the conservation of natural resources and the role of national park officials in the area. Students then volunteered to help collect garbage and clean up the area around the park. They also built a low-head dam to slow down the water at Ton Nga Chang waterfall.
A Salesian noted, “These activities have helped students understand the benefits of building dams, which retain water and reduce soil erosion, as well as helping to retain sediments and miscellaneous materials that come down with the water in the stream. This helps increase biological diversity and becomes a habitat for aquatic animals.”
Salesian missionaries provide education and social programs in Thailand to give poor and disadvantaged youth an opportunity for a brighter future. The COVID-19 pandemic caused a sharp rise in the country’s “targeted poor” (those who hold state-issued welfare cards) as noted by the Thai People Map and Analytics Platform. There are 8.1 million people in Thailand who are poor and 4.4 million people below the poverty line.
Although the country had made strides in reducing poverty before the pandemic, improving nutrition and meeting the basic needs of its residents, inequality is still pervasive. More children are also dropping out of school, especially those who are not living with their parents.
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Sources:
ANS Photo (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS)
Salesian Missions – Thailand
