WHAT SPONSORSHIP DOES FOR STUDENTS
The $30 amount is based on 1,000 baht per student per month. This amount is to be split between the school fees and creating safe jobs and training opportunities for teens.
- 500 baht per month school fees - This covers lunch, uniforms, and basic healthcare. This is the monthly rate for all Good Shepherd students, however it is only asked that parents pay these. Families are asked to pay what they can and they don’t accrue a bill for unpaid months. Last time I was here about half of families were paying their school fees but now only about a quarter are paying - so while enrollment has doubled, school income has been cut in half. The reason people aren’t paying is because so many families are deep in debt to predatory landlords and employers from the times during COVID when they weren’t working.
Even at the school carnival this year where they would normally charge .25 cents or .50 cents for ice cream, games, and raffle tickets, Sister said she didn’t feel right charging because kids were of course going to ask their parents for money to play and some families truly have nothing this year. She bought lots of extra prizes for the raffle and asked that if you win something and know that another family needs it more, please give it to them (fan, rice cooker, cooking oil, laundry detergent). She will always buy rice or oil or provide a crate of eggs if families are without food and she invites families to come once a week to take the leftover groceries or cooked food we have from the lunchroom.
500 baht towards job creation and training opportunities. If we are able to get all 18 students sponsored that will be 9,000 baht a month going into this pot. 9,000 baht is 30 days of “day rate pay” of 300 baht a day, which means students could be hired for paid work at the coffee shop, salon, or (more likely) working on catering orders or soap orders for hotels. The students have two amazing mentors to look to who graduated from the school and now work there; Zin and Aung. Zin is 23 and has worked at the school as a KG teacher for 6 years. Aung is 18 and this is his first year as the music teacher and part time bus driver. They will help students with scheduling, filling out time cards and most importantly, serve as a living example of what getting a full time salaried job in a safe place like our school can do for them. (Zin's story is truly incredible and she's going to allow me to share some it with you in later emails).