ELPIS PROPOSAL
Executive Summary
Karunar dormitory
was founded by Mrs. Hae Htoo in 2004. It is located in Mae Pa, Tak Province,
Thailand. In 2013, ex-Wide Horizons students built 2 new dorms for girls and
boys through the funding from Room to Grow. Currently, there are 55 students
and 5 teachers living in the dorms.
The dorm’s mission
is to provide a safe shelter and good opportunity to study for unparented and
underprivileged children.
In these dorms,
they are facing problems with water seeping through the floor in the raining
season 4 months in a year.According to 2 engineers we consulted the
construction of the dormitory buildingwas badly advised by the previous
engineer, but according to the dorm supervisor it is because the previous
organizers and engineer did notbudget for the materials carefully. As a result, the floor was built thinly on the
same level as the ground. This causes the floor to be damp, dirty and infested
with insects. To solve these problems, theylay linoleum to cover the damp floor
but it is very easy to tear and difficult to sweep the floor. Moreover,
different kinds of insects would stay under the linoleum such as ants and
snails. Sometimes, when students wake up, they notice insect bites on their
body and fall sick with illnesses like fever and cough. The number of illnesses
has increased in this year compared to last year.
Therefore, Wide
Horizons students are proposing to pave the cement floor and lay tiles to
provide a waterproof floor in February, 2016. As a result the floor will be dry
and they can sleep comfortably. Furthermore, they can maintain hygiene and the
students’ illness rate will be decreased.
To implement this
project, we are requesting 49,570 Baht to buy good quality materials to use for
paving the floor with tiles, hiring engineer and workers.
Organization Background
Wide Horizons (WH)Schoolwas founded in 2006 by Burmese
Migrant Worker Education Committee (BMWEC) and World Education (WE) in Mae Sot,
Thailand. Our mission is to improve the capacity of young adults from Burma to
work effectively in civil society organizations.
We have 4 full time staffs and 2 part time staffs. We
cooperate with more than 5 organizations in Mae Sot, such as BMWEC and WE.
Programs
Wide Horizons is a 2-year leadership development program
that selects 24 students from multi-cultural backgrounds and different community-based
organizations in Myanmar and along the Thai-Burma border annually. We focus on
3 main subjects namely, English, Community Development, and Computer. We also
have extracurricular activities like video shooting training, time management
training and others.
Previous Projects
In 2012, Wide Horizons students started visiting CBOs to
do community projects to gain practical experience and at the same time,
benefit communities. In the past students have conducted more than 10 different
community projects. For example, they have done construction, agriculture and
training projects in communities such as Elpis School, New Blood School and
others.
Students Success
More than 200 students had graduated from Wide Horizons
and many of them have become program managers and coordinators for their
organization such as Mae Tao Clinic, Khom Loy, Karen Education Department, and
Wide Horizons staff. As a result, students are helping their own communities
effectively by applying their knowledge.
Award
Wide Horizons has received an honorable commendation from
UNESCO in China on 26 November 2014.
Team Members
For this 2015-2016 academic year, there are 4 teams
managing 4 different community projects in Mae Sot. This proposal is to seek
funding to improve the Karunar dormitory. We have 6 students managing this
project. We are Pakaw Mol (Mon National Health Committee), A V Yar (Sexual and Gender
Based Violence), Cherry Win (Burmese Migrant Teachers’ Association), Day Wah
(Hsa Thoo Lei), Mya Win (Thay Baw Boe Naw High School), Phyo Wai Lin (Mehm Khen
Kyi English Center).
Community Background
Karunar dormitory also
commonly known as Elpis dormitoryis located in Mae Pa, section 2, Tak Province,
Thailand. The dormitory was founded by Mrs. Hae Htoo in 2004. Their mission is
to provide unparented and underprivileged children a safe shelter and good
opportunity to study.
The dormitory is
managed by Mrs. Hae Htoo. She is Karunar dormitory’s supervisor and Elpis
primary school’s headmistress. She manages the dormitory with 4 male
administrative staff to take care of the children in the dormitory.
There are 28 male
students and 27 female students living in Karunar dormitory. Among the 55
students that stay in the dormitory, as many as 45 students come from
backgrounds of being orphaned, abandoned or neglected by their parents. The
dormitory students come from different ethnicities, Karen, Burmese and Karenni.
22 students attend Hsa Thoo Lei High School, 32 students attend Elpis Primary
School, 2 students attend Thai schools and 1 student attends a program called
Youth Connect.
Saw Nyan Soe, an
18-years-old student in Grade 11, have been staying in Karunar dormitory since
he was 14 years old. When he was 11 years old, his father passed away and his
mother sent him to monastery. Then, his mother and uncle sent him to Karunar
dormitory to have a good shelter and opportunity to study. His dream is to
become a teacher after he graduated from school and teach in Elpis primary
school. Karunar dormitory provides him food, shelter, school transportation fee
and education.
There are
currently 2 dormitories; male students and the other for female students. The 2
buildings were built 2 years ago on Mrs. Hae Htoo’s land by Wide Horizons
students as a part of their school community project. Students sleep on the
floor by using mats, blankets, mosquito nets and pillows. They usually sleep at
10:00 PM and wake up at 06:00AM in the morning. The dormitory is also where
they spend their time in studying, playing and resting.
Mae Tao Clinic
supports the dormitory by providing dry food such as rice, oil and fish cane
monthly. Every week, they also receive vegetable through the support of Life
Impact. They owned land and they do not need to pay for the rent. Currently,
Life Impact pay electricity bill. Student’s transportation fee is given by
individual donors. They do not have any other source of income.
Since Karunar’s
dormitory was established, they have provide many of unparented children with
good shelter, food and opportunity for studying to get education and to build a
better life in their future.
An estimated of
over 20 unparented children from Karunar dormitory have completed their
education in Elpis primary school. After they finished primary education from
Elpis primary school, they continued to Hsa Thoo Lei High School. 8 of these
students have completed high school and attended teacher trainings and the
Youth Connect Program. After completing their training, 2 students have
returned to the Karunar dormitory to work as a volunteer to take care of the
students. They are also teaching in Elpis primary school.
Problem Statement
Getting a good
night’s sleep is important for students to be able to concentrate in class.
However, in Karunar dormitory sleeping is becoming stressful for 55 students
and 5 teachers living there, 4 months in a year. During rainy season, water
seeps from the ground onto the concrete floor. For this reason, the dorm floor is
always damp(picture 1), dirty and
infested with insects(picture 2).As a
result, students wake up from sleep with insect bites and some fall seriously
ill. To solve this problem, we propose to waterproof the floor by paving cement
and laying tiles.
Ex-Wide Horizons students had built 2 dorms for girls and
boys in 2013. Currently, these dorms are faced with water seepingfrom the
ground onto the floor. According to 2 engineers we consulted, the dormitory
built wasprobably ill-advised by the ex-engineer,but according to Mrs. Hae Htoo,
it is because the organizers and engineer did not check the materials prices
carefully. In this case; even though the organizers surveyed the price of
materials when they plannedthe budget, the prices were raised when they implemented
their project. As a result, they did not have sufficient materials for the
floor for these 2 dorms.
In the beginning,
the floor did not have any problems. However, in 2014, students and teachers
began noticing water pooling on the concrete floor. As students and teachers
sleep on the floor, they covered the damp and rough floor with linoleum so they
could have a dry and smooth surface to sleep on. Over time, they discovered
insects such as ants, snails, worms and centipedes living underneath the linoleum
because of the damp conditions. On top of that, their linoleum began to tear
and this made it difficult to clean the dorm floor. Students said their
blankets and clothes are always damp and smell bad. Sometimes students are
bitten by insects when they sleep at night. As a result, students cannot have a
good night’s sleep.
According to our interview
with teachers, the number of students and teachers who get sick has doubled
this year from last year. Last year 10 students and 2 teachers living in the dorm
were sick and absent from school. Unfortunately, this year 19 students and 4
teachers have fallen sick so far and it took them two days to one week to
recover. The most common illnesses are fever, headache, cough and a common
cold.
Most of them fall sick
during rainy season and according to the headmistress, the bad sleeping
conditions are the main reason for this increase. She said that their damp bed
sheets and blankets causes them to feel cold when they sleep at night.
According to our survey,
the floor at the girls’ dorm faces more severe water damages than the boys’
dorm. This is because the girls’ dorm floor level is lower than ground level.
It is very easy for the water to seep into the dorm. We consulted 2 different expert
engineerswho are working in Global Neighbors, a construction NGO, who have 27
years of construction experiences. According to these 2 engineers, to
waterproof the floor, we need to build the floor 4 inches higher than the ground
level for the girls’ dorm and lay it with
tiles.As for the boy’s dorm, the engineers found that the boys’ dorm is higher
than the ground level, therefore it does not need to be raised. However, the
boy’s dorm still needs to be tiled as they are also facing problems with a damp
floor. Furthermore, if they have a tiled floor, they can clean easily and they
don’t need to worry about insects.
If we do
not rebuild their floor, this situation will
become worse and the dorm might become uninhabitable.
After consulting with an engineer, we propose
to waterproof the floor by elevating the girls’ dorm floor level with
cement, adding waterproof materials and finally, layering tiles. This will
ensure the floor is dry all year round for many years to come, becomes easier
to clean, and does not attract insects. As a result, students can sleep well at
night and do not need to worry about getting insect bites or falling sick. If
the floor needs to be repaired, the headmistress’ husband can fix it because he
was a construction worker before.
Table of Problem
Goal
Provide a dry,
waterproof floor for 55 students and 5 teachers who are living in Karunar dorm.
Objective
Elevate the floor
with cement and fit tiles inside
the dorms of boys and girls in February 2016, to prevent water damage to the floor.
Impact
The students and
teachers living in Karunar dorm will
have a dry and clean
floor throughout the year. This
will allow them to clean their floor easily, there will no longer be damp areas on the floor that
attract insects and their bedding will be dry.Therefore, illnesses can be prevented, students
will have a better sleep at night and students’ school absent rates will be reduced.
Action plan |
|||||
Objective:
|
Elevate the floor with cement and fit tiles inside the dorms of
boys and girls in January 2016.
|
||||
Indicator:
|
Number of
·
female students
·
male students
·
students and staff who fall ill in a year
·
students who are absent for school due to illnesses
·
students who have trouble sleeping at night because
of damp sleeping materials
Average
number of
·
students who get insect bites in a week
·
absent school day because of illness
|
||||
Means Of
Verification:
|
Observation,
Inspection
|
||||
No.
|
Activity
|
Timeframe
|
Persons
Responsible
|
Resources
|
|
1
|
Divide
responsibilities of group member
|
17-18 Oct 2015
|
Phyo Wai Lin
Cherry Win
|
Note, pen
|
|
2
|
Make
appointment with engineer to check
|
18-20
Oct 2015
|
Day Wah
Mya Win
|
Phone bill
|
|
3
|
Measure
the room with engineer
|
25-28
Oct 2015
|
Mya Win
Phyo Wai Lin
|
Measurement tape, Note & pen
|
|
4
|
Make
lists of materials, can recycle, borrow & need to buy
|
25-28 Oct 2015
|
A V Yar
Day Wah
|
Note & pen
|
|
5
|
Discuss
with engineer duration of implementation & amount of worker’s salary
|
25-28 Oct 2015
|
A V Yar
Day Wah
|
Note & pen
|
|
6
|
Check
materials that the school already has
|
28-29 Oct 2015
|
Mya Win
Pakaw Mol & Cherry Win
|
Note, camera & pen
|
|
7
|
Make
appointment with principle to survey the materials price
|
29-30 Oct 2015
|
Pakaw Mol
Mya Win
|
Phone bill
|
|
8
|
Survey
the materials price
|
30 Oct-3 Nov 2015
|
Phyo Wai Lin
Cherry Win & Day Wah
|
Note, truck, camera & pen
|
|
9
|
Make
budget plan
|
5-10 Nov 2015
|
A V Yar
All members
|
Note, pen & computer
|
|
10
|
Recheck the whole
proposal
|
11-20 Nov 2015
|
Cherry Win
All members
|
Computer & Note
|
|
11
|
Submit
proposal to donor
|
23-25 Nov 2015
|
Day Wah
All members
|
Computer
|
|
12
|
Confirm
implementation with the engineer
|
4-5 Jan 2016
|
Mya Win
Pakaw Mol
|
Phone bill
|
|
13
|
Hire
workers
|
4-14 Jan 2016
|
Mya Win
Pakaw Mol
|
Phone bill
|
|
14
|
Buy
materials
|
3-6 Feb 2016
|
Cherry Win
All members
|
Materials list, truck & driver
|
|
15
|
Start
implementation
|
10 - 20 Feb 2016
|
Day Wah
students, teachers
|
Construction tools, engineer, workers
|
|
16
|
Monitor
the worker and work
|
10 – 20 Feb 2016
|
Phyo Wai Lin
Mya Win
|
Camera & Note
|
|
17
|
Evaluate
the project
|
1- 5 Mar 2016
|
Cherry Win
All members
|
Note, pen & camera
|
|
18
|
Submit
report to donor
|
11 - 15 Mar 2016
|
A V Yar
All members
|
Computer
& Note
|
|
Gantt Chart
No. |
Activity
|
Week 1
|
Week 2
|
Week 3
|
Week 4
|
Week 5
|
Week 6
|
Oct
17 -23
|
Oct
24 - 30
|
Oct
31-Nov 6
|
Nov
7 - 13
|
Nov
14 -20
|
Nov
21 - 27
|
||
1
|
Divide responsibilities of group member
|
||||||
2
|
Make appointment with engineer to check
|
||||||
3
|
Measure the room with engineer
|
||||||
4
|
Make lists of materials, can recycle, borrow
& need to buy
|
||||||
5
|
Discuss with
engineer duration of implementation & amount of worker’s salary
|
||||||
6
|
Check the materials what they have
|
||||||
7
|
Make appointment with principle to survey the materials
|
||||||
8
|
Survey the materials price
|
||||||
9
|
Make budget plan
|
||||||
10
|
Recheck the whole proposal
|
||||||
11
|
Submit proposal to donor
|
No.
|
Activity
|
Week 12
|
Week
12- 13
|
Week 15
|
Week
16 - 17
|
Week 20
|
Week 21
|
Jan
4-5
|
Jan
4 - 14
|
Feb
3 - 6
|
Feb
10 - 20
|
March
1 - 5
|
March
11 - 15
|
||
12
|
Confirm the engineer
|
||||||
13
|
Hire workers
|
||||||
14
|
Buy materials
|
||||||
15
|
Start
implementation
|
||||||
16
|
Monitoring the worker
and work
|
||||||
17
|
Evaluate
the project
|
||||||
18
|
Submit report to donor
|
Deliverables
After we finish
our project, Karunar’s girls’ and boys’ dorm will get new waterproof floors
with tiles. The girls’ dorm measures 18 feet x 48 feet. For the girls’ dorm, we
will raise the floor 4 inches above the current floor level with gravel, sand
and cement because the girl’s dorm floor level is lower than ground level. On
the cement, we will put a layer of plastic sheet to waterproof the cement
floor. Lastly, we are going to lay 96 packs of tiles over the plastic sheet to
cover an area of 864 square feet.
The boys’ dorm
measures 21 feet x 31.5 feet. We will also use sand and cement to pave the
boy’s dorm and lay 76 packs of tiles to cover 561.5 square feet. The boy’s dorm
is already on higher ground so there is no need to raise the floor level.
Before laying the tiles, we will mix chemical powder into the cement to
waterproof the floor.
Beneficiaries
This floor project
will benefit 55 unparented students between the age of 6 – 18 years old and 5
teachers who live in Karunar dormitory. They come from inside Burma and the
Thai – Burma border. The floor can be used at least 6 years and the dormitory
supervisor accepts 55 unparented students every year. The new students also do
not need to worry about insects bites as the floor will be dry. As a result, the
floor project will help them to have a comfortable sleep and students can
concentrate more on their lessons. Moreover, the 6 WH students who organize
this project will get experience writing proposals and managing projects.
Community Participation
We cooperated with
55 students and 5 teachers from Karunar dorm in this project’s activities. To
understand their problems, the organizers conducted interviews with 5 teachers
and questionnaires were distributed to 30 students living in the dorm. As a
result, the organizers identified the floor’s worsening condition as one of the
top 2 problems faced by the students living in Karunar dorm. To find out the causes and consequences of this problem, we
did a group discussion with 55 dorm students. We found out the feelings of
students, teachers and how much stress they face from this floor’s condition.
Finally, the organizers got an agreement with the community to pave and tile
the floor in order to get a water proof floor.
Moreover, the organizers did interviews with 30 students and
2 teachers who are able to share their resources to help in the construction of
this project. For this reason, the organizers found out that around 10 students
can help to pave the floor with tiles. So the organizers decided to work with
one expert engineer and 10 students for the implementation of this project.
According to our interview with the engineer, we can choose
from three types of tile quality: High, Medium, or Low quality. The community
agreed to choose the medium quality tile to save cost. According to the
engineer, even though it is of medium quality, it can last many years.
During the implementation, the organizers will lead the
project until the work is completed. Furthermore, 10 students and 2 teachers
(with basic construction experience) will participate. The organizers
will monitor the percentage of the floor that has been completed to ensure the
construction is carried out systematically. Moreover, the organizers will
evaluate the project’s success 2 months after completion. At that time, the
organizer will interview with the Karunar dormitory’s teachers and current
students in order to know the situation of the new tile floor.
Budget |
||||||
Expenditure
|
Quantity
|
Unit
|
Cost per unit
(Baht) |
Total cost
(Baht) |
Amount requested from donor
|
Amount of other resources
(In-kind) |
Personnel
|
||||||
6 organizers
|
10
|
Day
|
100
|
6,000
|
6,000
|
|
10 volunteer workers
|
10
|
Day
|
200
|
20,000
|
20,000
|
|
Consultants/Engineer
|
||||||
1 engineer
|
10
|
Day
|
400
|
4,000
|
4,000
|
|
Worker 1
|
10
|
Day
|
300
|
3,000
|
3,000
|
|
Worker 2
|
10
|
Day
|
300
|
3,000
|
3,000
|
|
Equipment
|
||||||
Hammer
|
1
|
Piece
|
100
|
100
|
100
|
|
Bucket
|
10
|
Piece
|
30
|
300
|
300
|
|
Shovel
|
3
|
Piece
|
100
|
300
|
300
|
|
Hoe
|
3
|
Piece
|
100
|
300
|
300
|
|
Materials
|
||||||
Cement
|
86
|
Bag
|
100
|
8,600
|
8,600
|
|
Raw sand
|
4
|
Truck
|
900
|
3,600
|
3,600
|
|
Graver
|
1
|
Truck
|
1,800
|
1,800
|
1,800
|
|
Tile
|
173
|
Pack
|
100
|
17,300
|
17,300
|
|
Plastic
|
77
|
Piece
|
10
|
770
|
770
|
|
Transportation
|
||||||
Petrol
|
10
|
Time
|
200
|
2,000
|
2,000
|
|
Other
|
||||||
Phone bill
|
5
|
Card
|
100
|
500
|
500
|
|
Refreshments
|
10
|
Day
|
500
|
5,000
|
5,000
|
|
Total (Baht)
|
76,570
|
49,570
|
27,000
|
|||
Project Sustainability
The floor will be
built using good quality construction materials by an expert engineer. During
implementation, the community will be involved with the engineer to complete
the project. Then, they will know how to maintain the floor and know where to
get cheap construction materials with good quality. After the organizers and engineer leave, if
the floors are damaged and broken in the coming years, the community can
continue to maintain the floor because the community has basic construction
skills and they can fix the problems by themselves. The floor can be used for
more than 6 years. On the other hand, the project will improve student’s health
and mental condition because they will receive a better bedroom floor to sleep
comfortably. As a result, students can concentrate more in their studies.
Monitoring & Evaluation
During the
implementation, the organizers will monitor the percentage of the floor that
has been completed to ensure the construction goes smoothly and is completed
step by step. Moreover, the organizers will go to observe the work every day
and make informal interview with the engineer twice a week to know the
project’s progress. During raining season in August 2016, the organizers will
evaluate the project’s success. The organizers who will evaluate are Phyo Wai
Lin, Day Wah and A V Yar. To know the answer, we will do interview with
teachers and questionnaire with students according to Table of Problem (page
6).On the same day, the organizers will inspect the situation of the floor.
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