Baan Arsa Jaidee

The Thai Health Promotion Foundation, an autonomous government agency, in collaboration with civil society--ArsaDusit Volunteers, Thaiflood, and others--opened Baan Arsa Jaidee on October 14th, 2011. It has quickly proved itself an aggressive and responsive flood relief effort because it helps to coordinate dozens of existing civil society groups.

Baan Arsa Jaidee and its partners: mobilize volunteers; coordinate aid; deliver timely flood information; and deliver survival bags, food, medicine, camp toilets, life jackets and other assistance to the flood-affected communities.

The relief centre will close on 31/12/2011, as the need for immediate, emergency aid declines in many place. However, many communities remain flooded, and our partners are providing support and increasingly focusing on flood clean-up and rehabilitation. Support for partners, ThaiHealth and Arsa Dusit, is still much needed.

We will soon have an update on the final use of funds used through the Baan Arsa Jaidee coalition, and with plans for ongoing rehabilitation efforts.

November 2nd Update

Despite assurances that the worst is over, and although water seems to be moving slowly through urban areas, communities served by Baan Arsa Jaidee continue in great need.

Moreover, staff and core volunteers at the Centre have been personally affected, facing home evacuations and immediate family needs. The Centre itself remains threatened by floodwaters.  Kasetsart University, ~8km from the centre, reports 80cm of water and has been evacuated.
(Source: The Nation, Nov. 2nd, 2011)

Sadly, the death toll also continues to rise: 427 people to date, largely from drowning.  One key activity at the Centre is building rafts out of PVC and water bottles, to help people travel and to distribute goods.

Baan Arsa Jaidee partners recently met to further develop their response strategy:
• Focus volunteer activities at the centre on production of EM balls, construction of rafts and, if resources allow, camp toilets.
• Focus increasingly on mass-distribution of aid/resources to emergency evacuation centres that are the most underserved (generally the community-based, nongovernmental centres).
• Continue to serve flood victims beyond the immediate relief efforts, based on the strengths of partner organisations.  This  includes a long-term partnership with industry to provide environmentally-safe, low cost post-flood cleaning materials for home use; provision of mental health support to victims, and support with post-flood garbage disposal.
• Maintain Baan Arsa Jaidee beyond the flooding crisis, as a read-to-respond civil society coalition.

International support for Baan Arsa Jaidee continues to arrive:
• Huge support has come from thailandflood.org, coordinated by exchange students at Thammasat University, now evacuated.
• The Pembroke Pines Charter Highschool (Florida) Key Club is fundraising at its Annual Pancake Breakfast. 
• Several Thai student societies in the US, Australia and UK are organising fundraising events to support the Centre.  
• Thailand's Oxford and Cambridge Alumni Association is fundraising for the Centre.  
• Fundraising dances are currently being arranged in Australia, Singapore and Malaysia by local swing dance societies.  


Thank you for your continued support.

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