Isara Learning Center: Phase Two

[PK]

The Isara Learning Center (ILC) in Nong Khai, Thailand is about to celebrate it's one year anniversary. Since opening in April, 2007 we've had three volunteers come to help, more than one hundred students study English and computers, and dozens of friends and family stop by to say Hi.

This time last year it seemed like an impossible task but together we were able to do it. This year we're going to take it one step further. Literally. In the coming months our goal is to purchase a used van or truck and build a storage area at the ILC for supplies. This will allow Isara to step-out from Nong Khai and expand into more impoverished areas of Thailand much easier.

Below is an example of the type of vehicle we are interested in.


Below is the room which we will renovate into a storage area (completely sealed from dust and water).
 

As you can see from the glowing eyes (middle right), the room is not yet vacant. There are two cats and 3 kittens living there. So before we do anything we need to give them 30 days notice and find them a new place to stay.

The money for this project will come from a mix of clicks, sponsors donations, and local businesses donating supplies. We're also hoping to find a used car business that will give us a really good deal on a truck/van.
pk

[Ginafish]

The Isara Learning Center (ILC) in Nong Khai, Thailand is about to celebrate it's one year anniversary.

Below is the room which we will renovate into a storage area (completely sealed from dust and water).

As you can see, the room is not vacant yet.

One year already?!? Are you going to have a block party? To celebrate, I think the Toyota is a good first year gift.

As for the vacant room, smart move, saving a big project like for thartley and Sneaker. They both LOVE spiders and cobwebs. And they will adopt the cats if you don't get them out soon.

[thartley]

That is a major step forward for the ILC and Isara overall.   

Any idea of the projected costs yet for the van and/or the renovations?
What kinds of things will be stored in the room?  Volunteers who possibly fail to meet up to standards? haha!!!  I dont want to sleep in there.  But if you make me, at least leave the kitties for me to play with.

and a litterbox.

[PK]

The storage room conversion should cost about $500. The used truck/van will cost about $6,000. YIKES!!!! But it's a long-term goal so we're not expecting to get the truck any time soon.

We're also looking into getting a truck/van that has a diesel engine so we can use bio-diesel for fuel. Unfortunately the latest studies say bio-diesel may not be any better for the environment since land must be used to grow the palm trees used for the fuel. But it seems to be the lesser of the two evils and we might be able to make our own fuel using recycled cooking oil from all the restaurants here. Which would mean it's very environmental friendly. But more research is needed. Any thoughts?

We will store school supplies, sporting equipment, HELMETS, clothes, canned foods, bottled water, batteries, VOLUNTEERS, and other emergency supplies. When we get the truck/van we will drive around and invite businesses to donate supplies. We got a great response from our school supply project last year so I'm sure it will add up quick.

[JMB13]

Hahahah that's a great idea, get some spare volunteers and keep 'em in storage, why not??? I mean c'mon, they'll have water and canned foods to eat.

[thartley]

Hahahah that's a great idea, get some spare volunteers and keep 'em in storage, why not??? I mean c'mon, they'll have water and canned foods to eat.

Well, I don't know if I will be a "spare" volunteer....maybe my daughter, though. haha!!!

[DaniNole]

I think I might volunteer next summer! I really want to, I just have to see my college work load since I want to get my BS in microbiology. lol

[Ginafish]

Summer 2008 or Summer 2009?

[PK]

That's great! We'd be happy to be your host.

Summer would be a great time to volunteer since we'll be having a lot of interesting projects going on and the documentary will be taping.

I just started a Volunteer section for the forum which will contain topics for previous and future volunteers. Feel free to post any questions you have there.
http://www.isara.org/comp...f/Itemid,170/topic,9414.0

[Ming]

We're always welcome you here DaniNole. Yes summer is the best time for doing it.

[DaniNole]

Summer 2009, I'm taking 30 hours of courses during this summer term. But I'll be sure to stop by for a month or so next summer for sure!

[PK]

Martin, one of our good friends here in Nong Khai, has decided to head back home to England after three years of teaching. His time here was very well spent and he left a lasting impression on his students. He was a great teacher and will be missed.

Before leaving, Martin wanted to donate some of his things to Isara and also to a local school. Thanks, Martin!!!  To deliver the items we used Isara's new trailer that we purchased ($40) a few weeks ago to use in trash clean-up projects.



We've also been cleaning out Isara's future storage room. It still needs lots of work so I hope our volunteers arriving next month are ready to get their hands dirty.



All the quotes we've received for renovating the room have been beyond our budget so we might end up doing the job ourselves. Which means things could get ugly.

[KitKat]

Thanks Martin The ILC will put everything to good use.

I remember the storage area and I can tell you've worked hard cleaning already.
Good luck on the renovation!  If I remember correctly, it needed some exterior walls too. Have any ideas about enclosing the space? 

This will be a great project for your new volunteers coming in April! WooHoo!!

[M3R1IN]

I cant believe isara might be getting a vehicle in the future.. that sounds cool.
"Cheers" to martin.

[dxk]

Faster help is on its way. Its an Idea followed by many orgs here too. It works

[PK]

Did some repairs on the ILC yesterday and today. The rainy season (and falling fruit) has been hard on the roof this year so we did some patching.

 

We also repaired the storage room roof so that we can begin to use it for ...well.... storage.

[Ginafish]

Did you patch all those itty bitty holes with sticky tinfoil? It looks like a long process!

[PK]

We thought we patched every hole but, a few hours later when it rained, we realized there were still some we missed.

Unfortunately someone is going to need to get on top of the roof to fix the other holes. We're thinking Fernando (from the karaoke video) can help out.

The foil is this really cool tape that Ming found. It's metal coated and weather resistant. More importantly it's CHEAP! An entire roll cost about $2.

[Ginafish]

LoL, so it is sticky tinfoil. How much are sheets of corrugated metal?

[Ming]

LoL, so it is sticky tinfoil. How much are sheets of corrugated metal?

It's about 4$ per one sheets. That's one that we took a picture is really bad one but other look pretty ok. Funny thing is we don't left a lot of wood up there!      (termites eating it down. We spray them out a little already )

[PK]

We've been doing some more ILC repairs. Ming was kind enough (and light enough) to clean all the leafs and fruits that have accumulated on the back roofs. Not only that, she did it all barefooted! (Don't tell Ginafish.)

     

And one of our scholarship recipients (Babe) helped patch some holes on the tin roof.

 

Thanks for everyone's help!

[Ginafish]

Ms Ming! _{What did you think you were doing!} You stay off that roof without shoes on! ^{Do you HEAR mE??!!}

My goodness!! Between Ming trying on purpose to get tetanus and those kids all not wearing helmets, I just don't know what I might be forced to do!!

Thank you Babe for wearing shoes and making the roof nice and clean! And Ming, good job on cleaning the roof too...

[KitKat]

Great job Ming on cleaning the roof off!   And listen to Ginafish about wearing shoes.  We don't want anything happening to our sweet girl!

Bebe, thanks for repairing the roof, great job!! 

[Ming]

Sorry Gina and Kitkat. I can't wear shoes up there b/c there are so many leafs and fruits so wearing shoes could make me slip easily, Good reason? 
Thank you for caring. It was very fun though. 

Thank you to Babe for helping!

[KitKat]

It's a very good reason not to wear shoes and I'm grateful it's done and you're ok.