Koh Lao - Mokan (sea gypsies)

Koh Lao – Education & Health Care

Background:

Following the 2005 tsunami, we served dozens of devastated communities in the mid-south of Thailand, assisting in the building and repair of homes, fixing potable water supplies, creating income-earning initiatives, and making sure every child was able to return to school. Many of the coastal communities hardest hit were ethnic Mokan, known as sea gypsies, a semi-nomadic, generally stateless ethnic group that has been lving in Thailand for many generations. We provided emergency services to these Mokan communities, and asked, in our outreach efforts, if they could identify other communities most in need. From their feedback we began focusing our post-emergency efforts on a destitute Mokan community on Koh Lao, an island 30 minutes by boat from Ranong, the capital city of Ranong province.

Koh Lao, Ranong Province (Documentary video: here.)

A community of ethnic Mokan has lived for decades on Koh Lao. Though most Mokan in Koh Lao were born on Thai soil, many adults and children still do not have full citizenship or rights to travel or work outside Ranong Province.

They had lived for decades without fresh water, electricity, toilets, or schools for their children.

When we first began helping the Mokan village in Koh Lao, almost all the children were malnourished and afflicted with intestinal worms. Children were dying from infections at an alarming rate. When we first arrived, the community was losing at least one child every month.

Scope of Project: The HDF-Mercy Centre is working with the Koh Lao Mokan community in several core areas, which include:

Preschool Education/Day Care. We built and operate the Koh Lao Mercy Preschool. We follow the national Thai curriculum and adapt it to the special needs of these Mokan children. Over 30 children are currently enrolled.
Primary and Secondary Education and Vocational College. We opened a boarding home in the city of Ranong for all the children who graduate from our Koh Lao kindergarten. These children live in our boarding home and attend local government schools. Currently several children are earning degrees in vocational college.
General Welfare and Housing.
- Nutrition. Our preschool is providing a nutritious lunch daily plus milk and vitamin and protein snacks. All village children, young and old are provided lunch and snacks when not attending school during school holidays.
- Health issues. All children receive immunizations and inoculations, and are administered de-worming medicine every 3-4 months. In cases of serious illness, the children are sent to hospitals on the mainland, where we coordinate with the Office of Public Health.
- Mokan Youth & Children Camp. Mokan youth from Phang Nga province join together with the Koh Lao island children every year for a 7-day camp that celebrates friendship, education, and Mokan culture.
- Networking. We are coordinating our efforts with the Ranong Governors’ office, the Provincial Office of Non-formal Education, and the Office of Public Health.
Documenation and Citizenship. We have attained legal residency documents for most of the adults and many of the children, including all the children living in our boarding home.

Related Article by Father Joe Maier: The Old Man and the Sea, and his Granddaughter