Alleviating malnutrition problems in students of Ban Nam Bo School

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Community situation

The food production in the community does not attach importance to food safety. The decline in food diversity and nutritional value is primarily attributed to volume-based food production. Food producers heavily use chemicals in fruits, vegetables, and livestock.

Activities

• Raising happy egg-laying chickens and growing an organic kitchen garden in Ban Thasu School
• Growing organic mushrooms and vegetables in Ban Nam Bo School

Results

• 97 students in Grades 1–6 of Ban Thasu School learned how to raise egg-laying hens.
• Food (egg-laying chickens) is distributed to children in poor households and orphan students of Ban Thasu School, and is sold in the community.
• 215 families (parents and students) of Ban Nam Bo learned how to do household farming.

Participants

Malee Toka, 44, has three children, studying in Grade 6, Grade 8, and Grade 11. Malee is a teacher at Ban Thasu School with 154 students. The Ban Nam Bo SAO encourages the local to raise chickens in addition to the Sufficiency Economy project that the school has already been carrying out. Each day, three students from Grade 1 to Grade 6 take turn feeding the chickens and collecting the eggs. During school closures due to the COVID-19 situation, children who come to help at the chick house can take some eggs home. The eggs are sold in the community at 80-90 THB per pack and the villagers like them because they are cheap and fresh.

Teachers need to do more than teaching. We have to help the community that we are part of. Villagers can’t live on just fish, so we raise chickens for eggs. We have taught our students to raise chickens and do farming. Students who come to help collect the eggs can take some eggs home to eat with their families. When they have some salted fish, they’ll share it with me. The father of one of my students returned from fishing in Malaysia and brought me some large dried squids. Children in the village are proud of and love their teachers. Teachers love them too. The profits from the sale of eggs are used to fund our activities.”

Location

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