Dormitory for Hill Tribe Community

Mae Nam Khun, Thailand

Photo of completed dormitory dated July 8, 2006.

Background

The hill tribe village of Mae Nam Khun is located in northern Thailand, and is populated by Aka, Lahu, Chinese, and Burmese people.  Much of this area is mountainous and rugged. Although the Thai government has done a great job of crisscrossing these mountain ranges with a network of roads, there remain hundreds of villages that are still located in remote areas off the beaten track. Consequently, a significant percentage of hill tribe children living in the region of northern Thailand have poor access to government education.

The Need  

Mae Nam Khun is home to a regional school for children of all ages.  Many of the children must travel long distances if they wish to attend, but with little or no means for transportation attending school is near impossible.   The construction of the dormitory in Mae Nam Khun allows for the schooling of 60 children who would otherwise not attend.

EWB-USA Response 

Engineers Without Borders-USA joined with Seattle University to design a dormitory for 60 grade school children. Beginning in 2004, the team worked with professional partner Tom Rines to design the facility.  The group communicated with community leaders in Mae Nam Khun through EWB – USA in-country partner, Joni Morse to get feedback throughout the design process. 

In March 2005, volunteers from Seattle University traveled to Mae Nam Khun to build dormitory.  Teams from University of California- Santa Barbara and California Polytechnic Institute, San Luis Obispo were there at the same time installing a septic tank and leech field to provide bathrooms for the dorm and performing water quality tests.

Due to lumber price increases caused by the tsunami that hit South Eastern Asia in December 2004, the team was only able to build one wing of the dorm.  Seattle University returned in July 2006 to complete the dorm.  The team also performed an assessment of the drinking water treatment system.