Holiday gives children a future

A holiday can mean more than personal pleasure when the experience is combined with support for a project that helps improve the quality of life of children, many of them victims of the 2004 tsunami andsocial problems.

Beluga School for Life in Phang Nga province, South Thailand, is using tourism to raise funds to support the school financially. The project is an example of what is called “charity travel”.

Beluga School for Life was started as an aid project by the German shipping company, Beluga Shipping, based in Bremen, shortly after a tsunami devastated the Andaman Sea coastline, 26 December 2004. The actual community school opened in mid-2007.

Tourism was introduced to help the project be self sustaining. The project has 18 guesthouses, a restaurant, swimming pool and spa (closed for renovation). Various in-house tour programmes have been developed as well as programmes offered by partners.

Guest houses are in the same compound as the school but there is a strict code of conduct enforced on contact between students and guests.

Accommodation is air-conditioned. Rooms have a terrace, mini bar, TV and free Wi-Fi, but no telephone. Wi-Fi signal is subject to weather conditions, but the resort provides complimentary internet at the reception building.

A stay costs Bt3,000 per night per person during the peak season and Bt2,000 during the low season months. Accommodation revenue goes direct to the school’s general fund.

Guests are encouraged to visit the school, which is a boarding school that provides education from kindergarten through to grade six. After grade six, students transfer to a local secondary school. The school is planning to offer secondary level in the near future. Children live as a family with a staff member acting as the family head. Usually there are 10 children to a house. Visitors are not allowed to enter the student residence  area. Similar restrictions are in place at the guest houses.

Run as a private school, students attend classes in the morning while in the afternoon, they attend project classes related to cooking, recycling, farming, painting and computer skills.

Activities are developed under six learning centres — organic farming, cultural sensitive tourism, nutrition and health, body and soul, cultural heritage and development and international communications. Children can choose activities according to their liking and age level.

Guests can use the holiday to learn Thai language, clasical of folk dance, boxing, and cooking. They can visit a rubber plantation nearby,  a village temple and experience rural life.

The project is located  about 10 km inland, at Thai Muang district, which means guests who want to swim in the sea will need to pay approximately Bt100 per person, one way, to transfer to the nearest beach. The resort also has a package with seaside resort partners. It allows guests to stay seven days at each location.

Guests who stay in other hotels can visit the project for a day trip on Saturdays.

Visiting BSfL is about feeling good and doing something different. The location is not superb as there no stunning beaches or tourist attractions. Instead you are surrounded by children and are able to share an environment that allows you to learn more about rural life in Thailand.

When you see the children and the devotion of the staff and teachers, who care for them, you feel your money was well-spent. It is a good feeling to  travel and know that your holiday is also helping to give children a better future.