New
Life Foundation
Under the patronage of H.R.H. The Princess
Mother
In our Foundation, persons with a physical or mental
handicap
are taught survival and provided for.
Office : Budhasataan Center, No 1, Tapaeh Road,
Chiangmai 50100
Tel. (+66) 053.276 514 or 053.241 689 (+ Fax)
E-mail: cory@loxinfo.co.th
 OBJECTIVES
The New Life Foundation was established in September 1964 (2507
B.E.). The objectives of the Foundation are to assist and help rehabilitate
patients who have recovered from Leprosy
and from Mental Disorders. We help them to learn how to lead a normal
life and happily find jobs that make them stand on their own feet.
For this purpose the New Life Foundation has set-up three
village-style complexes:
- Trisapawakarm Village Complex in the Chiangdao District of
Chiangmai Province.
- New Life Village Complex in the Lee District of Lampoon Province.
- The Halfway Home Village in the Hangdong District of Chiangmai
Province.
The New Life Foundation also has 2 Homes for
the Elderly where we support poor elder members who are not
able to help themselves with shelter, visits of medical doctors
and nurses etc. And we give pre-school child
care services in our Lee and Chiangdao villages.
The New Life Foundation aims to assist, support and urge members
to gradually stand on their own feet.
The New Life Foundation is a charity organisation without religious, political or government affiliation resulting in a harmonious mix of Buddhists and Christian members amongst our villagers.
RATIONALE
In 1955, an American volunteer called Mr Robert M. Wolf, wanted
to help lepers recover from this disease and return their lives
back to normal. He urged those affected by this debilitating disease
to set-up their own village to enable
them to help each other as members of the same community. With the
support from both the Thai and American governments, the New Life
Foundation was established in 1964.
The first project was set-up as the Trisapawakarm Complex in Chiangdao
village no.5 in the Pingkong Sub-district of Chiangmai province.
It developed so well that it is presently self-sufficient.
Those members who completely recovered from mental disorders are
moved to the Halfway Home at Hueydindam,
the Naphrae Sub-District of Hangdong District in Chiangmai.
Those members who recovered from Leprosy, have been moved to the
New Life Village in the Lee District of Lampoon
province.
Activities to support our villagers :
- Donate monthly allowances and rice,
and provide medical services to the 70 elderly crippled who have
no one to take care of them. They stay at our elderly homes in
Chiangdao and Lee (in Chiangmai and Lampang province).
- To organise monthly medical follow-up visits
to the 3 villages of the New Life Foundation.
- To work jointly with the Leprosy Center,
Region 10 in Lamapang province, to prevent and treat the leprous
patients. Every month, medical doctors from Phrapadaeng hospital
will visit the villages.
- To assist and offer medical services
to families staying in the village or to transfer them to hospitals
if necessary.
- To invite knowledgeable people to educate
the members in fundamental healthcare such as from Lee
Community Hospital, the District Healthcare Center, Chiangmai
University’s Medical faculty, McKaen Rehabilitation Center
and Chiangmai Mc Cormick Hospital.
- To give pre-school child care services
in Lee and Chiangdao villages. This includes nutritious lunches
to help lighten the parents’ spending burdens.
- To send the members’ children to appropriate vocational
training centers: skills gained there are to be applied
for the betterment of the village.
- To urge all members to cultivate the land
and plant fruit trees.
- To urge all members to raise some animals
like pigs, poultry and cows. This project is done with the cooperation
of the Livestock Department as well as the Bank of Cows and Buffaloes
who donated some cows. This bank is also under Her Majesty’s
Patronage.
TENETS
OF THE NEW LIFE FOUNDATION
- Urge all members to lead a normal life
and to face obstacles by themselves.
- Help to rehabilitate those who have
recovered from Leprosy and Mental Disorders and teach them how
to re-integrate in society. At the same time, the foundation urges
the general public to acknowledge them and to wipe away discrimination.
- Each member has the right to own a piece
of land where they can build their home and work the land
which can be handed down to their children.
Villagers of the New Life Foundation
in Chiangdao
receiving blankets during the cold season
PROJECTS SUPPORTED
BY THE NEW LIFE FOUNDATION
1. Trisapawakarn Complex, Chiangdao District,
Chiangmai province
There are a total of 548 persons. Of these,
87 have recovered from Leprosy and they live with their children.
146 members have healthy children of those that were previously
infected with Leprosy. Most family members work on the land. They
have a cooperative store where their agricultural produce is sold
directly.
2. The New Life Complex Village, Lee District,
Lampoon Province.
There are 468 persons. Of these,
61 have recovered from Leprosy and live with their children. 156
members have healthy children of those that were formerly infected
with Leprosy. Most members work the land and there is an agricultural
cooperative store. The New Life Foundation also supports the Kogchang
village complex which is nearby our village in Lee district.
3. Halfway Home in Hangdong, Chiangmai
These facilities can accommodate 80 persons who were formerly
treated at the Suanprung Psychiatric Hospital in Chiangmai and have
recovered from Mental Disorders.
They live here temporarily to be rehabilitated, to learn agricultural
practices and how to re-integrate themselves in their families and
society. Normally, a group of 30 members will take turns to live
in this village on a regular basis.
Those patients that have no family are allowed to stay at this complex
permanently.
4. Scholarship Fund for the children of all
members.
The New Life Foundation is now also taking care of the second
and third generation of these villagers and provides scholarships
to give these kids a better chance in life.
This project was started in 2001 with a Charity Concert at Payap
University.
To ensure the continuity of this commitment, we only use the interest
of this fund. In 2002, we were able to distribute our first two
scholarship for secondary education.
See our pictures below on this page.
SENIOR HOMES
OF H.R.H. THE PRINCESS MOTHER
There are two Senior Homes which can accommodate 60 people each,
for those members who have recovered from Leprosy but who are crippled
or old and have no relatives, can stay together.
- Somdejyah Building, New Life Complex, Lee District, Lampoon Province.
- Somdejying Building, Trisapawakarm Complex, Chiangdao, Chiangmai
Province.
The Foundation gives them a monthly allowance and
some rice which they have to cook themselves. Some officers are
available to help them if needed.
Healthcare is available when they are sick.
Rehabilitating exercises are provided by officers from the Leprosy
Center, Region 10 in Lampang.
Initially, HRH The Princess Mother donated a sum of 200,000 Baht
for the construction while the rest was donated by the general public.
DONATIONS
The New Life Foundation gratefully appreciates any donations of
money, food, clothing, blankets, sports equipment as well prosthesis
and wheelchairs for the physically handicapped. Every donation,
however small, does help us more than you can imagine…
Your financial donations can be made as follows:
Either by mailing your international money
order directly to our office which is located at Nr
1, Tapaeh Road, Chiangmai 50100, Thailand.
For the Scholarship Fund, you can make
a bank transfer to Savings Account Nr 501-280384-2
at Siam Commercial Bank, Tapaeh Branch, no 17 Tapaeh Road, Chiangmai
50100, Thailand. SWIFT Code: SICO TH BK
If you send us this form for Donations, we will
be happy to send you a Tax-Deductible Receipt.
Name : ______________________________________________________
Address: _____________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Tel.: ________________________
Fax : ______________________
E-mail : ___________________________
Present Financial Supporters:
1. H.R.H. The Princess Mother’s Charity Fund
2. The Foundation of Somdej Phrasrinakharin,
The Princess Mother’s Charity Fund
3. Public Welfare Department
4. The Ministry of Public Health, The Secretary General’s
Office
5. Social Welfare Association of Thailand
6. Private Donors
INTERVIEW WITH OUR FOUNDER
Khunying Buphan Nimmanhaeminda
 From:
Chiangmai Mail on Saturday 12 February 2005.
It is always pleasant to interview some of our senior citizens.
People who have become an indelible part of the local culture. Khunying
Buphan Nimmanhaeminda, is one of those. Her family name is
known all over Thailand, not just in Chiang Mai, and her immediate
family and children, and grandchildren, are now substantial figures
in their own right, covering many fields of endeavor.
We met in her garden, a spacious and quiet green area, complete
with birds and wildlife, and she really came across as the ‘queen
of all she surveyed’, though she would never see herself in
that light.
At 83 years of age, she now looks back at a lifetime of service
to the people of Chiang Mai. A lifetime involved in education and
service to the people. She should be retired, but she has not, being
still very much involved with the New Life Foundation,
a charity that she started and proudly has the late Princess Mother
as its patron. While we chatted, we drank Jiaogulan tea, a most
refreshing beverage, grown by the people assisted by the New
Life Foundation, as part of the practical help given to recipients
of the Foundation’s largesse.
Khunying Buphan is a true lady from Lanna. Born in Phrae, her father
was a forestry worker, and her mother a housewife, that most difficult
and time consuming occupation. She was an only child, but since
her family was not well off, she went to the local government school
until it was time for her to look at her future career. Despite
being unsure, as most of us are at that stage in our lives, she
had relatives who were teachers, and since she enjoyed working with
children, she enrolled in a vocational school for teacher training.
Following graduation, she moved to Phitsanulok and worked in the
government school there, where she taught the children for 12 months.
There was to be a change in her circumstances, however. She met
the man who was to become her husband in Chiang Mai, whose family
had an interest in a school in the area. They married, she changed
schools, and spent the next 34 years working as a teacher here,
rising through the ranks as she took on further studies, receiving
awards and diplomas, until she was the Headmistress.
During that time, she had two children of her own, with her daughter
now also working in the educational field, running a company assisting
young people who wish to study abroad, while her son is involved
in business marketing and he and his wife, Khunying Buphan’s
daughter-in-law, live with her in Chiang Mai.
After retiring from teaching as a full-time occupation 20 years
ago, Khunying Buphan became even more involved in volunteer work,
with one of the main recipients of her energy and vision being her
New Life Foundation. This was the charity
organization of which she had been the founder more than 40 years
ago, and she still remains the president today. This Foundation
assists mainly those who have recovered from Leprosy, giving them
the chance to once more resume normal, self-sufficient lives. It
also helps those with mental disorders, allowing them to slowly
re-integrate into mainstream life through a half-way house.
In the early days, Khunying Buphan could be seen getting assistance
to the lepers in the far-flung reaches of Chiang Mai, a journey
of many hours by truck and on foot. She remembers these trips saying,
“Oh we used to get so many punctures!” She helped set
up their own leper village communities and then to oversee their
being taught to be self-sufficient by crop production. “I
just wanted to help people who couldn’t help themselves,”
she said simply. (And yes I then helped myself to a second and then
a third cup of the New Life Foundation’s Jiaogulan tea, tea
being a beverage that I normally eschew.)
The teacher in her could see a need. “I knew what it was like
to be poor, when I was a child. I wanted to teach them what to do.”
She was not someone who was happy to sit back and direct others
to do the work. “I used myself to be the example. Just by
‘doing’. My function was to motivate them to look after
each other, to be self-sustaining through agriculture.” That
assistance went far beyond just giving them seedlings to grow. That
first settlement was built with construction materials that came
from Khunying Buphan’s New Life Foundation.
And much of it she delivered herself.
Like all well-run enterprises it grew over the four decades and
now has two homes for the elderly, in the villages for the former
lepers most of whom were cured with the multiple drug treatment.
Is villages even encompasses pre-school child care services, medical
services for all members and a scholarship fund. It has been a long
way from the dirt roads of Chiangdao and Lee!
Khunying Buphan says that she does not have any all-consuming hobbies.
“I don’t like painting,” she said quickly, just
in case I thought I was about to discover Chiang Mai’s answer
to Grandma Moses! However she does enjoy reading - anything! “For
me the best thing in life is to see people smile and be happy,”
she said. There are many people she has helped to smile again over
the past 40 years, and her contribution to society has also resulted
in recognition, but they mean little for someone such as Khunying
Buphan, whose best rewards in life are the smiles of the people
she has helped.
As the interview came to a close, Khunying Buphan gave me two packets
of Jiaogulan tea for me to take home to my wife. She thanked me
for coming out to see her and hoped that she had not wasted my time.
There are some people who are born to be ‘ladies’. Khunying
Buphan Nimmanhaeminda is one of them.
New
building ~ Public Welfare School in Chiangdao
:On 19 December 2005, a new building was inaugurated to accommodate
an additional 100 hilltribe students. More hilltribe children can
now join the Public Welfare School of our Chiangdao village, where
they can stay overnight from Mondays to Fridays as it would be impossible
for them to make the trip down from the mountain tops every day.
Our school can now offer boarding facilities to over 800 children.
click to enlarge
Seated is Khunying Bupphan Nimmanhaemindha and on her right
Christine Olivares. Immediately behind Khunying stands Ajarn Kamol,
the Deputy Director of the school. Look at the colorful tribal costumes
of the parents who have come down to join the celebrations.
click to enlarge
...as always on such auspicious occasions, 9 Buddhist monks
give their blessings during the inauguration ceremony.
click to enlarge
...and when the official ceremonies are over,
the children can sing their hearts out.
 
click to either image to enlarge
Look at the colorful tribal costumes of the parents who have come
down to join the celebrations.
Chiangmai
Lady honoured again by H.R.H. King Bumiphol Adulyadej
 Many
well-wishers joined Khunying Bupphan Nimmanhaemindha on Sunday,
15th of May 2005 when the Chiangmai Governor handed over the Ceremonial
Certificates which certified that this outstanding woman has been
promoted by His Royal Highness King Bhumiphol Adulyadej for her
unending services to the Chiangmai community.
Whereas Khunying Bupphan Nimmanhaemindha's family name is known
all over Thailand, (not just in Chiangmai), her immediate family
and children, and grandchildren, are now substantial figures in
their own right, covering many fields of endeavors.
At 83 years of age, she is promoted from fourth to third class for
a lifetime of service to Thai people. A lifetime involved in education
and service to the people in Chiangmai and Lamphun province as the
President of several prominent organisations such as the New Life
Foundation, under the patronage of H.R.H. The Princess Mother.
During more than 42 years, Khunying Bupphan’s Foundation has
been caring for over 1200 underprivileged Thais who have a physical
or mental handicap.
For this purpose she set-up 3 villages in Chiangdao, Lee and Hangdong
where these people have been grouped together to learn to become
self-sufficient through agriculture and to support each other.
As Khunying Bupphan put it: “I just wanted
to help people who couldn’t help themselves.”
This well-deserved award is a crowning of her life-time dedication
to others.
Our heartfelt congratulations for a job well-done!
Pictures
of the New Life Foundation
Some elderly ladies in our
Home for the Elderly in Chiangdao
Our oldest member (87 years) in Chiangdao looking
on
while his new wheelchair is being assembled.
This was a donation from the
Rotary Thingtaingaam Club of Chiangmai
Scrap cloth from FISBA in Lamphun is
used by the villagers in Lee and Chiangdao
to make nice bags, aprons, tissue box holders etc.
Sock Knitting project, initiated in 2006 by Elizabeth Nieuwlands at the Elderly Home CAROLUSHOF in Uden, The Netherlands, where over 60 pairs of warm wintersocks were tailor knitted from donated wool for our members in Chiangdao and Lee, who cannot use standard commercial socks due to their physical deformaties.
New
Life Foundation Scholarships
Scholarship support for 10 children of the New Life Foundation’s
village in Chiangdao.
2005 Scholarship ceremony at the Senior Citizen
home of the New Life Foundation’s village in Chiangdao District,
Chiangmai.
Pictured on the backrow (from right to left)
Angchalee, Ricky Op de Laak, Cory Croymans, Christine Olivares from
the New Life Foundation and Ajarn Kamol Taweechai, Deputy Direction
of the Chiangdao village Welfare School.
10 Children were given 5000 Baht each or about 100 Euro (120 US$).
This was a first disbursement for their scholarship which will continue
for at least 6 years.
This scholarship is one of the direct results of the Chiangmai Classic
Concerts which we organised in 2005
as well as the direct scholarship contributions from Foster Parents
in Europe.
From left to right: Ricky Op de Laak, volunteer, Cory Croymans-Plaghki
of the New Life Foundation (under the patronage of H.R.H. The Princess
Mother), Nielawan Booblah, one of the orphaned scholarship recipients
and her grandmother.
May 2006 Scholarship Distribution at
the new Chiangdao school building.
See how these kids have grown in one year...!
2007 Scholarship Distribution
2008 Scholarship Distribution
You
too can help through Scholarship Sponsorship
If you want to become a Scholarship Sponsor, please contact us
at cory@asianhealingartscenter.com
One year's scholarship is 100 Euro or 120 US$.
The children are allowed to use this money with supervision of their
teacher to buy school uniforms, necessities and one meal.
Kindly specify if you want to support a girl or boy.
We will send you a report on their family circumstances,
and every year, the updated picture of your student.
If you wish, we can also send you every year,
a copy of their Thai school report with an English translation.
It is not our aim to reward the best students,
but to support those who need it most.
Thank you.
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