Roscoe’s Rural Thai School Projects

Help Us Build A Better Future For These Kids
Education empowers children to reach their fullest potential and secure a brighter future. Many children in the rural areas of Thailand either cannot afford to attend school or attend dilapidated schools where crowded, dark and drab classrooms exist but are nearly void of the basic educational needs: paper, pencils and books. We can help give them the opportunities they need and deserve.

About Us
Roscoe and Jan Turner live in Venice, Florida; have 5 children, 11 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild. They have been enjoying their retirement by making trips to rural Thailand to help the school children there. They have made 6 trips and completed 5 school projects, carried 27 suitcases of donated school supplies and books and 3 kits of free medical supplies. They have spent $19,000 for school building material and associated costs for construction ($14,000 came from donations and $5,000 from their own pockets). Eight volunteers have paid their own expenses and joined them in their work in Thailand.

Since March, 2004, Roscoe’s Thai Projects (RTP) has completed projects in four separate rural schools in Thailand: 1) In Tanote: they built and tiled covered play area/lunchroom/community center with a stage for school productions and a kitchen. Because of the publicity this school received they were able to obtain two new teachers, one for computers and an English teacher. 2) In Sutuk: they built a library and 3 classrooms – including books and classroom furniture. This school also got a new English teacher. They donated medical supplies worth $26,000 to the local hospital. 3) In Phuket: they painted and repaired a school and classroom furniture. They also spent time building or rebuilding houses after the Tsunami. 4) In Huay Khom, a hill tribe village in north Thailand, they built and furnished a pre-school, including playground equipment. Once more, their work and reputation got the attention of the government and the village got a new community center. RTP has also established a fund to provide school lunches for one year and provide a scholarship for a 15-year-old orphan girl. A medical supply kit was given to a hospital and another to a local village clinic.

Upcoming Projects
The next projects are planned for March and April, 2006 and are all in the Chaing Rai area of north Thailand. Please join us in Thailand and help us with these two projects:

• Building a school with 4 classrooms to replace the existing flooded structure, and

• Building a school library.

These projects will each take about 4 weeks to complete. If you cannot join us for the whole time, a two-week trip works pretty well; choose your own dates, come when you can and leave when you have to. The big expense is the airfare and it is a long trip, so stay as long as you can. Pay your own airfare of approximately $1,000 and another $1,000 to RTP to cover all your in-country expenses. After all your expenses are paid, the extra money, and there will be some, will go to helping build these projects. There will be more information about the schedule as soon as we get a little more information from the schools in Thailand. None of your money or any donated money from you will be used for our expenses. Since we are all volunteers, we provide our own expenses.

During this trip you can expect, schools and libraries to be built; classroom supplies provided; children taught; infants fed and health care provided.

The parents, students and villagers will be doing most of the construction as their “contribution”, and they are good at it. We will provide support and assistance to them in the building effort.

Volunteers are especially needed in the classrooms. Thai children are learning English from a book without the benefit of hearing it spoken correctly. Their English teachers know some English, but struggle with pronunciation, syntax and idioms. Volunteers help them learn by encouraging them to use what they already know and build on their conversational skills. Talking with the students, playing games and singing songs are fun methods to accomplish this. Most important is helping build self confidence in the young people.

Working together, bonds will be formed with the students, teachers and the parents that are so enriching and educational for us and them. We can do a lot to show the good side of the Americans. No politics and no religion, just caring!

Make your plans, check the date on your passport, and help raise money and collect school supplies and come with us. Don’t worry, there will be some sightseeing time built in.

We need your help to build a better future for these young children. Plan to come with us on one of these next trips. It will be an once-in-a-lifetime experience. You will be repaid with sunny smiles from the Thai children and a warm feeling in your heart. Extend your helping hand to help provide a better education and show love and friendship to people who will return it to you many times over.

If you can’t go with us on this trip, please consider sending money for school supplies or building materials or medical supplies by donating your tax-deductible gift today.

Please contact us by telephone or email regarding your interest and questions about our next trips.

Roscoe & Jan Turner
Phone: 941-497-1788
Email: Turners@gsbi.org

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