Who is supporting Tsunami Childcare
Tsunami Childcare has been made a reality by Gero Hilger.
Together with his partner, Piyanut Thongrong (Nok), the native of Bremen had been running a small travel agency in Khao Lak for many years with the aim of showing Thailand off the beaten tourist tracks and oriented on the principles of green tourism.
Nok lost her life in the tsunami.
Gero Hilger started asking himself about the meaning of his survival.
His initial, spontaneous help for the affected directly around him allowed him to quickly recognize which means and methods were necessary to ease the acute needs of individuals. He was able to understand how precisely a person like him could help. As a result of his many years of work as a tour guide, he not only knows his way around in the region, but additionally has good relationships to teachers, mayors and other decision-makers in the region.
This is the background situation that led to the founding of Tsunami Childcare - thus, in remembrance of Nok.
The team
Behind Tsunami Childcare is a network of private individuals committing themselves voluntarily.
On the spot in Thailand, Gero Hilger can rely, if necessary, on the teacher, Mrs. Natnicha Sapanthuwong (Khung), the translator, Mrs. Athita Hamra (Ni), as well as Manop Mitwong (Nop) as driver and as his right-hand man in return for a small consideration.
Mrs. Natnicha Sapanthuwong (Khung) most of all, who is working as a teacher in the region, knows many of the families affected by the tragedy personally and thus has a quite good understanding of the living circumstances of the families before the catastrophe and of what kind of aid is needed.
From the very beginning, the project was additionally accompanied by Patricia Kerr. Patricia Kerr has been the director of an orphanage in Bangladesh for more than twenty years now, and is thus very experienced in working with orphans. Above all, she is supporting the project with logistic assistance.
The action we take
Above all, the four members of the team are tracking back those cases in which help is needed most. They go to see the affected and are thus able to learn about the kind and the extent of the needed aid in the course of their direct conversation with them.
This kind of work is very time-consuming and cannot be done by the big charity organisations for understandable reasons.
