Our list of completed project grows every year through the work of dedicated volunteers and the support of generous donors. Thanks everyone for your continued help!
Past Building Projects
We discovered building with earth (adobe bricks, cob) in 2009 after visiting some fantastic organizations who had built themselves, literally, from the ground up. We instantly knew this was a direction we wanted to take, and one that could provide a lot for the schools and children’s homes we already partnered with.
Here’s a detailed list of our Past Building Projects.
Volunteer English Teaching Program
From 2006 to 2014, the DCF ran a successful English teaching program which received support from nearly 200 volunteers from around the world. These intrepid people travelled to Thailand, received teacher training courses, and were largely placed with Thai host families to aid in cultural understanding and exchange. The majority taught students at underfunded schools all over the country, while some chose to work in orphanages/children’s homes run by our partner organizations.
The result? Approximately 100,000 Thai students received instruction in English and contact with foreign speakers – opportunities they wouldn’t have had otherwise. Local English teachers were able to practice and improve their skills by interacting with our volunteers, and for most of the volunteers it was a life-changing experience.
Book Placement Project
In 2013, our friends at InClued language school in Bangkok approached the DCF with an idea. The Internet was booming, and paper books were fast becoming passé in some parts of the world. At the same time, many of the schools and partner projects we worked with were left far behind the digital wave. InClued were able to secure a donation of over 10,000 English-language books from the USA and together we helped to ship them to Thailand and distribute them to schools and libraries that we supported. InClued also donated books to development centers and prisons. Score one for literacy!
Child Sponsorship Program
The devastating 2004 tsunami was the event that inspired the beginnings of the Dragonfly Community Foundation and also led to one of our first projects. In 2005, the DCF began a sponsorship program for children left orphaned by the tsunami in the South of Thailand. We later extended this program to include kids living in children’s homes on the troubled Thai-Myanmar border.
Between 2005 and 2008, our huge-hearted sponsors from around the world made monthly contributions to dozens of children in need. The funds were used for food, clothing, and school fees and supplies, improving the lives of the kids involved and helping them to stay in school. Thanks donors!
Environmental / Wildlife Projects
From 2007 to 2013, the DCF partnered with projects in Thailand that were working with rescued animals and wildlife protection. We were happy to be able to support these worthwhile projects by aiding them in their search for volunteers. With our help, volunteers worked to rehabilitate and protect gibbons and sea turtles in Ranong, care for elephants in Chiang Mai and Surin, and rescue street dogs in Kanjanaburi.
We also put together a big group of volunteers in 2009 for a successful weekend of coral reef seeding and mangrove planting. That inspired us to shift our focus to sustainability by looking towards appropriate technologies to support our many beneficiaries. We later assisted with the construction of waterless composting toilets and rainwater collection for our children’s home and orphanage partners. We’ve since presented talks and workshops on sustainability, waste management, and low-impact construction to our partner schools and organizations, and continue all of our work with a focus on both social and environmental sustainability.