In 2008 Tun became one of the very first scholarship students in our program.

She was 14 years old and studied at Ban Thanong School in grade 3. Tun had one brother who stopped school at the age of 14. Seen the financial situation of the family Tun was about to undergo the same faith. Luckily a teacher at her school pointed her in the direction of Fund Isaan, a then newly created non-profit that offered non-refundable scholarships to bright students like Tun.

In 2010 Oy was recommended by the teachers and the director of Cheu Pleung Witthaya School to participate in the Fund Isaan scholarship program.

Oy fitted all the criteria: she was a top student. In fourth grade she scored 97%. This made her number one of her class. But the home situation of Oy was rather difficult. Oy lived with her grandparents, both in their seventies, while her parents, were working in Bangkok as day laborers to pay for her studies and other expenses. Oy's older brother had given up school and was also working as a day laborer.

Fund Isaan recently started a program to reconnect with our past scholarship students. Today we bring you the story of Yui.

Yui became a Fund Isaan scholarship students in the summer of 2014. She had just finished her secondary school at Prasat Industrial and Community Education College. She wanted to continue her education in accounting and obtain a  high certificate. This meant an additional two years at the same college.

As mentioned in an earler article, we aimed to visit and pay all our scholarship students before mid May, the start of the new schoolyear for most secondary schools.

While it was a challenge; some students were travelling, working in another province or simply difficult to reach, we achieved our objective.

We are happy to report that none of our scholarship students have given up their studies. Five students graduated and found employment in line with their education or are still looking for a job. More than 100 scholarship students continue their education as planned.

Tamara, an employee of our partner, Deloitte Belgium and a certified EFL (English as Foreign Language) Teacher, arrived in Thailand on Sunday, May 14, 2017, one day before the start of the new schoolyear.

The next morning she started her volunteer work as an assistant English teacher at Phanom Dongrak School in the Surin Province. Phanom Dongrak School is a secundary school with approximately 1000 students.

In less than 40 days, we handed out over 65 scholarships mostly to newly accepted students.

On March 10 we handed out our first scholarship for the first semester 2017/2018. Yesterday we were at 65 scholarships. This means we visited 65 students, mostly at their house, to see how they and their familes were doing and to pay the first part of their scholarship for the next academic year. We listened to their stories and posted them on the secure part of our website where the respective sponsors can find news about their student or students.

Giving Back Association is a not-for-profit organization, registered as NGO number 5374/2557 on December 22, 2014 in Thailand, with the purpose of supporting charities in Thailand and the Region.

GBA helps individual and corporate donors to find information on charities and foundations in the Greater Mekong region that most fit their philanthropic goals as well as information on their governance, financial efficiency and transparency.

Yesterday we paid the first scholarships for the first semester of the new school year 2017/2018.

It is always a pleasure to meet with our students and their families. Bright young individuals who all have a dream. And in each of those dreams helping their families and communities comes back time and time again.

I hope the little help they get from Fund Isaan and our sponsors will help them achieve their dream.  Thank you to our sponsors and all the best to our students, we will be there for you!

Bae, also known as Sirinna Manyuen, was born and raised in the Isaan region. Bae has three sisters. Bae has a lovely 1.5 year old daughter, Miliew

During her secondary studies at Chomphraprachason School Bae discovered her love for English and ... the school library; English was her favorite subject and the library her favorite place to be. After secondary school Bae went to Khon Kaen University, her major was Library and Information Science and her minor was English. She graduated with a high score of 3.12/4 in 1999.

Thanks to the relentless support of our sponsors we will be able to grant 50 additional scholarships. This means 50 students that will have the possibility to continue their studies. This will have a major impact on their lives, that of their families and communities. We can not thank our sponsors enough.