Partners
Foundation for Thailand Rural Reconstruction Movement under Royal Patronage (TRRM)
The main organization responsible for this Project is the Foundation for Thailand Rural Reconstruction Movement under Royal Patronage (TRRM).
Vision and Mission: TRRM has the vision of “societal peace and progress though holistic, people-centered, collaborative and sustainable development.” Our mission is “to facilitate the strengthening and coming together of the various sectors in society in a collaborative and synergistic manner as well as collectively bring about the desired peace and progress.”
Shaul and Hilde Robinsohn Foundation
The foundation was established in 1996 by Hilde Robinsohn, the widow of Prof. Dr. Shaul Robinsohn. Professor Robinsohn was from a Jewish family and escaped the Holocaust by immigrating to Israel where he lectured at the University of Jerusalem. After WW II he returned to Germany and was the Director of the UNESCO Institute for Education in Hamburg, later on he was one of the founders of the Max Planck Institute for Educational Research (Max-Planck-Institut fuer Bildungsforschung) in Berlin. He made important contributions towards the West German education reform, specially in the areas of curriculum theory and development, Comparative Education and teacher training. Robinsohn past away in 1972, his wife in 1996.
The Robinsohn Foundation manages the donations which the School for Life receives from individuals in Europe and also contributes towards the financing of the Principal of the School for Life. They also gave a PhD scholarship to Yothin Sommanonont. Rita Haberkorn, vice president of the foundation and deputy of Professor Dr. Zimmer, works also for the School for Life.
International Academy for Innovative Education, Psychology and Economy (INAgGmbH)
The institute at the Free University of Berlin is scientific partner of School for Life
Supporters, sponsors, donators
The Beluga School for Life gGmbH in Bremen supports the School for Life financially in the area of hospitality services.
Some of the honorary fundraisers are: Princess Maja von Hohenzollern, Silvia Bieber & Joachim Seelmann, Rita Cromwell, Richard Cromwell, Horst Junker, Annette Wendler-Krug & Michael Krug, Astrid Landero, Dr. Martin Mueller-Wolf, Walter Thiermann, Brigitte Sandmann, Manfred Schoenebeck and Stadtverband Saarbruecken.
Further supporters of the School for Life are Amicus Foundation Bangkok, step Foundation Freiburg Barbara Hunz Human Resources Management, and the Wolfgang R. Fikentscher-Kinderhilfestiftung.
An important basis for the long-term existence of the School for Life is the community of friends, sponsors and donators, which includes about 70 individuals. There are also many other people and institutions that have contributed with one time donations towards the build up of the School for Life.
In its current state, the School for Life in Chiang has about 15.000 Euros (690’000 THB) of costs per month and about 6.000 Euros (276’000 THB) of regular monthly funding. Other costs are covered per individual donations, but because they sometimes come and sometimes do not, there is no reliable financial footing. Our goal must therefore be to secure the open costs over a longer period of time, similar to the Beluga School for Life.
International Academy at the Free University of Berlin
The International Academy for Innovative Education, Psychology and Economy (INA gGmbH) at the Free University Berlin was established in 1996 by Prof. Dr. Juergen Zimmer. Twelve institutes are working under the roof of INA. INA works national and international in numerous, mainly interdisciplinary projects.
The Institute for the Situational Approach (ISTA) – Director: Rita Haberkorn – and the Institute for Transfer of Innovation and Project Management (IfI) – Director: Manfred Schoenebeck – accompany the School for Life scientifically.
Beluga School for Life in Na Nai
Right after the Tsunami a cry for help reached the School for Life in Chiang Mai from Namken, a village north of Khao Lak that was widely destroyed. Namkem was a poverty stricken place, a slum. The places where the huts were before were after the Tsunami only filled with gravel and sand. Only few of the houses built were strong enough to withstand the force of the wave. The numbers regarding the death toll are wavering. According to the locals – more than two thousand out of the ten thousand living there have died. The authorities accounted for much less, the reason being that many people in Namkem were never officially registered.
It is not clear, how many children have died. In the east part of Namkem there have been 50 orphans registered, in the region several hundred are reported. There are a big number of women and men, which have lost their spouse and now have to support their children without any available job. Grandparents, which have been relying on the support of their children, don’t have the means to survive. It is important to find ways to help those people on a long term and give them new perspectives.
The first steps
Immediately after the disaster, a team from the School for Life started their work under the guidance of Khun Joy. During the school days it was a break for the surviving teachers from that area, and the teaching took place outdoors in the remains of a school. The first step was the trauma therapy and the development of a new, close-held community. During the week approximately 50 children were registered, and during the weekends it turned out to be over 100 children. Adults who were also especially traumatized were overseen in therapy. Many conversations with survivors were held, in order to identify the outline of the development project and to decide on the next steps.
This is how it became clear that another School for Life had to be founded.
This School for Life is placed a little bit further inland, according to the wish of all people involved. The survivors avoid the regions close to the water: they are haunted by the pictures of the catastrophe, they are afraid of new waves and they believe that places of death are a cemetery of those souls, which need to find peace over a long period of time.
Na Nai, a small village is situated in the mountains about 45 minutes from Namkem. On its outskirt lies the land, which will be the new settlement for the School for Life. It’s a plateau surrounded by mountains, tropical forests, farms and ponds.
In Na Nai we will have up to 180 children and 40 severely traumatized adults. The adults will bring in their hand craft- and farming skills, they will help oversee the children and help in the development of a new community.
With a local architect and a contractor from Na Nai work started on the construction of the buildings for the children, the adults and for guests of the School for Life. It is planned that a village will be developed based on the idea of UNESCO’s the “open learning community”, which reflects Thai values and traditions and to connect those with the modern, meaning to be a “global village”.
The Bremer entrepreneur and owner of Beluga Shipping GmbH, Niels Stolberg, has secured the financing for the Beluga School for Life for the next ten years. Both Schools for Life are implementing the same educational approach and work closely together in curriculum development.
Also the Beluga School for Life is licensed as a Private Social Welfare School, including Kindergarten and Primary School (www.beluga-schoolforlife.org)
Other partners
The School for Life regularly exchanges information and experiences with: International Academy for Innovative Education, Psychology and Economics at the Free University of Berlin; UNESCO; Ubon Ratchathanee University (Thailand); Rural and Social Management Institute (Thailand); Step Foundation, Freiburg; Brandenburg Technical University of Cottbus (UNESCO Chair in World Heritage Studies); Learning Development Institute (USA); The People’s Institute for Rethinking Education and Development (India); Harvard University, Centre for Middle Eastern Studies (USA).