Hello! My name is J Rouch. I have created issan.org to tell people about the Issan region, which is located in northeastern Thailand. Had my mother continued to live in Thailand, I would have grown up in Issan, which is the poorest region of Thailand, consisting mostly of rice farmers. In Issan a family’s average household income is less then $800 US dollars per year.
My family lives in a small village called Kut Kwang Soi in the Issan region. It is a very small village of about 250 people. It is located in a rainforest and is so remote that it isn’t marked on any of the maps of Thailand.
I have always wanted to visit Kut Kwang Soi to see what my life would have been like. In August of 2006 I was able to make the trip, and it was an experience like no other. After arriving in Thailand I headed straight for my family’s village. It was so amazing when everyone immediately welcomed me and accepted me as a member of the family. I will never forget the kindness they showed me.
One thing I knew I wanted to do when I got to the village was to hand out some small gifts to the local school children. Expecting to just deliver the candy and pencils to the school, I was instead, introduced to the principal and all of the teachers. The principal interrupted school, asked the children to line up outside to meet me, and I was allowed to hand out two pencils and a piece of candy to each individual student. Their gratitude and excitement shocked and overwhelmed me. I discovered later that the children were excited to have a “whole” pencil because normally the teachers cut the pencils in half to double the pencil supply.
Once I returned home from my trip I couldn’t stop thinking about the people from the village and the school children. I constantly found myself thinking, “How can I help?” My first goal was to help the children and their school. Education is a necessity for the children of Kut Kwang Soi. For many of the children a basic education is sufficient to find a job; however, speaking English can open up career opportunities in the tourism industry, which is growing in Northern Thailand. A person who speaks English can earn up to four times more than a person who does not speak English.
To reach my goal of helping the children of Kut Kwang Soi, my wife and I will return to the village in July, 2007. Our first priority will be to help the children and the school. Jessica, my wife, is a teacher who understands the importance of every child having supplies for school. To show the children how important we think education is, we are putting together a backpack filled with essential school supplies for each child. We will also be donating items to the school and helping the families in the village in any way we can.
We received a generous donation from our family during Christmas, 2006 when they agreed to donate to Issan.org instead of spending their money on gifts for each other. Our friends have also been supportive though the reality is that Jessica and I have extended the greatest share of the money from our own savings.
I sincerely thank my father who was the inspiration for the original 2006 pencil idea and who has inspired me to continue to help Kut Kwang Soi.
