Bangkok--19 Jan--Siam Winery
Siam Winery and the Mechai Viravaidya Foundation (MVF) recently signed an MOU at the Siam Winery Co., Ltd. head office, to support MVF’s widely-known ‘School-BIRD’ project, with its commitment to revolutionize rural education in Thailand. This specific project will provide improvements to Ruammitwittaya School and the surrounding community in Lamplaimat, Buriram. Modeled after the innovative Mechai Pattana School (Bamboo School), the Ruammitwittaya School’s School-BIRD project will create a new generation of leaders in rural Thailand, allowing students to reach their full potential. The school will become a life-long learning center and a hub for economic and social advancement, benefitting the students, their parents and families, and the entire community.
Photo shows: Chalerm Yoovidhya (seated left), Managing Director of Siam Winery, and Mechai Viravaidya (seated right), Founder and Chairman of Mechai Viravaidya Foundation, as they sign the MOU on Siam Winery’s support of MVF’s School-BIRD project. Witnessing were Chayapol Sornsil (standing, 1st left) Corporate Social Responsibility Manager, Siam Winery, Daniel Schwalb (standing, 2nd left), Commercial Director, Siam Winery, and Kim Wachtveitl (standing, 3rd left), Corporate Director Siam Winery, along with Dr. Sondhi Techanant (standing, 3rd right), Vice-Chairman of the Mechai Viravaidya Foundation, Worawith Boonnak (standing, 2nd right), Director of Ruammitwittaya School, and Dr. Tanatat Puttasuwan (standing, 1st right), Trustee of the Mechai Viravaidya Foundation.
The School-Based Integrated Rural Development (School-BIRD) is an integrated social and economic development endeavor to raise the quality of life and educational standard of students and their families in and around schools operated by the government. The activities to be introduced through the school comprise skills training for teachers and students' families, income generation, health improvement, educational progress, gender equality, democracy, environmental protection, and volunteerism. In order to attain a level of financial sustainability in the long run, a social enterprise or business arm can be established at the school and a microcredit fund can be established at the village.
These activities will generate genuine partnerships between surrounding villages and the sponsoring organization to provide a unique opportunity of tackling the root cause of inequality and poverty. This project will enable the schools to become modest lifelong learning centers and hubs for economic and social advancement similar to Mechai Pattana School (the Bamboo School) in Lamplaimat, Buriram.
The two key components of the School-BIRD project are 1) utilization of a school as a natural entry point and coordination for rural development, and 2) focus on community empowerment and sustainability with a village-owned microcredit fund.