Backtohome.org - Missing Persons Locator Throughout Thailand, economic and societal changes have created a migration pattern of individuals leaving the safety of their villages. In this migration, some people lose contact with family or disappear as a result of more sinister causes. Backtohome.org attempts to re-unite disappeared people with their loved ones.. Backtohome.org is sponsored by the Asia Foundation.
	Virtual Hilltribe Museum @ www.hilltribe.org The cultures of highland ethnic minorities in Southeast Asia are changing rapidly as the hilltribe people become more incorporated into the lowland majority societies . The Virtual Hilltribe Museum is geared to documenting these cultures and their changes for the world to see. The Virtual Hilltribe Museum is sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation.
	Bannok TV With changes in the new Constitution, local stations will soon have the right to broadcast pertinent, non-Bangkok-centric local programming. Bannok TV is a developing local-access television station set up by the Mirror Art Group to address the needs of the Mae Yao community, keep them abreast of relevant issues, give positive media images to the hilltribe youth and address the lack of knowledge about the hilltribes in modern Thailand.
	Project to Combat Trafficking in Women and Children Every child has the right to happiness and to grow up in a safe environment. Unfortunately, among the poor of Northern Thailand, especially the hilltribes, this right is often not realized. The cities in Northern Thailand are full of children who have left school as early as the fouth grade to struggle earning money for their family. Worse yet, the extreme poverty of the region is fertile ground for those wishing to traffic women and children to wealthier areas of the country and the world.
	Thai Citizenship Without Thai citizenship, life is incredibly difficult for hilltribe people. Without citizenship, they cannot buy their own land, receive secondary education, free health care or gain meaningful work. Through their Thai Citizenship program, the Mirror Art Group acts as a mediator between the tribal people and the Thai Government, helping the people with the long and complicated task of applying for citizenship.
	Volunteer Teacher Over 2,000 people from all over Thailand and the world have come to Chiang Rai to take part in our Volunteer Teacher Program. Volunteers from all walks of life go in groups to live in a hilltribe village for up to a week and carry out a variety of tasks including teaching Thai and English, helping farmers in the fields and playing with the children, while learning about hilltribe culture first-hand.Web page please go to www.hilltribetour.com/english/.
	Information Technology @ bannok.com The Mirror Art Group has one of the largest Internet presences within the Thailand NGO community. The IT Development Program uses the internet to maintain a substantial internet community for volunteers, as well as to design websites for other NGOs, to raise funds and to spread information about the hilltribes to the rest of the world.
	e-commerce @ ebannok.com One of the Mirror Art Group's most successful projects is its Marketing Project, which operates both on the internet and from a shop in the commune. The Project provides employment for local people who make the products sold between harvests and is a new type of publicity for both the Mirror Art Group and the hilltribes of Mae Yao. To visit the shop's web page please go to www.ebannok.com.
	Voice of Earth Clay Workshop Closely linked to the Marketing and e-commerce projects, the Voice of Earth Clay Workshop produces small whistles that are worn as necklaces to sell in the commune's shop and on ebannok.com. The workshop provides employment to up to 12 members of the local community at a time.
	Cultural Experience In an effort to battle the inevitable exploitation of the hilltribes by the Thai tourist industry, The Mirror Art Group is working to create a tourism program that empowers the villagers and allows the tourists to learn traditional skills such as weaving and bamboo-work. Web page please go to www.hilltribetour.com/english/.
	Second-hand Clothing Through the Second-hand Clothing Program, hilltribe villagers can purchased used garments for considerable discounts. This self-supporting program is operated with the belief that when a person has a monetary investment --no matter how small--in something, he is more likely to value it. Donations of socks and blankets during the winter months are also operated through this program.
	Fundraising While many of the projects run by the Mirror Art Group are financially self-supporting, and some even make a profit, the majority of projects need constant or initial funding, be it feeding the children at the center or sending an addict for rehab. The Mirror Art Group does the majority of its fundraising over the internet, to find out how you can help, just click here...
Return to Main Page.