UPLift--Poverty Alleviation For The Ultra-Poor

UPLift is a program designed to empower communities on the Thai/Burmese border that lack food security, opportunities for income, and education. Through the use of small grants and skills trainings, these families receive the opportunity to pull themselves out of poverty without having to rely on external aid indefinitely.

Monday, August 9, 2010

Families on the Thai/Myanmar Border Have Little To Choose From

Tachilek is a hectic Burmese market town on the border across from Mai Sai, Thailand. In addition to being the home of numerous vendors, restaurant owners, taxi drivers and tourist guides it also has a large number of ultra-poor residents. These families, new arrivals from other portions of Myanmar and unable to support their means through normal work, are driven towards another option—street begging in Thailand.
Mae Doo is such an example. Single mother of five, she spends three weeks a month on the streets of Chiang Rai city begging with her children. It is enough to keep her family going, she says, and garners far more income than her previous job, being a fresh produce vendor. However, her children don’t have the luxury of attending school and they rarely even have enough money to treat medical problems. Her second son has had an infection on his right foot for a while now, and she might not be able to afford the costs of sending him to a Thai hospital.



We are trying to come up with innovative ways for women like Mae Doo to maintain a steady income without having her children on the streets as well. If successful, her children can then have access to formal education which provides a path out of the cyclical rut of ultra-poor families.