A Plan Hatches.
Dragonfly started in April 2004 as a group of Thais and foreigners running English camps in the Northeast region of Thailand. Teachers at the many schools we visited saw that we were planting the seeds of interest in language learning and always asked us to stay longer to help their students grow. From this, the idea of recruiting volunteers to teach at Thai schools was born.
Spreading Our Wings
Volunteers started contacting us and asking if there was more work to do besides teaching - was there?! In our travels, we were constantly confronted by the issues facing Thailand. Rapid urban expansion is causing the dissolution of traditional social structures, tearing apart families, and destroying wilderness. We felt the desire to help from so many people that we decided to start projects to support children, wildlife, and communities in need.
After the Asian Tsunami that struck Southern Thailand in late 2004, we traveled to the affected regions to see what help we could provide. We ran some fun camps for affected children, helped with clean-up, and also looked for longer-term solutions. Friends and family had sent us funds asking us to use them to help affected kids long-term, and so we began to offer school support to children who had lost homes, loved ones, and even their whole families.
Ideas In Flight
Today Dragonfly works in many areas including English teaching, orphanage care, building, and conservation. Our sponsorship program has grown to include poor and orphaned children in several regions. We also registered the Dragonfly Community Foundation as a charity to help support projects and local communities. We're still growing - we're able to bring more and more volunteer support to Thais and Thailand, and more of Thailand to our volunteers.
"Dragonfly"?
Take your best guess!
- a) we were inspired by a Thai kid's story of a lazy insect who metamorphoses into the best student in school
- b) we try to emulate the hard-working, beautiful, international aviators
- c) it's one of few insects that don't get deep-fried in Northeastern Thailand
- d) all of the above?
