Mud Brick Building Project At Center for Children in Need - Mae Sot, Thailand

The Center for Children in Need (CCN) in the Thai-Burmese border town of Mae Sot is a project that cares for ethnically Karen and Burmese children who were abandoned as infants or toddlers at nearby clinics.  Dragonfly was asked to assist the project by separating the large open area under a large roof that they use into different functional rooms, as well as to build a fence for safety and privacy around the outside of their compound.

Quick Details:

Construction Period = April 2010 - present

Budget = 61,183 THB

# Volunteers = 10

# Paid Workers = 10 (in turns)

# Bricks Made = 2100

# Building Days = 35

Project Timeline

CCN Director Sabine began work in January with DCF staff members to plan and design new wall divisions for their space that was previously used for storage, play, and raising goats.  The design saw the goats' area reduced, a new bathroom added, a new kitchen created, and 2 bedrooms built for children and guests (as the CCN project also works as a shelter).

In April, 2010, work began making bricks for the project.  We travelled to Mae Sot to teach migrant wokers from Burma how to make mud bricks from earth, rice husk, and water.  This project gave them an opportunity to gain income while learning new sustainable building techniques.  Their work was extraordinary, as they applied their extensive building experience to help them finish all the bricks required, plus extra, earlier than planned.

In May, DCF staff worked to prepare the site for the pouring of a concrete floor, which was then poured with the help of a concrete truck and paid workers.  Sabine reported that shortly after the floor was finished, 2 children who were only crawling had begun to walk and credits the smooth, level floor.  The old floor at the site was dirt and manure and was rough, uneven, and unfinished.

The volunteer building team arrived in June and worked with hired builders from the 5th to the 15th.  Together we :

constructed 2 mud floors (in bedrooms)

built and plastered mud walls to separate the space into new rooms

fitted windows and doors throughout the site

installed plumbing for new bathroom and kitchen

built up existing block and mortar walls

constructed a composting toilet

built a retaining wall for a duck / goose pond

Finishing work on walls (sculpting, painting) and mud floors (repair, waterproofing) was done in July with the help of a volunteering family from Australia and by the CCN staff and kids.  Fence construction was begun in September and completed in November 2010.

Budget information is reported through this PDF file on www.dragonflycommunity.org

Thanks to Sabine and the CCN staff and children for their hospitality and hard work.

Special thanks to volunteers Matt, Nat, Maureen, Louise, Matt, Sophia, Willa, Puwasa, Paeng, and Pop for terribly hard work and devotion to the project - your efforts have made a huge difference!