The hill tribe village of Mae Nam Khun is located in northern Thailand, and is populated by Aka, Lahu, Chinese, and Burmese people. Much of this area is mountainous and rugged. Although the Thai government has done a great job of crisscrossing these mountain ranges with a network of roads, there remain hundreds of villages that are still located in remote areas off the beaten track. Consequently, a significant percentage of hill tribe children living in the region of northern Thailandhave poor access to government education.
Mae Nam Khun is home to a regional school for children of all ages. Many of the children must travel long distances if they wish to attend, but with little or no means for transportation attending school is nearly impossible. The construction of the dormitory in Mae Nam Khun was for the schooling of 60 children who would otherwise not attend.
Beginning in 2004, Seattle University students and faculty worked with professional partner Tom Rines to design a 3000 square foot dormitory for 60 children. The group communicated with community leaders in Mae Nam Khun throug our in-country partner, Joni Morse to get feedback throughout the design process.
In March 2005, volunteers from Seattle University traveled to Mae Nam Khun to build dormitory. Teams from University of California- Santa Barbara and California Polytechnic Institute, San Luis Obispo were there at the same time installing a septic tank and leach field to provide bathrooms for the dorm and performing water quality tests.
Due to lumber price increases caused by the tsunami that hit Southeast Asia in December 2004, the team was only able to build one wing of the dorm. A Seattle University team returned in July 2006 to complete the dorm. The team also performed an assessment of the drinking water treatment system which led to the 2007 drinking water project.