Baan Dek Foundation (BDF) is a Thai-registered foundation established in 2002 with a mission to provide access to education, health, and safety services for vulnerable children living in urban slums and construction sites in Chiang Mai and Bangkok.
IVL Foundation supported a Women’s Empowerment Program in Chiang Mai, which aimed to empower vulnerable women, including single mothers, victims of violence, and mothers of children with special needs. The program included empowerment training such as goal-setting and life coaching, financial education, life skills development, work readiness training, and handicrafts. This initiative was designed to boost women’s confidence in themselves and their capabilities, help them understand their options, and enable them to take concrete steps toward achieving their goals.
2023
During 2023, BDF organized 97 training sessions, including outreach activities, soft skills building activities, and upskilling activities with the participation of 159 women.
IVLF also supported BDF’s “Extra Income Generating Activities,” which focused on offering immediate childcare solutions to women who had recently secured job opportunities but were unable to afford childcare services.
2022
BDF organized 310 training sessions both online and offline with the participation of 241 women which included Women’s Empowerment Core Training, sewing, IT, social engagement, cooking and food safety.
This year, the IVL Foundation and BDF also resumed the “Grant Me a Future” initiative. Seven women were selected as grant recipients and received seed grants to kick start their own micro-enterprises.
2021
BDF Team was able to empower 140 marginalized women through training. Since January 2021, BDF organized 257 training session under this program which included Women’s Empowerment Core Training, sewing, Thai language, financial literacy and domestic violence.
IVLF also sponsored the tools such as portable sewing machines, cooking equipment and utensils to ensure that the mothers are equipped with the proper tools to develop their skills.
Besides the empowerment training, to relieve the financial burden of the mothers during the COVID-19 pandemic, BDF also provided 175 sets of food and hygiene products to 13 communities, reaching over 100 mothers and 150 children.
2020
The BDF team identified 40 campsites and recruited 223 women to join the training. Fifteen portable sewing machines and two factory sewing machines have been purchased as tools to support their independent economic activities. Since March 2020, BDF organized 232 training sessions under this program. The training sessions included financial management, counseling techniques, leadership, handicrafts and cooking class.
The IVL Foundation and BDF also launched the “Grant Me a Future” initiative that allowed the women who attended a business development training session to submit their business plans. Three women were selected as the grant recipients and received seed grants to kick start their own micro-enterprises. Two women will sell fried bananas and one woman will open her own clothing shop.
