Jacob and Karly Raber were the guest speakers at the Wednesday, August 3, meeting of the Pattaya City Expats Club. They spoke about how they are giving kids in Pattaya a better chance in life. To do this, they formed the 58.12 United Foundation.
Jacob first described how he comes from an Amish community in the USA and how his desire to go outside that community eventually led to their moving to Thailand. They arrived in Bangkok about 6 years ago where they taught English for a year. They then decided to move to Pattaya where they continue to live with their three sons, ages 8, 6 and 3. It was their desire to help kids escape from the vicious cycle of poverty that brought them here.
Jacob and Karly spoke of the ways their Foundation is accomplishing this goal. Currently, they are working within two communities but hope to expand to further areas in the future. In these two communities, they have formed kid’s clubs to primarily educate the children; not only in teaching them English, but also the values they will need to move on to a better life
Jacob noted that their mission is the three “E’s” – Educate, Equip, and Empower. Through education the kids will have a chance to get employment that pays more which they can use to help their families as well as their own children in the future. Thus, it provides the means to break the cycle of poverty they otherwise face.
Equipping involves building community relationships. This allows them to provide guidance to families rather than instruction on how to make their lives better. It also involves providing rice and other items if needed. Empowering is to give the tools needed for their staff and Thai volunteers to gain confidence in working to help poor families to better themselves, especially the children.
The Foundation has set up a Community Center. It is open to the families to meet and share experiences. The Center also provides a playground for children. Thus, the Center fosters the community relationships they need to carry out their mission.
Jacob and Karly called on their audience to help them accomplish this. They rely heavily on money donations, much of it from an affiliated organization in the USA, but it is not enough. They told their audience that while money donations are much appreciated, help can also be provided in other ways by volunteering your time or donating needed items such as food and household items. They invited everyone to visit them and see firsthand what they are accomplishing. For more information, Jacob suggested a visit to their website at https://www.5812global.org/thailand/.
After the presentation, MC Ren Lexander brought everyone up to date on upcoming events which was followed by the PCEC’s Open Forum where questions are asked and answered about Expat living in Thailand. For more information about the PCEC, visit their website at https://pcec.club. To view Jacob and Karly’s presentation, visit the PCEC’s YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-10bwSJhjg.
 |
 |
 |
