History

The Volunteers for Children Development Foundation is a Thai-run non-profit group who has worked in Thailand for over a decade. The Foundation is also acting  as a key member of the Chiang Mai Child Protection Provincial Committee and has gotten past support from various international agencies such as UNICEF Thailand. Asia Foundation, The Japanese Embassy and the European Union. VCDF has also received awards and funding from different private Japanese and American sectors,

VCDF was founded by two friends who noticed the large amount of young boys living on the street. The pair began giving free art lessons and teaching them to read and write. They soon discovered that the majority of street children in Chiang Mai had been sold at the Burmese border and brought into Thailand to be sexually exploited. Once in Thailand, these children are considered “stateless people” by the Thai government and are denied identity Cards which ensure public education, health care and the ability to legally work Others, who are labeled “stateless people,” even though they are born in Thailand, are tribal people groups. If they leave their impoverished reservation-type areas to find employment in urban areas. They can be arrested. Many tribal families send their children to work in the sex industry.

In 1997. VCDF officially began by opening a Drop-in Center in urban Chiang Mai. This center was opened in cooperation with UNICEF Thailand By 1999, programs  were in place aimed to integrate street youth back into society by teaching them life skills. VCDF also campaigned for Children’s Rights Day in Chiang Mai.

In 2001, VCDF expanded their geographical area to the northern Thai-Burmese border, Two Children’s Homes were opened in Chiang Mai and Chiang Sean. An additional Drop-In Center was also established in the busy border city of Mae Sai that is Known for human trafficking. VCDF was also called upon by the Chiang Mai Street Children Networking Organization and the Thai Research Fund to conduct the Street Children Research Project. Also End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes International (ECPAT) began funding the Chiang Sean Children’s Home.

By 2004, a widely used Thai language manual for working with street children was written by VCDF. The Prevention of Child Prostitution Project with support from USAID and the Asia Foundation. In 2005, the Peer Education Project for HIV/AIDS Prevention Among Street Children was launched with cooperation from UNICEF Thailand and the AIDS Network Development Foundation. The Chiang Mai Children’s Home was expanded thanks to funding from the Japanese Embassy, At the end of 2005. We became officially recognized as a foundation by the Thai government and had to change our name from The Volunteer Group for Children’s Development (VGCD) to The Volunteers for Children’s Development Foundation (VCDF)

However, in 2007, We suffered from major cuts in funding and both Drop-in Centers were closed and the Chiang Sean branch was supported solely by private French and American sectors. Also in 2007. VCDF, the Asia Foundation and Give2Asia started the Arts and Handicraft for Street Children Project. At the end of 2007. Over 120 children were in VCDF’s immediate care. And on a more personal note, for the first time a VCDF’s immediate care. And on a more personal note, for the first time a VCDF children enrolled and was accepted to a university to study Art Education.

In 2008, private funding re-opened our Drop-in Centers and after many setbacks the construction of our Chiang Saen Children’s Home was finally completed.