Exploring Latent Potentials of Local People

On 24 March, the DPF welcomed an international group of 26 Master’s and PhD students from Thailand, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines and Myanmar, who are all currently studying at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT). They came to learn from Khru Prateep about the social situations of community residents from a gender perspective, as well as the DPF’s approach to improving the quality of life for children, families and communities in the Klong Toey area. On the same day, they also interviewed some of our kindergarten teachers and teachers’ assistants about their life and their way of taking care of kindergarten students, followed by a walk through the community. A few days earlier, on 21-22 March, the students had also interviewed community leaders, community health volunteers, youths, disabled people, gender diverse people and local entrepreneurs to foster a deeper understanding of the challenges, needs and potentials of the community from the perspective of the people who live there.