@THAILAND
A selfless head teacher and her pupils are making sure nobody goes hungry, writes Sarot Meksophawannakul in Nakhon Sawan
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| A resident buys some Hor Mok Pla from the children as they go around the neighbourhood selling the dishes they made at school. |
A student fills a banana-leaf cup with Hor Mok Pla, ready for steaming. |
Teachers and pupils join hands as they make Hor Mok Pla. Money earned from selling the dish helps feed the students and cover school expenses. |
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| Wichawadi students decorate the Hor Mok Pla, before it is sold at a local market by the school principal and student volunteers. |
Prathom 6 pupils Somkid Saleephan and Oraphan Klangsin take over steaming duties in making the Hor Mok Pla. |
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| The school cannot afford washbasins, so the children have to brush their teeth outside. |
Pupils at Wichawadi school in Nakhon Sawan's Muang district transform an old shelter into a monkey bar, as the school does not have money to build a proper playground for them. — Photos by SAROT MEKSOPHAWANNAKUL |
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| Despite budget shortages, the school still offers free lunch to every student, thanks to the principal's food-selling project. |
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| Buphachart Munsa and one of her students go to a Pak Nam Poh market to buy ingredients. |
Ten-year-old Saowalak looks out at heavy rain from inside the school canteen. There is not enough money to plug leaks in the roof. |
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| Student Somkid carries a basket of freshly-cooked fried fish cake and fish curry pudding to sell at Pak Nam Poh train station. His friends Nantira and Saowalak follow to help. |
Most students at the Wichawadi school are poor and many come from broken families. |
Principal Buphachart Munsa believes students should not only have active minds, but also full stomachs. It is a common sight to see her cooking and selling food at a fresh market in the evening as she seeks to fulfill this ambition.
And the students who benefit from her efforts also get involved, helping prepare the meals as part of their daily routine. These meals are either dished up to the children on their lunch break, or sold at the market or door-to-door in the neighbourhood.
The 60 students at Wichawadi school in Muang district are fed using the proceeds from selling Hor Mok Pla, or fish curry pudding, and Tod Mun Pla Grai, fried fish cakes. This money is also put towards the school's water and power bills, stationery and academic activities. About 200 baht a day is raised by selling the meals.
The private school, behind Pak Nam Poh railway station, is not as fancy as many private schools in town. All the students come from poor families and study- and eat- there for free.
About 25 students stay at the school, as their parents are doing time in jail. Ms Buphachart, 60, also sleeps in one of the classrooms.
All the computers, toys, tables and chairs came from donations. Every year, the teachers ask residents for gifts to give the students on Children's Day.
The school receives a state subsidy of 500 baht per student a month. The total budget of 30,000 baht is only enough for the eight teachers' salaries and a cook, who charges only 100 baht a day. There is no janitor. The teachers and students do the cleaning.
The economic crunch this year has made life tougher for the teachers and students, but Ms Buphachart refuses to give in.
She refuses to accept a salary and doubles as a vendor after school hours, so that the door to education stays open for poor students in their community.
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