DCBKK Social Entrepreneurship Fund

Let's Raise $3,000++ for Bangkok Asylum Seekers!

My best friend Dwight Turner has lived in Bangkok for about 7 or 8 years… teaching English, then starting a volunteer organization… we used to run monthly fundraising mixers together when I lived in Bangkok in 2009/early 2010 to get cool expats, locals, bloggers, and entrepreneurs all together for a fun night out and raise a portion of the proceeds for his projects at In Search of Sanuk.

(btw - "sanuk" is the Thai word for "fun")

He has been involved for years with local social justice issues - raising funds for many orphanages around the country, teaching English to disadvantaged kids in the slums and helping put them in school, and working with the Bangkok UN Refugee Center (the biggest in SEAsia, attracting refugees from as far as northern Africa) supporting families that have to live in hiding from the authorities until they are given official "refugee" status by the UN and relocated abroad. (This process took 4 years for my good friend Ryan  and his parents from China)


Even with "official" status, the Thai government does not actually recognize refugees strangely enough, so they have to scrape by living "illegally" here. So while some of the men do their best to find work (usually working under the table for less than 10 dollars a day on dangerous construction sites) it is extremely difficult for them to earn a living temporarily and provide for their families.

Dwight has been operating two facilities for the last year or so which house 5 or 6 families, paying the rent, providing some food and supplies, and helping where possible with medical care.

I recently visited 8 Hmong families with him on my visit to Bangkok:


The kids are a bit quiet, shy, survive on a few bags of rice per month, most of them don't really speak any English yet, and a new (well, used) pair of decent shoes will change their lives in a way you and I can't imagine.

But you should see the kids Dwight has worked with after a couple years. The change in them is profound.

Watch this video  for a little bit more about what he's doing.

Some people have asked me about volunteering. We won't have a lot of time to make a lasting impact, but I wanted to try to round up a group of DCers & friends to see if we can make a difference for a few of these kids.

So on Monday October 20th, after the DCBKK conference, I will lead a trip to visit these families where they live on the outskirts of the city, so you can see it for yourself.

Get more details about the actual visit to these Hmong families HERE inside the DC Forums.

But if you want to make a financial contribution then keep reading -

We are pretty fortunate to do what we do, living life pretty baller, with an incredible amount of freedom and flexibility in our lives by comparison (as well as wealth, even if you don't feel like you're where you want to be yet financially). I think since there are between 200 and 300 affluent lifestyle entrepreneurs all converging on Bangkok - it would be fun to set a lofty goal and try to collectively raise $3K for these projects - or maybe 5K, or maybe more. Maybe I'm thinking too small?

But if each one of us were just to put in even just ten bucks - that'd add up to $3,000 USD, which would make an immense impact for these people.

Just $200 will pay the rent for a month for 3 families living under one roof. Or it will put one of their children in school for about a year (uniforms, books, and supplies).

SO - Want to help us hit a BIG $3K GOAL?

Do it here on this page.

Or - You can donate food, goods, or any additional money donation - in person, online at the In Search Of Sanuk website , or through Dwight's mentor organization 100 Friends in the US  if you want a tax-deductible receipt.

We'll try to tally everything up and report back on the total raised by the DC community at Monday night's rooftop mixer at the Fraser Suites (Above Eleven).

Thanks for your support!