Asia Property Awards’ Mini-Heart Project with Right To Play returns on its second year

With plans to expand regionally to increase exposure for the cause 

The PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards team is proud to announce that we have extended our partnership with Right To Play (RTP) through the Mini-Heart Project. For this year, we decided to expand the partnership across the Asia Pacific region to boost the exposure of RTP, a cause that is very dear to our hearts.

Founded by former Olympian Johann Olav Koss in 2000, RTP is an international non-profit organisation focused on using play and exercise to teach basic life skills to children in impoverished locations all over the globe, including Ethiopia, Lebanon, Pakistan, China, and Thailand.

More: Solving the play equity gap in Thailand, one property development at a time

In Thailand, RTP has set up 20 offices to work with marginalised communities, which includes the neglected refugees, migrants, and youth in detention and rehabilitation centres.

Through the Mini-Heart Project, we wanted to help RTP encourage basic sanitation and hygiene in the Early Child Development & Education schools of the refugee camps in Mae Sot, Tak province in Thailand.

We donated boxes of bathroom and grooming amenities to bring forth awareness that some communities consider showering, washing their hands, or even wearing slippers as a luxury when for us, it is a necessity.

“Currently, with the reduction of support in the refugee camps, the parents have faced difficulty to support their family’s daily survival, with additional support to their children education. With that, many of the parents do not have money to buy such things and this kind of support (kits) help mitigate what they have to use in their daily life, especially the need for hygiene kits,” shared Mae Sot-based program manager of RTP Phanu Sukhikhachornphrai.

Phanu was also present during the distribution of the kits and was gracious enough to share how the process went.

More: PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards team share their Mini Heart to the Right To Play communities

“Before the hotel kits were distributed to the children in the Early Child Development & Education schools in the refugee camp, the Right To Play staff met with the headteachers and trainers to discuss how to distribute the kits and what kind of kits can be used as learning materials in pretend corner sessions.”

“Then, the hotel kits, such as [tubes of] toothpaste, toothbrushes, and combs were distributed directly to the children in the schools. The kits or materials, such as shower caps and shoes were kept in the schools to be used for learning materials for pretend corner activities. The soaps and shower gels were used for the children’s hand wash activity,” he added.

Phanu also shared a message from the teachers at the Early Child Development & Education schools:

“We would like to thank Asia Property Awards for your contributions or support to our children especially for the children in the Early Child Development & Education schools in the refugee camps. These are really helpful for our children and schools as we can use some of the kits as learning materials. Other than that, [we] were able to share [the kits] with four schools in Nupo, 15 schools in Mae La, and eight schools in Umpiem refugee camp.”

In these dire times when the coronavirus is spreading and the significance of hygiene is more apparent than ever, these communities are the ones left behind, without enough knowledge or necessities to protect themselves. With the basic hygiene exercises conducted by RTP a few months back, we’re hoping that these communities are equipped to deal with the pandemic.