Baan Nana

Baan Nana is a shelter in the north of Thailand, near the border with Myanmar, where stateless children who were once child beggars on the streets are housed, cared for, and sent to primary school and vocational training.

Child Life Mae Sai runs a four-house system: House 1 for new cases, House 2 as the main home, House 3 as the San Khong School learning centre, and House 4 as Nana Buffet, a restaurant for vocational training. We support each house with what it needs, fund tuition, and fund the salary of a residential paralegal who works with the children toward citizenship.

Baan Nana has long funded itself by selling the organic rice the children farm with staff and volunteers — half is sold, half feeds the children. We help market and distribute the rice with full profit returned, add livestock for new income, and donate solar panels and batteries to a site without grid electricity.