After several months of activities being closed due to COVID-19, here in Thailand lockdown has come to an end. Although Pattani province had initially been hard hit by COVID-19, thankfully now the situation is under control. This has allowed the football project in Southern Thailand to restart last month, and children (from 8 to 13 years old- many who are from vulnerable and low-income families) who had been involved in our projects have been slowly returning.

With masks and food distribution the only form of contact with the children and their families, we are elated to have contact again. After months of being stuck at home, the children now have the opportunity to meet friends, and play football – the joy on their faces is telling! Not only the children are happy, but the parents have expressed how happy they are to have their children back at our football activities. It’s little things like this, which make it worthwhile. With new local coaches on board, SEEDS workers can slowly begin to reimplement value-based coaching as we seek to improve physical fitness and develop the skills & characters of the children and youth we work with.

As the project moves forward, we hope to expand the project’s focus again, to rural areas to help impact children and youth from at risk communities. Plans have begun as local partners identify the most needy areas to survey, and this will be the cornerstone of our community development focus through football.