At the end of November 2024, it rained so heavily in the southernmost provinces of Thailand that it flooded like never before. Some elderly people said that they haven’t experienced such a severe flood in their life-time. Streets and houses that usually don’t get flooded, were flooded this year. Many streets were flooded, so people could only wade through water to shops. I called some local people to find out information about the areas of need. Two Malay friends-who like helping others-passed on information about some villages that were needy. Some people asked them for meals. These two friends organised in their villages for cooked meals to be given out twice so people had something to eat. People received more help in the town, than in some remote areas. Restaurants, groups of local people and the government helped to give out meals first and later also food packages.

Our foundation received donations for flood relief from abroad and within Thailand. Foundation volunteers bought food items for 300 food packages and packed them with the help of local people. The two Malay friends took us to needy families, e.g. with a bed-ridden patient, who we gave food packages to. In some places we needed to walk through water and in one village, we were taken around by boat as the water was so high. It was quite adventurous and a good bonding time with local people. They appreciated the help given to them. It was sobering to see an area where the water went up to 2.5 metres, i.e. the first floor of the houses was completely flooded. A lot of the furniture got damaged and some people are still busy now cleaning up their houses. Thankfully, the houses of foundation volunteers and the foundation office weren’t flooded, so we could focus on helping others. We were glad that we could come alongside local people and give some help and hope in this time of need.