Height and weight (annual data, beginning
in 2002).
Although many of the children suffer from stunted growth due
to malnutrition, the BRP's efforts began to make a statistically
significant difference in the children's growth by 2005. In 2002, the
mean difference in height between Shan children and Thai children of
similar age was 7 centimeters. By 2005, that difference had fallen to 4
cm (p<0.005). The difference in weight dropped from 5.5 Kg to 4 Kg
(p<0.005).
Educational
attainment and student performance (formal quantitative
annual data, beginning in 2002; qualitative data beginning in 2000).
The BRP social workers keep track of all students' grades
and scores in school. In addition, they know the strengths and
weaknesses of long-residing BRP community children quite well because
they also taught the children in an informal school from 1999 to 2001;
at this informal school, attendance hovered around 100% every day.
Since
2001, the BRP children have attended public Thai schools, where they
have consistently been among the top students. Several have won
regional essay contests, many receive straight As, and several have
passed the entrance exams into secondary school. In
contrast, 77 percent of the children's parents have never attended
school.
Literacy and
numeracy (formal quinquennial
census for literacy, beginning in 2002; observation data, beginning in
2000).
Approximately 90% of the BRP community's adults are
illiterate, and most of the 10% who are literate cannot read and write
in Thai. Therefore, it is significant that the children are all reading
and writing at grade-appropriate levels. The children help their
parents to navigate written instructions for medications, forms, and
other paperwork. The children also teach their parents numeracy skills.
Some sharecropping families, for instance, have reported that their
incomes increased substantially when their children learned about
fractions, so that they did not have to sell 1.5 kilos of soybeans for
the price of 1 kilo.
Access to sanitation
and other basic services (formal quinquennial
census, beginning in 2002; observation data, beginning in 1999).
Access to sanitation increased from 30% to 100% between 2002
and 2007. BRP efforts have also helped the community to gain access to
other basic services and rights, such as safe drinking water and birth
certificates.
Completion
of community-driven initiatives (observation data,
beginning in 2001).
At the beginning, the BRP provided the concrete and
porcelain for the outhouses, while the families themselves built the
outhouses; later, the families pooled funds to build additional
latrines themselves. Other community-driven initiatives include access
to electricity, with each household's contributions determined by their
number of household appliances; counseling about family planning;
making tofu for household consumption; and informal tutoring over
school vacations.
Knowledge base and
available resources for life decisions (observation data,
beginning in 1999).
Community members have sought the advice from the BRP social
workers on issues as varied as prenatal care, child vaccinations, child
discipline, family planning, the school calendar and curriculum, and
negotiating at the market. With a greater knowledge base and more
prospects for empowerment, community members lower their rates of
medical "noncompliance" (often because they did not know how to comply
with vaccination requirements, for example, or were afraid to visit the
clinic) and "social pathologies" (such as gambling and alcohol/ drug
abuse).
Adult
self-reported health status (formal quinquennial
census, beginning in 2002).
The BRP's efforts in preventive care and funding emergency
care have helped to lead to markedly higher rates of "good" or
"excellent" self-reported health status, up to 96% in 2007 from 58% in
2002.
Mental health
(Strengths
and Difficulties Questionnaire, beginning in 2007; observation data,
beginning in 1999).
Using these data, the BRP provides specialized social work
and counseling in peer-group bonding, self-esteem, and coping
mechanisms.
Other indicators of
well-being, including increasing
incomes, lower mortality and morbidity, and changing norms (some
indicators recorded via the formal quinquennial census, beginning in
2002; observation data, beginning in 1999).
Alongside economic well-being and lower disease rates, the
BRP social workers have observed significant and sustained changes in
familial expectations regarding the children's educational attainment,
future career aspirations, and relations with individuals in the host
Thai community.
