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.
