date: 05 05 2005

Hey everybody. Happy almost-summer from New York City and happy hot as hell in the middle of the summer from Phuket, Thailand.

We are happy to report that team three has completed their work at Bang Sak village in Khao Lak and team four arrived a few nights ago and is returning to Mai Khao beach for the next two weeks (site of the first two project teams). Special thanks to Aarti Thiagarajan, Jon Hinkaty, and Mui Kabkrue for their leadership of the third group - and thanks to all the volunteers who worked their butts off on behalf of the project.
Here are some things that are going on. and some things we need help with. We know its been a while since the tsunami hit, but one thing we definitely set out to do was to be committed to the cause long after the media attention waned. We still need your help, and the people in Thailand need your help, too. If you can find a little extra time in your day to contribute, that will be much appreciated.

PROJECTS FIVE AND SIX ANNOUNCED
If you are interested in joining an incredible group of volunteers and participating on either team five or six, please email mach and let us know. Team five is due to arrive on June 19th and team six is due to arrive on July 3rd. As always, the expected commitment is two weeks and volunteers should plan for time in transit between the United States and Thailand.

We have made slight adjustments to the overall structure of the program. Volunteers are responsible for airfare to Bangkok, and the project continues to cover airfare between Bangkok and Phuket for volunteers who fly as part of the group. Costs of airfare incurred by volunteers is also tax deductible, per the lovely United States tax code.

We have also implemented a 100.00 USD project fee to help the project cover the costs of incidental expenses, including lunch for the volunteers at the worksite, daily transportation to and from the worksite, and hotel accommodations for the duration of the project's activities in Phuket or Khao Lak. This will also help the program sustain itself and its efforts for a longer period of time.
In terms of planning for a potential volunteer trip, questions and answers are probably already online at www.phuketproject.org, or on the yahoo groups site. You can also see photos from teams one and two - and hopefully new photos from group three at http://www.phuketproject.org/images/photos
Keep spreading the word, and encourage others who are interested to fill out the volunteer information sheet. OH, and if you are interested in volunteering, you need to fill out one of these as well.

ONGOING PROJECTS
We intend to send at least one team of volunteers to Thailand each month for as long as volunteer interest and fundraising continues. In order for prior volunteers - who want to return - and others who want to get a better sense of planning, here are some TENTATIVE dates. we will not say GO to these dates until we are closer to the date and have more details in hand.
team seven: july 30 through august 13
team eight: august 14 through august 27
team nine: september 18 through october 1
team ten: october 2 through october 15
team eleven: october 30 through november 12
team twelve: november 13 through november 26

As part of our ongoing work, there are several side projects with which we need help:

PLAYGROUND PROJECT - KAMALA CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTER
In support of the Kamala Child Development Center and in partnership with Bangkok Phuket Hospital, we are beginning to plan a playground project for the Kamala Center. If you are interested in helping with this part of our ongoing effort, please contact Maya Gorton

PHOTOGRAPHY PROJECT - NEW YORK CITY
We are going to pull together the various photos that many of the volunteers have taken while in Phuket and hope to organize a benefit exhibition in New York City. If you are interested in helping with this part of our ongoing effort, please contact Billy Urbanawiz

WEBSITE REDESIGN
We really need someone who can help out with some design and coding of a new website. Although we love what we were able to accomplish in a few fast days in January, we need to find a way to streamline content on the site and make it more of a resource for the various questions asked by potential volunteers. If you can design and do a little code, contact Mach Arom

PUBLICITY AND PUBLIC RELATIONS
We have accomplished so much, and we really believe we could be getting a bit more public recognition for our efforts - worldwide and in Thailand. Although this is NOT the primary focus of the organization, we know how this sort of added publicity will allow us to continue our work in Thailand. If you are interested and able to help with writing articles and letters and creating press kits, please contact Mach or Maya.

Thanks everybody,

The Team at PhuketProject.org