Wicked Diving - Doing our part to help

Summer Camp, 2008

As we mentioned previously Wicked Diving is always trying to improve. Not just the shop, not just our service but our community as a whole. In the last seasons we helped with tsunami recovery projects, particularly the Saori Foundation.

This year we have embarked on a different project.

There was recently a brief bit of fame regarding the problem of migrant labor in Thailand with Burmese workers. They usually here illegally, they have no rights, no services and are often persecuted.
Coming here to earn 3-4,000 Baht per month (that's 75 Euros people) they still send a portion of those wages home to support their families. Mostly men doing construction work (who do you think built all these resorts and vacation homes?), but some families do stay together and live and work here.
In Thailand, thes Burmese children under 12 are not persecuted and not kicked out of the country. Older than that and they are considered employable.

Learning to make masks

So as part of our ongoing projects to support our community we have sponsored 20 8-10 year old children form the Burmese work camps to attend an educational summer camp. Organised by Grassroots, a local Burmese Rights organization, and run by a very dedicated group of volunteers the summer camp was an opportunity to give these kids a chance to learn without prejudice. Projects include map making, science projects, story telling, biology and other things often left out of their education.

For our part we paid for their transportation, food, housing, materials and fun times.

The kids were mad for the project and really were proud of their projects and all they learned. Sadly, as Thailand has decided that since 54 Burmese migrants died in a locked truck, that the Burmese should be punished, the parents of these brave children had to hide in the jungle (and still are - the kids are joining them now) to void arrest.

In the meantime we are preparing to continue our work for a better world.

Our boat for next season is to be powered by 100% locally produced biodiesel, and all our soaps, shampoo and cleaning products are going to be 100% organic, biodegradable and phosphate free. Making this the Greenest dive shop in the Asia.

When you dive with us - you make a difference.

Wicked Diving

Wicked Diving - What we did this summer

As we have mentioned before - our commitment to the community is essential to us as people and to us as a commercial enterprise. As part of this philosophy we donate 10% of our proceeds to local charities. After putting our time and effort behind tsunami recovery efforts, we feel that these projects are either dwindling down or exploited for the benefit of the donors and not the receipients.

This year we are sponsoring these 20 children to go to summer camp. They are all children of migrant Burmese (Myanmar) workers who are prevented from attending local schools and often not even allowed basic healthcare.

In the summer camp the children are taken and taught some skills that most of us would take for granted. they have never seen a map before and have no idea how one works! Or the basics of their own anatomy.


Here, Michelle (head of the summer camp program) is telling them a story.





As you can see the conditions are very basic. Our donation not only paid for the materials, but the food, accommodation and necessities for their two weeks.

This donation is not ours - it's yours. Everyone who joined us this year helped make this possible. Each time you dive with us, you are contributing to projects just like this.

So to everyone this year a huge thank you!





There will be more pictures next week! stay posted


Khao Lak Diving