"Keeping families together"
History
One Sky was conceived in 2012 by Wiwat Thanapanya and Andy Lillicrap in the Thai-Burma border town of Sankhlaburi, and became a fully registered Thai NGO in June 2013. Having worked together in Sangkhlaburi for a number of years, Wat and Andy saw a huge gap in essential services for large numbers of vulnerable children and their families.
Over the previous two decades a very one dimensional approach to supporting vulnerable children had developed in Sangkhlaburi. This often resulted in the separation of children from their families and the use of low-quality, large-scale institutional care to meet the needs of children from poor and unstable families.
One Sky was created to bring change to services available to vulnerable children in Sangkhlaburi, by promoting a new way of working to support them. We were founded to promote professionalism, uphold the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), encourage new ideas and connect Sangkhlaburi to a global movement of organisations working to build good practice in assisting vulnerable children. Most importantly, we strive to support children and their families in a way that helps them to stay together, enabling children to be protected inside a stable, loving family unit and within a strong, empowered community.
One Sky Foundation was founded on the basic principle that one day we will not be needed. As an NGO we envisage a future time when government services and families themselves be able to meet the needs of all children in this complex border area. Until this time, we aim to promote the best interests of all children in Sangkhlaburi to the best of our ability.
“I am motivated to work with people who don’t have enough opportunity. If we can find ways to give people more choices and empower them to make good choices for themselves and their children then I will feel very satisfied with our work”
Wiwat Thanapanya (Founder & Director of One Sky Foundation)
“One Sky is born out of friendship and a shared passion to break the established mould in this remote area by building a foundation truly aiming to work in the best interest of vulnerable children and their families”
Andy Lillicrap (Founder & Adviser to One Sky Foundation)