Duang Prateep Foundation
The Duang Prateep Foundation provides a remarkable range and depth of outreach that brings hope and enablement to the very poorest of the needy people of Thailand.
The Duang Prateep Foundation was established by Ms. Prateep Ungsongtham Hata, known affectionately as the ‘Slum Angel’.
It was initially set up to provide relief and assistance to the residents of Bangkok, Klong Toei slum, but now provides hope and enablement to poor communities all around Thailand.
Born in the Klong Toei slum of Bangkok, Prateep was a child labourer. She enjoyed just 4 years of formal education at primary school.
As a teenager she completing her studies at evening classes paid for with her own wages. She opened an informal slum school at the age of 16 and two years later she was awarded a place at Suan Dusit, Bangkok’s foremost teacher training college.
Her support and success in defending slum dwellers from eviction led to her receiving the Magsaysay Award for Public Service and it was with the prize money that she established the Duang Prateep Foundation in 1978.
She would later become the first Asian citizen to be awarded the John D. Rockefeller Award for Outstanding Contribution to Mankind as well as, amongst other awards, The World’s Children’s Prize in 2004.
Today the activities of Duang Prateep Foundation extend far beyond the slums of Klong Toei in Bangkok, including:
• Educational scholarships
• Kindergarten projects
• Community Development
• HIV/AIDS project
• Credit Unions/Microfinancing
• Projects for the elderly
• Special education for the hearing impaired
• New Life Project for children at risk
• Tsunami Relief and Development
• Firefighting services in the Klong Toei slum
In the year 2000, Ms. Prateep Ungsongtham Hata won a seat in Thailand’s first ever elected Senate.
More information about this wonderful Charity that is such a shining beacon of hope to so many can be found at their website