The Sainam Foundation was officially born in January 2007, after I moved to Thailand. It was never my intention to start another N.G.O, after having worked for about 15 years with the one I started in Switzerland many years before and after being left a bit disillusioned to see how often humanitarian help was mixed with religion and the “soul trade”.  However, life’s plans were different, and it probably was not by chance that I met my wife Rungnapha and moved to her village in Issarn. Sainam’s birth has been gradual, but it has been spurred by a particular moment which I would like to share with you, as I believe it was a very important moment for Sainam and for our lives.

In our village, women never iron their clothes.  However, one day I saw a lady from in my home, ironing my t-shirts.  I was really surprised and I wondered what could be the reason for this, so I asked my wife about it and she told me that the woman came to her asking for money to buy rice, to feed her children.  So my wife, unwilling to just give her money, thought about giving her some small work.  I thought about that lady, a woman I had always seen smiling and happy, and so I presumed her life was without major problems.  That made me wonder how many smiling people like her may have been in a similar situation.  So, like Siddharta, I went out of my “castle” to watch the world closely, and I discovered many people who were suffering.

So Sainam was born, spontaneously, after having witnessed the condition of many impoverished children, their parents, and their grandparents.  After having met so many abandoned children, left to themselves and facing an uncertain and, most likely, terrible future.  Sainam began its life, step by step, following an ideal which is against the exploitation of the masses; against human trafficking; against slavery of men, women, and children; against the mindless waste of our consumerist society; and against the sex trade which unfortunately in Thailand is affecting a large number of women and children.  Step by step, we are trying to help “our” people while keeping their culture, their dignity, and their lives intact.  We are working simplistically, and we aim at making them self-sustaining.

The Sainam Foundation is a non-religious N.G.O. that aims to create a network of friends around the world, a network of people and supporters who believe in same ideals we do. We are taking strength by the support of our few faithful friends who are giving us the incentive and the joy to continue our work, to continue to believe.

In our CARE program we have a young girl, Chinjan, who for two years has been fighting against cancer.  I really struggle to comprehend her sufferance, but the solidarity I encountered for her welfare really filled my heart with joy.  The earthly passage of this young soul is for me the equivalent of the passage of a splendid comet in the sky, a shiny star which enlightened me, enlightened us, reminding us that sometimes our troubles are really not so big and important.  Having met Chinjan, and so many other good people with Sainam, has really filled and enriched our lives.