In 2002, the MFLF partnered with the Thai and Myanmar governments to address the health problems and poverty of the 6,022 people in Yong Kha village, near the Thai-Myanmar border. The Project started with mobile medical units to treat contagious diseases including scabies, malaria and tuberculosis. Working with the community, the Project developed an appropriate irrigation system for both consumption and domestic use. A 16 bed hospital and a school for 500 students were built after the community identified them as priorities. A program of capacity building was carried out to enable local residents to carry out their own development. In parallel with the school and hospital construction, people were trained as para-dentists, and as malaria and TB technicians to monitor the community’s public health and any outbreaks of diseases. The MFLF designed components of the school curriculum to learn practical skills one hour each day; for example, to tend vegetable plots, chicken coops, and fish ponds. This programme helped provide food for the school lunch program and skills for the students to help their parents at home.
