Hands' first project was to fund the construction of a home for the orphaned children of the badly damaged Ban Nam Khem region of Phuket (near the Khao Lak resort area) which was opened in August 2006.

As we enter the fourth year in the life of Hands, and move towards the five year anniversary of the tragic events of the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami, 2009 is a year with much to celebrate. In January, we completed the first Bangkok to Khao Lak 800km fundraising bike ride over nine days. It was an incredible journey, raising almost $200,000 for our ongoing projects. At the completion of the ride we officially opened the new orphanage which is located right next door to the first one. The girls have now moved into this beautiful new home and the children are no longer sleeping on the floor.

We continue to implement many other projects to support the ongoing needs of both the children at the orphanages and the broader community. These projects include an education program that will cater for the kids aged between four and twelve, right through to a teacher exchange program. We are also working towards the funding of a community dental program, which will aim to provide a service for the entire community. We have formed a number of valuable national and international joint venture partnerships. Right now we are working with Victoria University around providing a number of education solutions and have commenced work with the Le Meridien Hotel Group on a number of exciting local initiatives in Thailand.

The generosity of our supporters, both large and small, has been nothing short of staggering given the economic climate that we find ourselves in. Nine months ahead of target we are able to start construction on our latest project – a community centre which will cater for the education, health care and short term accommodation needs of the Baan Nam Khem community. In addition to the many services this building will provide, it will also offer a Tsunami refuge area on the roof of the building for 1000 people in the event of another Tsunami. This is an incredibly important part of the new building as the members of the community are still fearful of returning to the area.