At the Social Enterprise, Next Door Artisans, we have a team of counsellors, a mental health nurse, bicultural workers, interpreters and psychologists. We have strong connections with other groups who also fundraise and we all work together to raise awareness to help the refugees.
In Thailand we have connections within three of the refugee camps, an amputee rehab, and orphanage, and several schools for disadvantaged refugees. We have been focusing on Karenni refugees camps and communities that are struggling with food rations, with their rations cut entirely by the IRC. They are relying on donations from outside communities. Our enterprise coordinator on the Thai- Myanmar Border, Rocky Nye Reh assists with identifying the needs, and purchases and distributes the essential items directly to the refugees in need.
In September 2025, we travelled to the border region and distributed these items to various locations.
Thank you to everyone who has donated, you are making a difference!!
We also had the privilege of visiting and supporting an amputee rehabilitation centre, home to around 50 young men whose lives have been forever altered by landmines and bomb explosions. Many have lost limbs, fingers, or even their sight. Here, they wait not only for their bodies to heal, but for their minds and spirits to begin processing such profound loss.
The centre had recently relocated to new premises, but the young men had few activities to fill their long days. To bring some comfort and dignity into their lives, we provided practical and recreational items: fans to ease the heat, a generator for reliable power, and music equipment — guitars, a drum kit, and a karaoke machine — to spark creativity and joy. We also donated a television, DVD player, and video games to help them connect, relax, and share moments of laughter together.
Our hope is that these contributions create spaces for healing and moments of lightness, reminding these young men that even in the midst of devastating circumstances, joy, expression, and community still have a place.
Making a difference for Karen and Karenni refugees.
Dreaming
It started with a small community garden in 2020, to bring refugees together, after COVID, to connect and improve their mental health through gardening.
Building
The group started with 15 refugees from Myanmar and has grown to over 100 refugees attending regularly to engage in traditional crafts, gardening, woodwork and learning new skills.
Growing
With the products that the refugees create, they expressed a need to assist their communities back in the refugee camps in Thailand. The refugees there are extremely vulnerable and struggling with basic food needs, medical care and housing.
Raising
We have held several community markets, and raised money through the sale of traditional foods, arts and crafts, and have donated these funds to the Thailand refugee camps.
Facilitating
Travelling to the refugee camps in 2024-early 2025, and then late 2025, we saw first hand, the needs of the refugees. We continued to assist the refugee groups and also assisted with an amputee rehabilitation centre, for many young men who had lost their limbs and their eyesight, in the war in Myanmar.