Our Mission & Goals

Who We Are Sustainable Hope International (SHI) is a 501-C-3 U.S. not-for-profit, providing education resources and training for teachers and marginalized students.  Sustainable Hope Thailand Foundation is a Thai Foundation (SHTF) is registered with the Thai Government since 2010.   SHTH has developed the “We Can (English) Club” a three-year training model and curriculum that teaches, trains and certifies English teachers and student’s basic skills in learning, language, life skills, leadership and living in community.  In the country of Thailand there are 54 Government Welfare Boarding schools.  SHI, since 2010, has established its program in eight of the Government schools impacting over 600 students.  SHI provides annual workshops in two sections of the country and provides incentives for the teachers and students that excel in the program.  To date SHI has sponsored 7 students that have completed the program and gone on with assistance from SHI to get a graduate degree from their respective universities.  The need for the program is greater than SHI’s current staff allows, however we have also been working collaboratively with other government schools that have requested the program in their schools. This program assists in providing access in helping to build the next generation of productive workers and leaders for the country. Our Mission Sustainable Hope International empowers vulnerable youth to claim a self-sufficient future through education, life and leadership skills What We Do Sustainable Hope International works collaboratively with the 54 Government Welfare Schools, some public schools in rural Thailand, with English teachers and students primarily with sophomore, junior and seniors (M4, M5, M6) in high school.  Students in Thailand can legally leave school at the end of the M3 to go to work, vocational program or discontinue their education.  Research shows that students that have a high school education and have a command of the Thai and English languages can earn 40% more income in their lifetime.  (The South-East Asia Economic Union, 11 countries have stated that by 2015 English should be the common language in their countries) Sustainable Hope International through the SHTF provides effective methodology for
youth leadership development. SHTF Provides

• technical, administrative and organizational support, and helps establish and strengthen university-based and community-based programs
• Conductsgrassroots “training of trainers” workshops, using an interactive approach
• Developsand assists in the development of interactive curricula and manuals for English teachers and students,
• Coordinatesand hosts English Club camps for eligible participating students.
• Organizes and facilitates visits, provides incentives for advancement and exchanges and trainings between students and teachers
• Worksto connect students with university and vocational programs with established university and corporations
• Offersopportunities for service clubs such as Rotary and corporations to sponsor “We Can English Clubs and Government school programs
• SHI seeks to develop and strengthen positive partnerships and networks locally, regionally and internationally. We endeavor to link our program to community service organizations, governmental policy makers and municipal educational institutions. We welcome partnerships to support the Government Welfare schools.

WHY A CLUB? The purpose of the
We CanTM English Club is to promote feelings of acceptance and belonging.

• Youth join clubs and organizations because they want to be an active part of a group. If they do not feel they are welcome, or that they don’t “fit in” they will very quickly stop coming. Often, groups do not intentionally leave out members, but simply overlook new or quieter members.
• Plan group-building activities for every meeting. Through these activities, young people can be pulled into the group without feeling left out.

SHTF Provides Opportunity to Develop Relationships It is impossible to develop relationships without talking to one another. Club meetings that do not provide lots of opportunities for youth to talk with one another, do not take advantage of one of the unique learning opportunities a club meeting can provide. Some simple ways to provide structured interaction beyond get-acquainted activities are team-building activities, small group discussions, and committee work. Remember to include unstructured interaction time as well. Provide Safety and Structure Youth feel safe in a group when they know the behaviors that are expected of them. To clarify these behaviors, it will be important to lead the club through a process of identifying the standards of behavior they all agree they want for their club. These can be written in the form of Club Rules and posted in a place where everyone can see them. Club rules help members monitor their own behaviors and decrease the need for the adult leader to control behavior. Posted rules also help prevent misunderstandings between members and adults and leaders about appropriate behavior at club meetings and events. Provide Opportunities to Contribute to the Group A sense of belonging to any group, whether family, school, community, or club, is formed when there are opportunities to contribute to that group and when those contributions are essential to the group. Club meetings must offer ways for all members to contribute and see themselves necessary to the success of the club. STRUCTURE AND GOALS Adult leaders should identify skills and talents of members that can help the club run better. All members serve in two positions throughout the year (except the Senior Leader who holds that job all year). The Teacher/Advisor selects the Senior Leader at camp and the students decide among themselves all other positions. Then, at the end of the semester, the Advisor assigns everyone to a new leadership position.  Training and mentoring are needed for new leadership positions. At the 1st Semester Celebration, roles change. Each Club member will train their replacement, then be trained for their new position. Promote Competence and Independence (the items below should be bullet points !!!) Help youth plan and conduct their meetings. Provide opportunities at age appropriate levels to have input into the design of the meeting and to provide leadership for the meeting. Prepare youth for the leadership roles they assume and provide support as they practice these roles. Help members evaluate their plans and use that information in future planning. Assist youth in developing plans for future meetings. Structure and Organization:  Official enrollment requires:

• A recognized sponsoring organization, (may be a community group, welfare school, government program, etc.).
• A certified trained adult advisor who is actively involved in each meeting guiding the activities.
• The Club is organized with a youth leadership team.
• There are nine youth selected and trained as Club leaders.
• A suitable meeting place is secured for the program year.
• The Club will meet a minimum of ten times during the year.
• The curriculum is followed and adapted as needed.
• Basic information on each participating youth is gathered in the Secretary Record Book and kept with the Advisor/Teacher.
• Attendance is taken at each meeting.
• Enrollment forms will include releases for use of photographs, agreements for non-discriminatory membership, agreement to expectations of behavior, agreement of criteria for possible
financial assistance for the Advisor/Teacher and signature of youth or volunteer.

CLUB GOALS Some clubs discuss things they would like to do together. This is called setting goals and planning. Writing goals down is important because it helps us keep focused on what we want to accomplish. A long-term goal is something that takes a lot of effort and time. The ideas can be simple (learning to play a new game every month), (Every club member graduates from high school), or they can be complicated (the club will build a new boathouse), (the club will design a flower garden and plant it). A short-term goal usually is an idea that can be done quickly or is easy to make happen. (i.e. Each club member will bring a friend to the next meeting.) (The club will help the school workers clean and paint three classrooms. An easy way to discuss different ideas is to brainstorm:

• Everyone who wants to share an idea gets to. The more people there are thinking of ideas the better!
• One person writes down every idea on a large sheet of paper. Every idea is accepted! You do not criticize someone else’s idea.
• Everyone has opportunity to discuss the ideas.
• Vote on the ideas you want to keep.

Club Rules: As a group, have the youth decide what ground rules they all agree to follow. Write down on a large sheet of paper and have everyone sign the agreement. Post the rules at the meetings so that everyone will remember them. Here are two rules that Sustainable Hope has for every We Can English Club: We CanTM English Club:

• Show respect for everyone you come in contact with by your actions and your words.
• Remember that you are an ambassador for We Can English Clubs and Sustainable Hope

International, and your actions and words can provide a good or bad example. Discussion:
How will the rules be enforced?

• What will happen if the rules are broken?
What does it mean to have rules that no one follows?
• Why are rules important?

DEVELOPING TOMORROW’S LEADERS The We Can Club leadership training model helps develop a young person’s ability to make positive life choices based upon sound values and a vision of a successful future. The youth of today are the world’s leaders of tomorrow, and we are committed to providing them with the skills, perspectives, and opportunities to serve their communities and our world. To accomplish this, our goals are to: ✓ Give youth the tools and skills of leadership. ✓ Provide them with opportunities to build their foundation of experience. ✓ Teach the importance of global awareness. ✓ Instill qualities of service to their communities. ✓ Inspire, empower, and lead through example. Program: 
The We Can Club is focused on developing the skills of the youth in a practical atmosphere in which the youth are experiencing each lesson through group activities and exercises, personal reflection and action assignments. From Learning to Leading 
We start teaching skills and lessons, and then shift to letting the youth be the leaders – putting into action the lessons learned. Focus Self to Community 
We encourage practical opportunities for Club members to connect with their communities and grow in understanding and tolerance while identifying issues and working toward practical resolutions. Reflection into Action 
Club members are trained then given opportunities and experiences to develop their leadership skills. Three Success Keys of the We Can Club:

1. Inspiring leadership development and English reinforcement.
2. Outstanding Advisor/Teacher certification training program.
3. Career planning and focus on continued education in universities and vocational training.

You Serve and Help Club Members 1.Develop leadership skills that become community leaders. 2.Instill the value of “giving back” to others and becoming models of community service. 3.Learn, reason, communicate, and make informed choices regarding their lives. YOUTH LEADERSHIP MODEL Sustainable Hope International has developed the We CanTM Club Advisor training based on the Synago Global Youth Leadership ModelTM. Destined2Win LLC added to the training methodology. Club members grow into successful adults as they develop skills necessary for survival and success in life. Your We CanTM English Club helps youth develop lifelong skills that benefit your school and your community. Youth become strong individuals and community leaders with developed skills in: ★ how to learn, ★ how to communicate, ★ how to express personal character and values, ★ how to lead others, ★ and how to be good citizens in their communities. FIVE KEY ELEMENTS OF TRAINING LEADERS 1. Learning:
Learning is a lifelong process. Learning is acquired through learning styles. Some learn from reading while others can hear something and retain it. Some learn better when they move, draw a concept, or build it with their hands. When youth use multiple styles, the greater their ability to learn and apply new information. Our program teaches youth how to learn through a variety of experiences, teamwork and individual effort, and encourages lifelong learning tailored to the need.

2. Language: Knowing how to communicate enables a young person to convey thoughts and opinions, influence others, and lead groups as a confident, successful leader for our communities. Being a global leader in the 21st Century requires mastery of one or more languages. Fluency in English is becoming critical to success in cross-cultural situations, as it is the most commonly used language among foreign language speakers. English is the language for technical innovation, economic development, and science (i.e. Internet, film industry and international business). Youth who are bi-lingual will be more successful as a global leader in every area of life and career.
3. Life Skills: The term “Life Skills” refers to the skills usually associated with managing and living a better quality of life. They help us to accomplish our ambitions and live to our full potential. There is no definitive list of life skills. Certain skills may be more or less relevant to you depending on your life circumstances, your culture, beliefs, age, geographic location etc.

Perhaps the most important life skill is the ability to learn. By learning new skills, we increase our understanding of the world around us and equip ourselves with the tools we need to live a more productive and fulfilling life. Life skills are not always taught directly but are often learned indirectly through experience and practice. Developing character, confidence, and values are critical to success in life and work.

4. Leadership: Leadership is a critical component for today’s youth to be healthy, productive contributors in society and the workplace. Employers list leadership as one of the essential skills entry-level workers lack, including strong work ethics, problem solving, creativity, organizational and interpersonal skills, openness to new perspectives, and cross-cultural communication skills. These skills are ranked ahead of writing, math, reading, and job specific skills.
5. Living in Community: Youth learn to solve real-life problems while working with others in their community. We care not only about ourselves but also about others in our community and the world around us. Our school, neighborhoods, and communities have many needs. As good citizens, we can help meet these needs with our time, our creativity, our talents and work.

Service Learning is helping others in our community and learning lessons along the way about communication, relationship-building, assessing need, gathering information and resources, planning, developing strategy, implementing a project, program or activity. Service Learning is not simply community service. The basic educational strategies are based on authentic community participation methods to help youth to

• feel trust and comfort in learning together (integration),
• practice new learning in groups (role playing),
• apply the new learning in their everyday lives, (application and mobilization) and
• learn how to use these skills again to approach and solve new problems (sustainability).

  Skills needed for success in life include:

• Self- knowledge (understanding their personal skills and goals)
• health issues
• education and work
• managing money
• becoming a citizen

English literacy is encouraged in the activities, organization and structure of every club meeting. Youth speak and write in English for all activities, practice new vocabulary, and enjoy English-language songs and games. Global intelligence theory is a key part of this curriculum and allows it to be used in any culture or country. While young people throughout the world have the same basic life skill needs, differences exist between country and culture.

• Activities are based on cultural intelligence research to help any advisor in any culture meet the needs of their youth.
• Activities are explained so that trainers understand the goals and can adapt the activities to their youth.

We’re going to have fun together, become friends, and learn useful skills. Through the We Can Club, your language, confidence, and knowledge will grow! Activity Design

• Every step of the lesson is important: In every session, we practice the basic life skill strategies: how to communicate, collaborate and work in teams
• identify what the problems or challenges are and prioritizing them,
• finding resources or solutions to the problem and making decisions,
• and taking action.

The five subjects we study: self-knowledge (learning what our skills and our goals are), taking care of health, education and work, managing money, being a citizen.

Where We Work

Sustainable hope International currently helps to develop and support “We Can English Club” programs in the United states and Thailand.  SHI also has working partnerships with eight of the 54 Government Welfare schools.  Our administrative offices are located in the United States and Chiang Mai. Why We Do What We Do All over the world, marginalized youth yearn to access a brighter future through education and job skill but lack the power to obtain it.  In Thailand, recent statistics indicate that there are over 1.4 million at risk youth in the country.  The Government Welfare Schools provide a bridge to success for these youths.  Sustainable Hope International’s objective is to help provide leader ship skill through an educational program.  SHI builds bridges between Government Welfare schools, students and communities that would otherwise not have access to this assistance.  SHI fosters professional ethics and teaches students practical skills for tomorrow, while helping marginalized communities today.