An unexpected career change and a turning point, in which the Pestalozzi Children's Village played a significant role, brought Oranee Jariyapotngam to where she is today. As an employee of our Thai partner organisation, she is helping to make learning easier for children in the long term.
Oranee Jariyapotngam has been working for our partner organisation "Foundation for Applied Linguistics" (FAL) in Thailand for ten years. However, her path to this position was not straightforward. She originally studied food technology and worked in a factory after graduating - a career that did not fulfil her.
The decision to reorient herself professionally finally brought Oranee to FAL. Here she started in public relations, later worked in the secretariat and then in interest representation until she took on her current role as assistant to the management.
Pioneering training at the Children's Village
An important turning point in Oranee's career was the Empower programme at the Pestalozzi Children's Village, which she took part in in 2016. There, she lived in a house with other international students and received training in international cooperation.
And today, back in Thailand, she is still benefiting from the work of our foundation. Thanks to the training courses we offer to employees of all our partner organisations, Oranee has been able to expand her skills. She has attended training courses on children's rights, pedagogical approaches and project management. These helped her in her day-to-day work, where she is now responsible for budgets, teams and activities. "The management training was particularly helpful," she says.
"I have learnt to structure projects efficiently and to better align tasks with the strengths of the team members."
In addition to her personal progress, Oranee has also contributed to the growth of the project implemented by FAL and the Pestalozzi Children's Foundation. The aim of this project is to develop a digital platform for teachers on the subject of mother tongue-based multilingual education and to train teachers in its use.
When the project started eight years ago, six schools were involved. Today, more than 94 schools use the platform and benefit from training for their teachers. "The demand for mother tongue-based teaching has increased enormously in Thailand," Oranee reports proudly. "By introducing the digital platform, we can now reach even more schools and teachers."
The collaboration between FAL and our foundation demonstrates the importance of building and supporting local capacity. Organisations like FAL are engaged on the ground, while SKP provides strategic expertise, financial support and capacity building to partner organisations based on their needs. The kind of support Oranee has received from our foundation is something she wants to pass on to children herself.
"I don't just want to teach the students something, I want to empower them to learn for themselves."
The programme is supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA).