The Charis Project is one of the most intentional, holistic, and impactful organizations I have had the privilege to support. They are making a huge difference among poor, underserved Burmese migrants who have fled civil war in their home country and are trying to survive on the border in Thailand. The founders of The Charis Project, Aaron and Carrien, have respectfully learned the culture over more than a decade and have continually adjusted their approach to be culturally relevant and to address the root causes of poverty, abuse, and child abandonment rather than just the symptoms. In addition, the vast majority of the staff of The Charis Project are local people who understand the culture, language, and people. They show genuine love and care for the people they serve, while empowering them with the resources, wisdom, and encouragement they need to be able to support themselves. The impact of The Charis Project's work has been significant, transforming entire village communities by equipping families to love and care for their children and lowering risk of child abuse, abandonment, and trafficking. They are welcomed by village leaders and have a positive working relationship with the local government. I couldn't recommend The Charis Project highly enough!
I have known Aaron and his wife Carrien Blue (a founding family of the Charis Project) for as long as the Charis Project has been around, and I have visited them in Thailand a few times. They are wonderful friends and colleagues, and have done great work for many years.
On one of my trips, I co-authored a journal article with Wayland and Carrien L. Blue titled "The Impacts of a Community-Based Health Education and Nutritional Support Program on Birth Outcomes Among Migrant Workers in Maesot, Thailand: A Retrospective Review" in the International Social Science review, which came out in 2020. This article documents work on their Family Engagement Program (FEN) as it existed in 2014-2017 when it served 39 families. FEN was a program of women’s health education, nutrition supplements, and family visitation. All but one of the children were born normal weight and survived to the the end of 2019 when data collection for our report ceased (the one tragically had birth defects beyond the remedy of modern medicine). This represented a significant improvement over the 25.6% low birth weights reported for Kayin State, Myanmar. The Charis Project's work has continued to improve and reach many more people since 2017.
More than the substance of our report, I have seen first-hand the work that the people at the Charis Project accomplish, and I have learned so much from the wisdom of their people. It has been a joy to watch so many Burmese migrants be strengthened to keep their families together and grow their own wealth and autonomy.
I have been honoured to contribute in even the smallest ways to the Charis Project's efforts to use evidence-based methods in all of their activities, and to submit evidence of their own work to rigorous external review.
I wholeheartedly give my own funds to the Charis Project, and commend others to do the same.
I met the Charis team about 4 years ago and I marvelled at how they had built a team structure that empowered local people to care for local people - from their savings projects to family education, we are seeing a generation of healthy families being nurtured who otherwise would have fallen deeply through the cracks.
The Charis Project is a non profit whose operations are formed. by the needs of their clients, who are primarily migrant Burmese families in the Thai border town of Mae Sot. Why funding and operations are headed by foreigners, the Charis Project is driven. by the needs of the community as understood and attended to, by Charis local staff. The staff reflect the diverse ethnic and religious nature of the Mae Sot community and i have had the privilege to see them work first hand with sensitivity and effectiveness along side vulnerable. families. Using their local knowledge Charis staff do not just "prop up" families with short term solutions, but work to empower and equip them for long term sustainable outcomes. Very importantly The Charis Project work with absolute integrity in administrational dealings. Every penny is used wisely and with transparency. The organisation works hard to work in the confines of Thai law honouring local and international requirements. In short i have worked with many NGOs, Missionary groups and NGOs around the world, and few are as impressive to me as The Charis Project.
The Charis Project just gets it. Their "teach a person to fish" approach to entrepreneurship and helping families become self-sufficient is powerful and proven. From raising kids, to building businesses, Charis is giving families dignity and hope--hope for a future in which they are equipped with personal/professional skills, accountable and have options. Charis is changing the world one child, one parent, one family, one community, and one business at a time. Bravo!
Dr. Kevin Freiberg
Having volunteered with the Charis Project in Mae Sot, i can vouch for this org. Their primary goal and intent of this org is to promote the welfare, health and advancement of the people they serve. Whether they are training up community leaders, providing health education to pregnant and lactating mothers our helping villages set up their own micro finance saving and loan, the Charis Project staff maintains their prime directive of healing and equipping families. If you are looking for an org to donate to, I can vouch for TCP: their income goes back to the community and the national staff that they employ and train.
When evaluating a non-profit you want to know that each dollar is used efficiently. The Charis Project's impact per dollar far exceeds expectations. They are making a profound difference in their region, their model is easily replicable, and they are led by experienced and passionate people.
The Charis Project stands apart from other non-profits, because their entire approach is one that is meant to empower the people they serve. Their heart is to help the most disenfranchised, at-risk families: to empower them to be strong and resilient to raise healthy children into adulthood. To give them the tools, resources and information they need to lead their lives, empowered. Rather than only providing for a need, they instead adopt a "If you teach a man to fish" approach vs "if you give a man a fish". They do this by providing community support in the form of education on finances, women's health, childbirth, breastfeeding, child-rearing, nutrition and health, and also opportunities for entrepreneurial growth, in addition to temporary emergency aide for the most at-risk families. Where other non-profits come in and give what they deem is needed, the Charis Project has communicated and conversed with the people they serve, asking what is most needed in their communities. They have trained up and made leaders out of Thai natives that they have met through their work, and this has brought great value to their work and trustworthiness, having people who are part of the culture, serving their own community. The fact that there are people in rural communities across Thailand begging for the Charis Project to come in and teach classes and share with them says a lot about what they are doing in a place where religious non-profits are often seen by the people, from their perspective, as doing more harm than good (albeit, with good intention). I love most that their work restores hope to the hopeless, dignity to the broken-spirited, and strength to the defenseless, which is the utmost heart of Jesus.
I’ve been following the work of the Charis Project for some time now and can’t speak highly enough of them.
You will see from their website that their work focuses on helping to protect and support families; something they do through a range of interventions including education programmes.
What you might not see from their website, is how ready they are to listen to the people they are living and working with.
Thinking back, I can count many occasions where they have delivered fruitful projects that started when they spoke to the locals who explained how they saw their own situation. This led to either a revision of the charity’s plans, and on occasion, completely new initiatives being delivered.
I am convinced that this combination of a clear idea of how they can uniquely support their communities and the humility to listen and adapt to the individuals that they meet as they are doing their work, makes the Charis team much more effective than they otherwise would be.
They are fine people, doing fine work.
Aaron and Carrien Blue run an amazing non-profit located near the Burmese border in Thailand empowering families to raise strong and healthy children, equip them to stay united, and provide them with critical training to become sustainable physically, emotionally, and financially. The Charis Project has developed a highly successful track record of impacting thousands of families for life as well as the next generations to come. We are confident that for every $100 that we have donated, the resulting return is at least 1,000 times! The Charis Project is extraordinary and like no other to benefit families in crisis.
Aaron and Carrien Blue are the real deal!
Douglas and Therese Wall
The Charis Project is the real deal. I have been involved in international "good doing" since I boarded a single engine plane from Kansas City, Missouri (USA) at the age of 17 to share some good in the mountains of Mexico. Since then, I have strategically promoted and supported good work as far away as the Central Asian country of Kyrgyzstan. It has been one of the joys of my life to support Aaron and Carrien Blue as they have established a carefully and thoughtfully grown multi-faceted good work in Mae Sot, Thailand. I have known Aaron since he was 3 months old. He has faced the complexities of life head on, having done extensive philosophical training, and has chosen to humbly plant himself among the nonaffluent of the world. His wife is equally well equipped and strategic in her successful efforts to assist the people among whom The Blues live with the essentials of life (e.g. parenting skills, financial viability). They raise their own children in the midst of Thai realities. Their goal to NOT establish an orphanage for children separated from their families but rather to strengthen families on every necessary level is respectful and refreshing. I believe in the good work of The Charis Project and talk about it at every opportunity I receive. Recently I told my own church in Kansas City about all the Blues are doing during this time of triple crisis (Burmese refugees, Covid-19 and extreme flooding) in a sermon. And I was inspired to start a little Facebook group with some folks from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada where Aaron grew up--his parents had been in pastoral leadership at Capilano Christian Community there. Today I joyfully recommend The Charis Project to you with the hopes that it will be seen as a worthy effort to bring some good into this challenge filled world.