"Safe and sound", Best´s story

A 14-year-old boy, “Best” who lives with grandma in a building next to “The Hub Saidek”. He has been accessing our services since he was 11 years old. From the first day that he ran from domestic violence to meeting friends and places, he finally felt safe. Best has been showing up at The Hub with a friend who usually comes to The Hub for meal services during the day. A small boy has a fear in his eyes, never looks at anyone, and always shows up with his friend for a year. He shared with us the reason why he felt uncomfortable while he was in the HUB. It's because he was scared of another children. Other children have strong behavior, is noisy, and is older than him. We found a clue and fact about domestic violence when we worked on him, everything made sense and made us understand why the colors in the eyes of the little boy are blue not shine as his generation. A couple of years later, “Best” came to The Hub with the school uniform. It was afternoon-after-school, he asked for a meal, took his bag off from his shoulders, and went outside the building to sit and eat (according to our commitment with children, they will have a place under cover, table, and chair to eat outside from the building). Our little boy had been a step, and the HUB-Saidek was able to be his safe place. This is the top priority of humanitarian seeing children under protection finally stand up for themself. Since that day, Best will show up at The Hub whenever he is free. He came here and started to talk with other people, played games together, and joined camping. Moreover, he had an opportunity to join a National Meeting in Chiang Mai with his friend. Based on The HUB services provide basic needs for children who are not able to fully protect, health care, and human services. It would be more than 1,800 times for Best has provided Life Skills services, and more than 900 times that he has accessed night HUB services. He has been sitting on the stairs at least 1,000 times to eat far away from the outdoor kitchen when it got wet from rain or when the temporary table got dirty from cooking activities. He couldn't even stay in the building while the staff was cooking because the ventilation fan in the kitchen and toilet were malfunctioning. Best said the worst part is that while he ate, he smelled the garbage bin that was placed next to him while he was having a meal. With support from "contribYOUte", we could have an opportunity to develop our infrastructure and equipment. The project started by renovating washing area and develop the environment around the washing area such as making the floor clean, draining the water faster, covering wastewater drains, set a new winder sink, and set a table that can flow the water. After renovating washing area and dining, we have more space to do activities. The kitchen area has been improved, the exhaust hood can drain smoke while cooking so well, a light above the head could turn it on, a cooker can stand because a gas stove is in the correct place, and Best doesn't have to sit away from kitchen and dining area anymore. He can stay inside the building playing games with his best friends while cooking, and when the rain comes, he doesn't have to fear falling over. Best can sit wherever he wants because the tables are bigger than the previous ones. He looks at the clock all the time while sitting and talking to the staff, not because he wanted to go home, but he wants to go back and play with his friends. He doesn’t want anybody to suffer like him, he wants to help people by introduce them to The Hub for people who not be able to access local services or suffering like him. “There is nothing to fear at The Hub Saidek, I’m not sure what The Hub is, but at least The Hub has a place enough to eat and joy together every day”, he said before he left.