“The B(L)inding Connection” is a project started by RIS students Rainbow, Ing Ing, Titi, and Ivy for a foundation called the Lighthouse for the Blind in 2021. Although Ing Ing and Titi have graduated and are attending university, we (Rainbow and Ivy) continued throughout the year. The Lighthouse for the Blind community earns their living through woodworking activities. Their place was full of specks of dust, with a smattering of leaves all around. Even their drinking water supply tanks were full of organic contaminants. Determined to improve their quality of life, we, as a team, decided to fundraise for new water tanks with the head of the foundation. 

We hosted a workshop to let the community members express their creativity with colored pencils and paper. After filtering through the drawings, we printed T-shirts featuring three flowers on the back and ‘love’ in braille on the front. After three months of social media campaigning and contacting local coffee shops with high traffic to see if they would promote our t-shirts, we surpassed our goal and raised $15,325 (U.S.). 

We worked diligently with the head of the foundation to upgrade the water supply tanks and install a dust extraction machine in the working area. Using our remaining funds, we also installed a garden gym with an aerial stroller, aero rider, and hip twister. We renovated the area to allow members to be together as a community and renovated the pathwalks and braille blocs. We felt proud to watch people exercise and mingle casually in the garden on subsequent visits. 

As a step further from what we’ve done since last year, our group has connected with other companies and foundations to help recognize the issues in the Lighthouse for the Blind Foundation. We learned how to not only work with each other but also how to work with strangers and adapt accordingly. Finally, one company, Yuanta Securities, contacted us. They agreed to help us with a ฿75,000 fund to improve the blind’s quality of life. We learned how to communicate and work together effectively according to our strengths and weaknesses.