Tracing Roots - Volunteering Teams for Decolonial Solidarity

ongoing

Tracing Roots is a 3-year Humanitarian Aid volunteering programme rooted in decolonial solidarity, transformative learning, and community-centered development. It is designed for volunteering teams (VT) to collaborate with vulnerable communities affected by armed conflict and environmental disasters in Thailand, focusing on issues such as statelessness and lack of legal recognition, cultural identity loss and discrimination, environmental vulnerability, socio-economic exclusion and poverty, gender inequality, distress and lack of opportunities for young people, and limited access to infrastructure and basic needs. Each year, the focus is on a different theme: women’s empowerment and cultural preservation, environmental awareness and disaster reduction, and livelihood improvement and advocacy. Each year, one VT of 15 people (at least 12 with fewer opportunities) will live, learn, reflect, work, and advocate alongside local people for 45 days (plus 2 travel days). Volunteers support the community in hand-on building tasks such as drainage systems, a women-led indigenous learning center, a multi-functional hall, and community gardens. Moreover, the programme cultivates cultural exchange and equips volunteers with social art tools through creative advocacy, reflective tools, and participatory methods rooted in indigenous wisdom. Our goal is not to arrive with solutions, but to co-create with the village at all stages. This is a project that listens before it acts and begins with self-exploration and grows into a collective effort to restore identity, reclaim rights, and promote multiculturalism. Tracing Roots is a journey where communities lead the way, and when volunteers become part of the village.