TVS recently launched courses to groom a new generation of NGO workers and volunteers fresh out of university, offering them a better understanding of the different kinds of social responsibility.
After passing over the post of director of TVS to Supawadee Petcharat a year ago, Kannika Kuankachorn is not yet ready to wash her hands of NGO activism.
She started the new project to get more young people interested in NGO activities. The project is being carried out in collaboration with Mae Jo University in Chiang Mai. It has a recruitment module that appeals to young people, most of whom are graduates from various campuses of Rajabhat University. Few are young villagers.
"Of the first batch of 20 recruits, 13 chose to return to work in their own villages. The project is still in its infancy stage, though," Ms Kannika said.
The TVS project, called "Youth and Social Changes", has been up and running for two years with Siriphorn Chaiphaet and other key facilitators in her team.
The project brings together about 40 people aged 18 to 28 from around the country. They meet up six times over 18 months. These people have to work on their own issues in university or in villages, but TVS provides them with a venue to exchange ideas.
"Actually, in past decades, TVS worked with university students from time to time and they formed their own groups, such as Dao Din which is made up of law students from Khon Kaen University. They have become vocal about land and environment issues in the Northeast and recently [spoke out] against military rule," said Ms Siriphorn.
On Nov 19, five of the Dao Din group, wearing "No Coup" T-shirts, staged a symbolic protest flashing three-finger salutes against Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha as he was giving a speech in Khon Kaen.