Thailand - July 17, 2018

Students, parents, and teachers at Wat Rachasingkorn School received 1,000 helmets to officially launch the Safe School, Safe Community program. The program is being implemented by AIP Foundation and supported by the Australian Road Research Board (ARRB) and Rotary International. Pre-implementation surveys showed that Wat Rachasingkorn School had a helmet-wearing rate of only 1%.

Over 450 participants attended the launch ceremony, including students, parents, teachers, government representatives, and other guests. Representatives from ARRB, Rotary International, AIP Foundation, and the government gave speeches at the ceremony, followed by a road safety performance from the students. Local traffic police and donor representatives provided an interactive helmet-wearing demonstration on stage. Earlier in the morning,AIP Foundation’sOratai Junsuwanarukheld a meeting for stakeholders to discuss the planned program implementation as well as future collaboration between local government agencies, AIP Foundation, and the school to address the road safety challenges faced by students and families in the community.

Over the course of the program, Safe School, Safe Community will provide three trainings and one extracurricular activity to members of the Wat Rachasingkorn School community. The initiative aims to increase helmet use among children to better protect them from head injury and raise public awareness of the importance of child quality helmet use.