Communities as Partners: A Purpose-Driven Journey to Sao Hai

Just before Global Gathering last month, a group of senior leaders from FCTG and its brands travelled a little way outside Bangkok, to Sao Hai in Saraburi Province. They came for the blessing of a community learning hub, supported by Discova, Flight Centre Travel Group, and Intrepid Travel. FCTG founder "Skroo" Graham Turner was among them. Heavy rains during the wet season had damaged the original building. Rather than start again, the community kept the foundation that has stood for close to a hundred years and rebuilt on top of it.

Today it holds a working classroom that welcomes students every Saturday, and a new wheelchair-accessible entrance so nobody is left waiting at the steps. The locals greeted everyone with music, traditional dancing, warmth and plenty of laughter. Guests joined the cultural activities and shared a lunch the locals had prepared with heart. The ceremony was marked by a monk's blessing and a forest ordination to honour and protect the land around the hub.

Voices from the community were heard through a translator, and Suyin Lee spoke about what a Purpose-Driven Journey with Discova really means: "𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭."Communities as partners, not backdrops, and impact that stays is the heart of the Corporate and CSR work we care about at DET. Teams show up as guests. Communities lead. And what gets built, gets built to last.

Thank you to the people of Sao Hai for opening your doors. This is only the beginning.