Eugene Wee, at 26, was taking a break from work.

To make time count, Wee decided to use the time off to volunteer at a Thai orphanage, together with buddy Benjamin Goh.

During that break, he chanced upon a Hmong-Laotian refugee camp, which piqued his curiosity. When he found out that many at the camp in Northern Thailand didn’t have enough food and warm clothing, Wee thought he could do something to help.

Little did he know the temporary break from work and a chance encounter would change the course of his life, and impact a community.

Eugene Wee (extreme left), one of the founders of Radion, continues to minister on the ground. He also serves as the executive director of the organisation.

In a matter of months, the two buddies went on to set up Radion International, a Christian non-profit organisation where every life matters.

Twelve years on, Radion’s mission remains to bring change to neglected marginalised communities, and the motivation is to have God’s love reflected in its work.

The name, Radion, stands for radiating mission.

One of Radion’s first initiatives, StreetKIDS! is a residential programme for children who come from environments that pose a risk to their growth and development.

“It was just a simple idea of, since no one is helping them, we will come in to help. This was how we started the work for the Hmong community. We want to concentrate on areas where help is really needed.

“Our general rule of thumb is, if there’s no other NGOs available to help, we’ll go,” Alvin Ong, Country Manager (Singapore) explains.

Mending hearts and lives

For more than a decade, Radion has worked to mend the lives of this broken community, wounded by domestic violence and crippled by substance abuse.

One of its first initiatives, StreetKIDS! is a residential programme for children who come from environments that pose a risk to their growth and development.

Coming from a broken home, Jai felt unloved and abandoned. A volunteer brought her back to the children’s shelter, a place she’s called home for the last eight years.

Jai, who came from a broken home, grew up in a children’s shelter run by Radion. She is now waiting for admission into university.

A hardworking child, she topped her class. But it took longer to deal with the emotional hurts. “It was not a miracle that happened overnight,” says Jai. “After five years, with the support of the Radion staff and God’s love, the pains from my childhood were healed.”

Today, the youth is working with Radion’s marketing team in Chiang Mai, waiting for admission into university.

Radion currently operates two children shelters, one in Chiangmai and the other in Phetchabun. On their compounds, Sunday services are also conducted.

“In those situations, there’s always an opportunity for people to respond,” elaborates Ong.

“Our good works is an entry point for people to come to know about the love of Christ, we model what God’s love looks like because it is not always possible to be sharing the gospel, publicly and openly.

“But the Gospel guides us in our activities and the programmes we do.”

In a community where substance abuse is rife among the youths, Radion provides a recovery programme. Two thirds of those who were put through RADION’s programme have stayed substance-free across a two-year period. 

The children in the StreetKID! programme are matched to sponsors. Radion believes in the importance of sponsor-child interaction, as a sponsor can inspire a child to persevere when the going gets tough.

To enable the villagers to be self-sufficient and financially independent, Radion has been setting up micro businesses, such as a laundromat that the locals run.

They also work with women who are good at handicraft and try to provide avenues to turn that into a livelihood. 

“Most ladies like me are not educated or skilled,” says Mondara Saeyang, 48. “But we can sew Hmong tapestries.”

Radion’s humanitarian relief work provides aid and assistance to various countries in Southeast Asia.

Those who are unable to work are not forgotten too – Radion provides nursing and emotional support for the disabled and the elderly via its Village Outreach programme.

Last year alone, the organisation helped 7,000 beneficiaries directly through all its programmes. 

“It’s a surprise we lasted”

Since it started in 2007, RADION has expanded its work to other southeast Asian nations.

At times, it’s to provide ad hoc humanitarian relief and aid. In 2013, it sent a team to the Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan destroyed the fishing community on Panay Island, which was in the direct path of the super typhoon.

Other times, it’s to make an impact on societal culture. 

Radion signed a MOU with the Ministry Of Labour and Social Welfare in Laos to provide training in child protection and development. Alvin Ong, (seated on the right), Country Manager, Singapore of Radion International.

In March, it signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry Of Labour and Social Welfare in Laos to provide training in child protection and development.

The first training workshop kicked off in July with government and community leaders in attendance. 

“It is the missional heart. We look at issues from various angles and perspectives to come up with meaningful solutions that are beneficial in the long term,” explains Ong.

“At the end of the day, it’s not just about the programmes that we come up with, it’s about the people and what benefits them.

“It is also about the change in mindsets. For example, can we turn people away from drug abuse? Can we turn men away from violence, from abusing their wives? Can we also see a drop in the number of elderly being abandoned?

“These are some of the cultural changes that we hope to see as a result of our work.”

The work at Radion comes at a cost, Ong admits: “In the early years, we were so cash-strapped that we were literally surviving from week to week. Funding is always an issue for NGOs.”

Project LIVES! is Radion’s annual humanitarian relief and awareness campaign to protect rural communities in Northern Thailand from the cold season. In the last 10 years, Project LIVES! has seen Singaporeans from all walks of life come together to contribute towards this cause.

But what they need even more are hands and feet on the ground.

Radion has a core team of 20 full-time and 40 part-time staff  helping with its work in Chiang Mai and Phetchabun. It also relies on volunteer groups from Singapore to help with their different projects. 

Each year, teams of Singaporean medical students and practitioners work with Radion in its medical outreaches. There are also volunteer groups who come for short stints to help out with the children’s programmes.

The help Radion gets is instrumental, says Alvin Ong. “It’s a surprise to us that we lasted this long. But it’s really because of the support. We have a core group of volunteers, and a lot of friends have also come alongside. They do not just give financially, but also pray with us. Our biggest need is to have more labourers.” 

The purpose-driven pineapple tart