What a beautiful day! The children living in the Zone 9 section of Lat Krabang industrial estate now have a brand-new Mercy Preschool. The old Mercy school, which had stood for eighteen years and graduated over five hundred poor children in preparation for government primary school, was destroyed by one-too-many termite attacks. Its second floor had been rendered unsafe, which meant that all one-hundred-and-five children enrolled in the Zone 9 Preschool were crammed into the first floor. It was a difficult learning situation. Our school children urgently needed a safe place to learn to read and write.

A glorious  ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on January 15. The school children performed in song and dance. Community leaders gave thanks. A grandmother in a drunken state sang an ancient Thai song (over and over until we gently cajoled her to the sidelines). Sister Maria spoke with the children. Father Joe blessed the new school. It truly was a wonderful day for the children of Zone 9. (Please see photo gallery.) In attendance: the school children, their teachers, community leaders, and representatives of the school construction sponsors, which included Wings of Support (a charity comprised of KLM Airlines fight crew members), Recreational Bangkok Biking, The Netherlands Embassy, Franke (Thailand), B-Quik, NVT Dutch Club of Thailand, East West Seed Intl, and Asia Congress.

Last Sunday was "harvest day" for our boys living on our farm. Former street kids, these boys now grow their own vegetables, catch their own fish, and plant and harvest the rice they put on their dinner table.  Early on the morning of harvest day, our Mercy girls dropped by the farm to prepare lunch for their Mercy brothers. Once they saw how hard their brothers were working, they decided to pitch in, and in the end, everyone, both our boys and girls, harvested together. It's amazing how our boys have taken to a country lifestyle. In the past they had no confidence, no self-esteem, yet now they are thriving in school, sports, friendship and life.