Following the floods that inundated Bangkok this past October, we initiated a comprehensive emergency relief campaign in several slum communities. With support from friends around the world, we were able to reach out to thousands of the poorest of the poor in desperate need, providing emergency assistance, food, lodging (in our preschools), and home repairs.

The scope of our emergency flood relief efforts:

Families                                                  Over 700

Emergency Packages:                           Over 1, 500

Bags (5 kgs/each) of Rice                     Over 1,000

Drinking Water: We supplied thousands of gallons of drinking water throughout the slums.

Kindergartens: several Mercy Kindergartens were affected and required major repairs, new furniture, teaching materials, and equipment. We are happy to report that all our schools remained open with some schools moving to temporary quarters on higher ground. Many students were transported to our schools by way of boats and rafts. Today all our schools are fully operational at their original sites.

We wish to thank all of you who supported our efforts!

On January 26, 2012, The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of Thailand gave recognition to Fr. Joe and six other fighters for equality at its annual awards ceremony, held  here in Bangkok.

The award recognizes national heroes who have the courage to stand up and fight for the rights of those who cannot fight for themselves. Two of the seven recipients – labor activist Thanong Podiarn and lawyer Somchai Neelapjit – have disappeared and are presumed to have been killed in their struggle for equality.

In accepting his award, Fr. Joe spoke of what such recognition means: “This award,” he said, “is not about yesterday. It is about tomorrow. It means that you trust us to continue to do what is universally right. It gives us strength and courage to continue our struggles. It is a promise on our part – a promise to help defend the rights of street children and to make every effort to help every poor child and street kid in need, and to send them all to school.”

Father Joe continued, “Finally, this award recognizes that we are not alone in our struggles. It honors everyone who works and lives at our Mercy Centre. It is recognition that our teachers and social workers at Mercy Centre are the real heroes to all the throw-away children who live on the streets.”

Fr. Joe was the sole foreign-born Thai resident honored at the annual ceremony.  Previously, he has received several lifetime achievement awards, most notably, in 2004, when Her Majesty the Queen of Thailand presented a lifetime achievement award to Fr. Joe as the foreign resident  “who has contributed the most to the promotion of the status and protection of women and children in Thailand.”

Pictured above: Fr. Joe with fellow award recipient Patimoh Poh-I-Taeda-Oh of the Yala-based WePeace Group.

Our children celebrated Children’s Day this Saturday in perfect fashion – playing hard, eating ice cream and cake, swimming at local pools, roughhousing (pretending to be kung fu fighters), skipping rope, jumping and diving and cart-wheeling all around, and then, as the sun went down, finding even more ways to  play  harder and have even more fun.  Please visit our gallery of Children’s Day photos here.
 

Tomorrow is our favorite day of the year in Thailand.

It’s Children’s Day!

Children’s Day is the one and only day of the year dedicated to the joy of being a kid.

While many of our own children lost their way (and their sense of childhood) before they came to Mercy Centre, we do everything we can to give them their childhood back. We try to make every day “Children’s Day.” And tomorrow we celebrate doubly-hard! 

Thank you all for helping us care for our children. And tomorrow, if you see a bedraggled kid on the streets, begging for spare change or selling flowers – please stop and say hello, and help if you can.

Kindest regards, 

Usanee, Fr. Joe, and all of us at Mercy
 

Just before Christmas, dozens of street kids gathered for a party, organized by Mercy Centre and fellow NGO members of the Bangkok Street Children Network. The party took place where the kids are most comfortable, beneath the Rama III Bridge on a sliver of park that many of these kids call home. Our street teachers organized games throughout the day – from three-legged races to co-ed soccer – and presented gifts to every child. Fr. Joe spoke and exhorted the children, as he always does, to be honest and to look after their brothers and sisters on the streets. Most importantly, he reminded them that whenever they need help, no matter what, "Call us. Drop by Mercy. Don't hesitate. We are always here for you." Photo gallery here.