For four full days our children gathered at the community stadium behind our Mercy Centre for a professional basketball camp, brought to Mercy by the US Embassy and conducted by Top Flight Academy.

How do young children develop lifetime learning skills? Local news Channel 3 reports that our Mercy Kindergartens - which have taught over 40,000 poor children how to read and write in the past 41 years - are paradigms in preparing children for their formal education. Our Mercy kindergarten studentsgain the skills to propel them successfully into primary school and far beyond.

Let me tell you the story of Master Gan - a new child at Mercy Centre. A mighty five-year-old, he’s the spirit of Songkran and Easter rolled into one. Right now, he’s not at the top of his mental and physical peak because he’s got chicken pox, but that won’t hold him back for long.

Here is a behind-the-scenes look at our Mercy Children's Classical Dance Troupe and Orchestra, practicing with their teachers, as they do every Sunday (and often on weekdays) at Mercy Centre. This program is made possible by New York musicians, Mick Moloney, Donie Carroll and friends. All photos by Diane Durongpisitkul.

Last week we held graduation ceremonies for all our students who completed their studies in our 23 slum kindergartens spread across Bangkok.These children passed all their tests and are fully prepared to take on new academic challenges in the First Grade of their local government primary schools. 

It’s not easy being a little kid in a grown-up’s world full of dangers, especially in our Klong Toey home in the center of Bangkok’s largest slum community. Even though our community has more loving moms and grannies than anywhere else on the planet – to quote a song – our Klong Toey home “is a savage place, drenched in Mercy.” And within the “savage” part are predators who want to hurt our children.