Last week our Mercy girls shined in a concert held at the New International School of Bangkok that showcased their skills and passions in the performing arts – in songs, folk dances, piano recitals, and popular show tunes.

The Concert for 30 Oct here in Bangkok for kids flooded out of their schools and homes is cancelled. Many of the singers, dancers and band members are flooded out of their homes here in Bangkok. Plus, they are afraid that the hall where we are having the concert will be flooded, and if not the hall itself, the road coming in to the concert area...All feel better safe than sorry!!!

Last week our Mercy Boys showed us what it means to play together as family. Eleven Mercy Boys joined in a round-robin football tournament at the New International School of Bangkok, where they put on a clinic in team-playing and scoring, winning three games and losing two, while tallying the highest number of goals of all five participating teams. The standout stars for the Mercy Boys: Tum earned the “Golden Ball” Trophy for most goals scored while our goalie, Boat, kept us in every game throughout the action. Having played together as Mercy boys for over 10 years, Tum and Boat communicate with each other on the field with something akin to telepathy.

On September 8, 2011, The Thai Ministry of Social Development and Welfare, together with the Street Children’s Network of Bangkok, honored three Mercy social workers at an awards ceremony held at the Siam Society in Bangkok.

Here are photos of the everyday lives of our Mercy Boys – ages 2 – 10 – studying, playing, fighting (just pretend), and roughhousing around their Mercy home as young boys do. All photos by Ben Engel.

Do you remember, as a child, making artwork with pens, pencils, and crayons? Most of us, in our early childhood, would come home from school with drawings that we were proud to show our moms, Our moms, in turn, were at least equally proud to keep and display our art - usually in kitchens and especially on refrigerator doors.