Dear everybody

Happy Easter & Kitchen Supplies for our Slum Kindergartens

Twenty-two slum quality individual Kitchens every one of them the heartbeat really of each of our Klong Toey Shack Kindergartens –all geared to cook delicious Thai food and feed and better teach our 2,000 slum kindergarten kids scattered throughout the slums of Bangkok and the Mogan Sea Gypsy kids in Mid-South Thailand. Here in the slums, all on rickety wooden walkways. Wherever there are children wanting to learn to read and write and eat a full meal. Learn their prayers.

A Klong Toey Shack kitchen – where? In a slum Kindergarten of course. That’s where our kindergarten kids go to school, eat hearty delicious meals every day, mostly always wanting a second, even a third helping. Hungry, happy kids, learning to read and write and be proper Thai citizens and say their prayers.

Ordinarily most of the children would eat a breakfast of sorts, at home, but now, with Ugly Monster Covid 19 lurking at our door, there’s very little left of the little slum money the poor began with, thus, not much rice to cook so the children and their grannies come knocking on our school kitchen door.

We tell everyone, welcome, let’s get to work. A kitchen is a busy place. Always something to do. Food to prepare for the children, always something let over. Always some pots and pans to wash.

But we run out of food sometimes too. Not often, but sometimes, and now, is one of those ‘sometimes’

“Aunties” the Grannies” experienced from selling fish & fresh veggies in the fresh market, now cook, clean and guard the kitchen. Also ‘keep an eye out for strangers’ who might want to hurt our kids.

These ladies you do not want to contradict ever.

They, the teachers, the children, the parents, the whole slum Live our Motto.

Every child is welcome at our school front door. Learns how to write their own name. No child ever is refused. No child ever goes away hungry. To study in our slum school – to eat in our slum kitchen is a badge of honor. A badge to be worn with dignity and pride. Something you tell everyone about. Not just now, but even when you grow up. My mum also went to this slum school, and now… she’s got a real job. Proud and my dad drives his own motorcycle taxi and my grandpa fixed the door of the school many years go.

And they tell us when they also were children years ago, that sometimes, they had to skimp and go hungry sometimes also, like now, and everyone helped. And we only had two teachers, so some of our mums who could read and write came and helped teach, and their mums, our grannies, helped cook.

So the children proudly lead their parents by the hand. Like the girl in Kindergarten 2 who leads her blind mom to school each day as her mom worries that her daughter be safe.

No shame in being hungry, so long as everyone helps out. The blind momma says the only shame is being selfish, and not helping each other.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Our kitchens are ‘slum best’ but they ain’t fancy.

But as the children say, this is our home. It ain’t no ordinary kindergarten school. That’s an insult. It’s our home, and our home is always open. Always has been. Always will be.

But nothing is free.

Otherwise you might say, we have no dignity. The whole slum community has to prepare and cook the food.

We have two thousand slum children, kindergarten age scattered all over various slums. Lots of them live with their grannies, because their mums are gone. Don’t want to be, but they are.

So please help us. Yes, this is Fr. Joe, the old priest, begging you to help. But it’s okay to beg for the kids, even on my knees.

What to help with? You know a kitchen grocery list better than I do. So as I said, it’s okay for me, the 80 year old priest, to beg for food for ‘his slum kids.’

Look up our web site: www.mercycentre.org I am also sending you a map of how to get to our Mercy Centre here in Klong Toey if you want to drop some kitchen supplies for any of our 22 slum schools. We need help. You can even send money to the bank account.

Blessings and prayers to you all. Happy Easter. May you walk in the shadow of the Rainbow. Fr. Joe