Preschools: Our primary aim is to get our slum kindergartens back in operation in several flooded communities.

To this end, our Landin preschool has moved to temporary quarters. Twenty-seven children came to the new classroom on the first day.

Our Sua Yai preschool reopened last week on the same spot it’s always been. We renovated several areas, including the kitchen and bathrooms, and built a temporary “bridge” in front of the school, as it is currently surrounded by a “moat” filled with fetid water. Thirty children attended on the first day. More will follow when families are able to return to their homes.

We have purchased boats to help ferry the children and teachers to and from school each day.

The Mercy Chocchai Ruamit and Poonsap preschools will be reopening next week.

Other Relief Efforts: Getting the schools up and running also requires that we provide emergency relief to the families in these slum communities. Mercy Emergency Flood Relief teams have delivered 1,500 care packages, filled with rice, water, dry foods, and hygienic essentials to the families most severely affected.

We have been providing emergency care and housing assistance to forty families living with HIV/AIDS and approximately fifty additional families who are utterly destitute.

Many friends of Mercy Centre provide education sponsorships for the poorest children in Bangkok. Fortunately, most of these children live in Klong Toey, which has not been devastated by the floods. So far, we are providing emergency care to the families of thirty sponsored children in communities that have been inundated. More news soon...