They put on their robes. Donned their caps. And with great pomp, circumstance, plus a few giggles, 702 children celebrated their Graduation Day at Mercy Preschools throughout the slums this week. It was an especially joyous day for their families as moms, dads, brothers, sisters, aunties, and grandmoms joined their children in the celebrations.

At the ceremony, Father Joe, in his doctoral robes, spoke to the children about the importance of staying in school, as he has on every graduation day since 1973. “If you’re hungry and have no shoes, what do you do?” he asked them.

“Go to school!” they shouted back in unison.

“If your dad is drunk and your mom plays cards all day, what do you do?”

“Go to school!”

“If it’s raining and pouring outside and the sky feels like it’s falling, what do you do?”

“Go to school!”

“If it’s so hot outside that your bare feet are scorched, what do you do?”

“Go to school!”

Kindergarten Graduation Day is the biggest and most important day in our school children’s young lives. They have been studying (and playing) hard to earn this day for three years. They’ve passed all their tests and are fully prepared, with a big head-start, for First Grade in government primary schools.

If their parents cannot afford to send their kids to school, we implore them to come to us for help.

Currently we provide funding and support for the education of over 1,000 of the poorest Thai children, from primary school onward, as far as their education takes them.