Some street kids call her “Teacher.” Others, especially the younger ones, call her “Mom.” To many kids who have known her for years, she takes on the honorific title of “Big Sister.”

Ms. Narisaraporn Asiphong, a long-time Mercy social worker, is a trusted friend to every street child she meets in her daily rounds of the Sanam Luang, Saphan Phut, and Rim Klong Lawt neighborhoods.

This past week she received further recognition and a new title, this time not among the kids themselves but rather among her peers, at the “Professor Pakorn Aungsusing Foundation” annual award ceremony. Her title for the award ceremony: “Best Street Social Worker in Action.”

Ms. Narisaporn will do everything within her reach to protect her street children and find them a safe haven. She reunites children with grandparents and family; finds her children safe day-jobs; enters them in schools, the monkhood, or wherever they may get a second chance at being children. She makes arrangements for their weddings, for the birth of their children, and sadly, all too often, for their funerals.

We know how remarkable Ms. Narisaporn really is; and we feel justly proud that others, both her children and professional peers, feel the same way.

On Mothers Day, the children in her care always bring her flowers.

More about Ms. Narisaporn and our social workers here.