Dear everyone

Hopes & Prayers & Blessings to all of you for this New Year. To tell you of fabulous tough love. Our most beat-up - no hope Mogan Sea Gypsy family.

Rough ocean waves, like a terrible storm, like ship wreck, but gets so calm, so beautiful it brings tears to your eyes.

Let me begin.

Yua- LOY .... BOY 11 years - the oldest.Quite intelligent: deaf, can't speak words. We took him to various hospitals and clinics. Not much

medical hope, even with money. Great personality. Great smile. Healthy.

Miss Anda ... the second child is the only 'hearing child of the four and she is nine years of age. The third child, also a girl, Miss Pontip/She too is deaf and seven years of age. The baby of the family is named Miss Cream (like in Ice Cream.) She also is deaf.

Their dad's name is Khun Gha-matt, Mogan Sea Gypsy fisherman, died at sea in a storm two years ago off the Burma Coast..

The mother's name is Nay-jee and she has normal hearing and speaking in the Mogan language. She also has a new husband. Loves to gamble, even though she can not read or write. Illiteracy does not seem to be an hinderance to gambling. .

All three older children live with us on the mainland, and youngest Miss Cream lives with her grandmother on the island, and her mum now lives with her new man on his fishing boat. She has abandoned her children

So what happened. Easy. Some crafty person tried to cheat our Sr. Maria and lost ( Ho Ho Ho ) and had to pay back double. Sister used the money to enroll the children in a special school.

Now Master Yua-loy & Miss Pon-tip are studying in this school for special kids in Ranong city, This is their first year.

Recently, the school sent them to compete in a drawing contest (color in the lines) in Surat Thani city some 200 kilos away... and Yua Loy took first prize with a computer drawing ... paint brush drawing with computer ) and also Miss Pon Tip also got first prize with free hand color in the lines drawing. The pictures tell the story.

Blessings to all of you - Talk to you again soon. Prayers Fr. Joe