Dear everybody 

All our Mercy kids/ orphans really, are safe & sound.  Never walked through ‘ a Bad Patch  of Earth Quake before. Even our “most naughty’ didn’t really think it was cool. Not much fun.

Certainly don’t want to ‘do it again’ for a long time maybe never.

A couple of our boys, yes, strong teen age boys even, cried… not much of course, but cried never the less.

All of a sudden, talking/ walking tough/ smoking ‘vapor’ cigarettes don’t count much anymore. And a warm hug, even from our meanest house mom counts for a lot helping dry up a young man’s tears. True, not always, but certainly in times like this. 

But that’s all past. Yes, down-town  Bangkok city is a mess:  I’ll talk about that in just a  minute.  But our slum shack kindergarten schools first.  To remind you
We have 17 locations in 17 scattered slums where our one thousand kids go to school each day. Of course, our wooden, clap-trap buildings ain’t much to look at, not tourist attractions, but are mostly ‘earthquake free.’  -  As they kids say:  Not much to shake.

Nothing  to take pictures of:  to look  at, but these wooden shack schools are ‘our everything’  - - e.g. ‘slum heavens on earth: places  to learn how to pray & to count (most necessary when selling used plastic bottles to the junk man)  where to not look stupid when buying street noodles when there ain’t anything at home to eat:
Our schools when you are hungry (every day) and medicine When you are sick -  No not ‘hospital’ sick/ but ordinary sick where nurses come. And when your own home  (shack) ain’t safe for any reason, you can live safely for a while – mosquito net and all. 

And of course, the earth quake monster didn’t bother us.  Much too busy with expensive, high story buildings –&  that was terrible. Horrible like you’ve only seen on T.V. 

But again…. We in the slums are safe.  Yes, a handful of our almost one hundred teachers live far away by city bus, so .travel to school in earth qute times is impossible, so sleep overnight and live in their slum school.  They are safe.  The communities ladies take good care of them, protect them, and feed them. 
 
So ‘all said & done’ on a quiet Bangkok Klong Toey Slum Monday morning after a horrible Friday Earth Quake from Burma striking Bangkok  all is quite normal. Notice as I say: Slum normal, but up-town Bangkok will take weeks, months to heal.

Yes, you can help us: Help us to ‘carry on’ as the coming days will be difficult for all.  No matter:  our  door is always open – every child is always welcome.  
With prayers & Respect   Fr. Joe & Ms Usanee (Ex. Dir.) & most of all – all our children