Mercy Centre is hardly a household name in Spain, but we do have many kind friends, and we wish to thank them all for the concert they organized on behalf of our sister charity, Mercy Menorca. All proceeds from the concert, called “Semillas de la vida” (seeds of life), performed this past November in Barcelona, will go to support our program to protect and defend Bangkok’s street children. Our heartfelt thanks ring out to all the performers, including dancer Ayako Zushi, pianist Gloria Argany, and the poet Luisbel Rodriguez, who conceived of the concert and brought it to fruition. Thanks also to all guests who helped make the concert a beautiful event. And most special thanks to Mercy Menorca! For more information on how we care for street children, please visit our program page here. (Photo below by Ian Taylor: a Mercy social worker with a child beggar on the streets of Bangkok.)

In celebration of Thai National Children’s Day, each of our 23 kindergartens held a spectacular sports competition this morning that featured running races, musical chairs, and even a highly skilled balloon-popping event. 

Our Mercy Christmas Pageant, spiritually joyous, beautifully choreographed, featured performances by our Mercy children, our Mercy Kindergarten students, and the poorest children in our community whose education we sponsor from kindergarten onwards. The pageant energy reached its peak with a final performance by our Mercy boys band, aka KIDS ROCK, who brought all the children to their feet, plus most adults, to dance to the joy of the beat. Photo gallery on our facebook page here.

World AIDS Day is held on 1 December each year and is an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, show their support for people living with HIV and to commemorate people who have died. World AIDS Day was the first ever global health day and the first one was held in 1988.

Our foundation's co-founder and director, Fr. Joe Maier, turned 75 last week. And while he might have preferred a low-key simple birthday, we found great cause to celebrate. Hundreds of Mercy staff, neighbors, friends, and, of course, all our Mercy children took part in the festivities. True to spirit, Fr. Joe made sure the celebration was really about our children. Ice cream was served from a giant bucket, and every kid who wanted a second or third cone was not denied. Top photo: Fr. Joe receives a gift of a red rose from Nong Fon, a blind Mercy girl, with co-founder Sister Maria beside her. Below, ice cream and dance.

Today we held a celebration in honor of all the men and women who help make our neighborhood in the slums safer, more beautiful, more joyous, and more welcoming. In attendance: all our community leaders and health workers, our women’s group and credit union members, senior Port Authority personnel, our partner NGOs, local fire brigades, police and army personnel, and hundreds of friends and neighbors in the slums. We presented certificates of honor to all our local heroes, danced, feasted, and most importantly, provided balloons galore and plenty of ice cream to the neighborhood children.