We have some extremely sad news in regard to Yai See’s family.  We have been following and helping this family for about two years now.  We built a house for them (thanks to our very good friends in Brescia), we put them in the CARE program, and added their three kids (Pek, Kak and Wut) to the scholarship program.

Things were going pretty well for them, even though the eldest granddaughter (Weepaporn) left the family to go to work in another province.  Then, few months back, the grandfather passed away.  The children’s long-lost mother reappeared on the day of the funeral, which we initially thought was good news.  We hoped that, now that she was back (with a new husband and a new baby), that maybe she could care her children.

Oh my God, how we were wrong! The lady (and her man too) turned out to be alcoholics who during these past months have often physically threatened her poor, blind mother.  They even threatened to kill her.  She had to regularly hide the food we were giving to the whole family. Yai See, on the brink of desperation, called us to speak with the woman.  We tried to talk reason into this lady’s brain, but without any success.

We also tried to convince her to allow Pek and Kak (the small kids) to come to live with us at Ban Sainam, so that they could have a better environment where they could grow without having to witness violence and degradation on a daily basis.  The kids were happy, and so was Yai See, but the mother selfishly opposed this option and would not allow us to take care of the kids.

Additionally, she threatened to take the kids away and go back to Nakhon Panom.  We offered to pay for her one-way ticket if she would only leave the kids with the grandmother. She never replied, but one day we were called by Yai See’s neighbor who told us the woman had left with the two small kids.

We went and visit Yai See, who was sincerely relieved to see her daughter and her son-in-law leave…but she was extremely sad about Pek and Kak being taken away.  She told us she couldn’t do anything to stop her daughter.

We are also extremely sad thinking about these poor children and the future which will await them.  Once again, the sense of impotence is really painful.  However, I must add that we have no legal power or rights to stop these kinds of things from happening.  It has already happened with Panadda, Ann, and others.  Unfortunately, we know it will happen again until we can stop this downward spiral of degradation which is really like a cancer in this society and in this beautiful country.  

Our hope is that the new generations will understand the mistakes of the older ones and change something, we are working for that!  Help us please, we are not losing heart when these things happen, and we sincerely hope you will not either.  Life is full of disappointments, but we will keep working because we believe we can help more children like Pek and Kak to have a better future! 

We need you for this!