This is what I wrote in Phatthana #8, dated April 2550 about Deaw:

We first heard of Siriviwat (Deaw) from a person who is part of the volunteer group which alerts us when they learn of someone worthy of consideration for assistance.  Deaw was born on March 27^th 1991, and is one of Sanom School’s best students. He is living with his elderly grandmother, and his younger brother Jame, in some kind of a hut that I honestly cannot call a home. In Europe, domestic animals have much better places to live and sleep for sure!  

The boy’s father disappeared long ago, and his mother lives in another province (Ubon Ratchathani), with her new husband.  Until last year, the boy’s studies were sponsored by a village special fund, but his scholarship has been removed because the fund’s board decided to punish the child for his mother’s life-style.

Though I am aware that somewhere it is written that “May the guilt of the fathers (or the mothers) revert to their children,” I am obviously in total disagreement with this.  It’s not our job to judge other human beings, therefore Siriviwat (Deaw) will be part of our sponsorship program.

The first time we met them, the poor lady introduced herself as the aunt, because she was afraid that we would also withdraw our assistance.  However, Deaw’s mother’s story is indicative of the kind of life and the daily struggles of these people.  She did indeed marry four times, but she has suffered abuses from all these men, most of the time linked to them being drunk and unemployed. Every new husband demanded that she leave the children from her previous marriage behind, and the woman always did comply.  

The present husband seems to be slightly better than the previous ones, but he too requested that the woman not bring Deaw and his brother with her.  As a result, she is now living far away from them, but she still goes to visit them to take care of all of them as much as she can.

The only certainty in this situation is that Deaw is an excellent student who intends to study further, and to pursue the dream of a better life.  It is also just as certain that we will help him achieve his goals.

And now, three years later:

This boy is about to start his young life’s greatest adventure, so far.  He has been admitted at Maha Sarakam University.  He is really part of the Kropkrua Sainam, since he has been living with us for all these years.  He is a very serious boy, a boy who made the most of the chance he was given.  We are really proud about him!

But the challenge is not only his, it is also ours since the cost for one year of University will be about ฿ 80.000 (for 4 years), and he is only the first student of this year’s “batch” to have been admitted to a University.  In any case, we will work for him, to guarantee him a good future, because this boy deserves it!