Friday 29 March 2013

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A sad day for sponsor and student alike.



It is rare but not by any means unusual that parents or carers of some of our scholarship students demand money from MERCY whenever contact is made with them. There are a variety of reasons but generally they centre on the need to pay gambling debts, drugs or drink and generally it is he children who suffer.

This week UK sponsor Richard was visiting Pattaya and asked MERCY to arrange for him to visit his sponsored student Prateep  who he has been sponsoring for a few years. During making the arrangements for the visit the child’s carer, a lady who had taken in three siblings demanded money from Suky of MERCY saying that she did not want the money that the children’s sponsors had donated to be used for their education but wanted the money to put in the ‘bank’ for them. Naturally this was refused.
Subsequently the carer was visited by Suky and Sudjai of MERCY and the email reproduced below from MERCY confirms the outcome we had all feared.

 

“You recall I sent you a summary a few days ago of how things stood with regards to Prateep and his siblings (Thanachok and Krissana) Subsequently Sudjai and Suky went over to see the woman taking care of them, and it has been established that the owner's business is now doing very well, and she no longer needs the help to cover the scholarships for the children.

That's good news, of course, because it means that other needy children can be helped. However, I think it will be hard for the sponsors, when they've just made inroads into a relationship with the children, which isn't easy to do initially. 
 

Richard, bless him, understood, but I think we all felt sad (including Prateep, who'd been told that he wouldn't be seeing Richard again) for both he and Prateep. Clearly, the boy had been 'instructed' to request a bicycle, and no matter what Suky said, she couldn't get him to budge from this. Richard was wonderful - he agreed to go with the request and after lunch at Fuji (because Prateep wanted sushi) we went up to the cycle shop at Naklua and got a red one for him. 
 

Being Thursday I didn't get to see the "Farewell" when they returned Prateep to the house, but it can't have been easy for them. Richard took it as being part of life, but I felt sorry for Prateep, who is probably wondering what he's done that he should be 'punished'. As we told you earlier, there seems to be a great deal of 'dog in a manger' attitude.

There is another bit of good news for Prateep though. It seems an older sister (about 16 years of age) has now come to live on the compound with them, together with her 'husband' and young baby! We didn't even know he had an older sister, so hopefully it will help him feel part of his family again”

Registered Charity No. 1104335
100 Years From Today
It will not matter how big your bank account was, the sort of house you lived in, or the kind of car you drove. But the world may be a little better because your help touched the life of one child.

 

Monday 25 March 2013

Hawaiian sponsor's visit to Pattaya



Today Hawaiian sponsor Rodney made a visit to Pattaya to meet the three brothers that he sponsors.

After a Pizza lunch along with Suky and Boonying on MERCY Rodney took the boys  shopping for clothes in Tesco Lotus.
Registered Charity No. 1104335
100 Years From Today
It will not matter how big your bank account was, the sort of house you lived in, or the kind of car you drove. But the world may be a little better because your help touched the life of one child.


Monday 11 March 2013

'Divas Down Under' fund raising event


Our thanks to Ray Cornell of ‘The Venue’ Jomtien for producing and presenting another fund-raising evening on Sunday March 10th in aid of Pattaya Street Kids Support Project.

The show ‘Divas Down Under’ Starred the Pollys, Pearl and Madam Karen and the Venue Boys, drag queens and Ladyboys. The shows were a sell out and many people were turned away.

Donations from the audience raised a total of 41000Baht (£925) which will help us ensure that a lot more children from the slums of Pattaya are fed and clothed. We wish to express our thanks to everyone who donated during the show for their generous support.

Special thanks to Ray Cornell who not only produced the show but also insisted on presenting and taking part in the show despite being in considerable pain from recent hip replacement surgery. Also our thanks to Pattaya Hot Male for their permission to use their photos of the show.
  Ray’s enthusiasm for helping PSK to help the poor kids in Pattaya over the past four years has brought immense benefit to PSK by helping to raise the profile of PSK and has brought us many new sponsors.


Registered Charity No. 1104335
100 Years From Today
It will not matter how big your bank account was, the sort of house you lived in, or the kind of car you drove. But the world may be a little better because your help touched the life of one child.

Monday 4 March 2013

The Venue fund raising show Sunday March 10th.


News from Ray Cornell of The Venue Jomtien



"Sunday next 10th March...We are presenting in aid of The Pattaya Street Kids Support Group....For the second consecutive year...Australia's very own The Pollys,with special guest Madam Karen.get your seats early for this special event..Also starring our very own Venue Boys and Ladyboys ...Showtime 10p.m...take your seats around 9p.m."...Introduced by..."Hip Hip Hoo Ray"...www.thevenuejomtien.com