Where are those girls?

Sorry that I haven’t blogged for while, so much and yet so little has been going on in our lives. We’ve been hanging out with friends who we will soon be saying goodbye which has distracted us from blogging. I do have some stories worth blogging about though. So here it goes….

One of our students who we haven’t seen in awhile returned to Mercy yesterday. Day stopped coming to our class because she wanted to get a job during the summer holiday to help her mom with the bills at home. I asked her about the job she had and she told me that she worked in a nearby mall making crepes at a food stand. I asked her how long she worked every day and she said that her day started at 8:00 and it ended at 9:00. Her daily income was 180 baht a day which is approximately 6 dollars Canadian. This job would be the equivalent to a mall or food court job at home but the her salary blew me away. The minimum wage per hour at home is higher than the daily wage for this young girl. Mind you I am not factoring the cost of living and food but you can imagine how impossible it would be to get ahead and save.

Another interesting fact that I was recently informed about was Thai yearly calendar. When our students date their work I noticed that they didn’t reference the current year as 2008. The Thai year is 543 years more than our yearly schedule. According to the Thai calendar, we are currently in the year of 2551 and we students date their paper they write. 06/04/51. I am still not sure the exact reason but I think it has something to do with the beginning of the Thai empire. I’m not sure though, so please don’t quote me. I will try to find the complete answer later.

Heather who is a fellow education student is returning to Bangkok this weekend. Last time she was here we spent the weekend in Ko Chang so we are excited to be given another opportunity to show her more of Thailand. Massages, temples and shopping are on the itinerary.

A few of the children in Mercy 6 have been sick lately. Whether it is a head ache or something more serious, seeing their little tired eyes always saddens me. Sometimes you forget that their little bodies are so weak and susceptible to illness because of AIDS effect on their body. For most of these children, their life expectancy will only reach late adolescents and early adulthood. There were moments this week when this reality really hit me and it saddened me.

Spicey also known as Si Chon is having an eye surgery early next week. Spicey has deteriorating eye sight and the doctors expect him to go completely blind. The surgery includes replacing some part of his eye. The details I’m not that sure of. This is all the information we received through the translation but all of you at home can be praying that the surgery will go successfully. I’m not sure if they are expected full visibility in the eye or if this will slow the blinding process. Either way, prayers would be greatly appreciated.

Sending love from Thailand,

Misty

“Only when we understand can we care. Only when we care will we help. Only if we help shall they be saved”