Great news: thanks to a donor, we were able to buy a wheelchair for the little girl Friendly (see picture). This makes a huge different for Friendly and her mother.
Anwiraseenee, who was born in 2017, who goes by the nickname ‘friendly’, is a 1-year old girl who is physically disabled. She lives with her mother (1987) and grandmother (1967) in Mukdahan, in the poor and dry northeast of Thailand. Mother had to quit her job, as she needs to take fulltime care of her handicapped daughter. The only income the family has, is through Aew’s mother, so Friendly’s grandmother. She sells Thai desserts, which are made by mother when Friendly sleeps, but her income is not steady. During the rainy season, she hardly has any customers. The family struggles hard to make ends meet. And so they also don't have the money, to buy a much needed wheelchair for Friendly.
New wheelchair changes life
Friendly is growing and hence getting heavier. Mother cannot carry Friendly around the whole time. And leaving the house was no option at all, without a wheelchair. When a donor saw this, she decided to gather the funds for a wheelchair. This has been an amazing blessing to Friendly and her family. They can now go out again and it is much easier for mother to find a job, now that she can bring Friendly with her.
Life is still challenging
Eventhoug the wheelchair was a huge improvement for Friendly and her family, it doesn't mean her whole life is easy now. Friendly’s father has completely abandoned the family and doesn’t support his daughter and ex-wife financially. Unfortunately, this is a common situation in Thailand. When Siam-Care was introduced to this family, we accepted them into our program right away, even though no one in this family is HIV-infected. If we will not support this family and look after them, then who will? In Thailand families like Aew don’t get much support from the government, expect for a little bit of financial support, around 500 Thai Baht per month.
