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story of a volunteer

Siam-Care often welcomes volunteers, like Lisanne, a 26 year-old Dutch woman. She recently visited one of Siam-Care's families and would like to share what her impression was. For privacy reasons we have used different names and a picture of a different family

Living in a little slum with 13 people? You don’t see that a lot in western countries. But for Seph, a 25-year-old Thai mother and her family this is very normal. Their house is not just too small, it is dangerous for children as well. 

Besides Seph's son and her partner, there are 10 relatives living with them. If the house was big and fancy, this might be actually nice. Spending quallity time with your whole family. But the place Seph lives in, isn’t nice at all. We'll just call it a slum.

Leaking roof and rotting floor

Seph and her sisters have been living here for many years now. Try to imagene yourself in a house made of wooden boards nailed to together. Just standing there above a smelly river, next to some other houses that are looking the same. A corrugated roof, full of holes. When it rains, half of the house gets wet. But the most dangerous is the wooden floor. In the rainy season, when the river is too high the wood will rot. You can easily fall through it. Which is dangerous for adults, but especially for the little children living in the house.

Danger of drowning

Seph's sister Mon, who is also living with Seph, has a son from 1,5 years old. She can’t work because she has to take care of her son all day. If she doesn't watch him closely, he might fall into the water. Ofcourse there is the danger of drowning, but there are also a lot of snakes and other dangerous animals in the water. Thankfully Seph her son is old enough for school, and due to a Siam-Care sponsor he can go to school. Now Seph can work and provide for her family. Without support, this family wouldn't have enough money to keep their children in school.

Forced moving out

But in one year, everything will be different. The family has to leave the house. The government is going to build a condeminium complex on the land. Hence Seph and her 12 other relatives have to move, but they can't afford to rent a different house. What will become of this family? They have no land or people to look after them. So for now, we don’t know. We hope Siam-Care can work something out for the family. But we are not sure if that is even possible. Let's pray for a good and feasible solution.

Bangkok Hoofdkantoor