Bangkok is bustling with working-class people. I have read that unemployment here is close to zero, and that is evident in my daily travels. Virtually every adult resident I encounter is occupied with some kind of work or commuting to/from their job. In fact, the government recently raised the minimum wage.
Having said that, the standard of living here is much lower than what we experience in the US. Most can read and write, but tons of people here work at unskilled jobs as maids, janitors, street peddlers, taxi/scooter drivers, and retail sales clerks in the many malls and shops. There are plenty of skilled factory and mechanical workers, but most working-class Thais simply cannot afford education beyond public school.
There is a big chunk of Bangkok Thais who have even less opportunity to pursue ways of raising their standard of living. They live in one of several large slum areas in the city, and almost all of them are very poor. The most famous slum area in Bangkok is called Khlong Toei. This part of Khlong Toei is known as "Jet-Sip-Rai" ("Area of 70 Rai", where 1 rai=1600 sq. meters).
It's pretty scrappy, even by Bangkok standards. In a low-crime city, this is a high-crime neighborhood, especially at night. Lots of drug and human trafficking, I'm told. Some cab drivers won't go in this area, sometimes making me late for work:
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| I have come to like this place, at least in the daytime |
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| It's 'grandmothers and children' by day / something very different by night |
Within the Jet-Sip-Rai area, an American priest named Father Joe Maier has spent most of the last forty years helping the poor of Khlong Toei to better their situation.
He
has done this through his masterfully coordinated and doggedly persistent cultivation of the
Human Development Foundation and Mercy Centre. It is an impressive
complex of schools, health and legal services, and orphanages coupled
with a world-wide network of sponsors, donors, and volunteers. All of it serves the locally impoverished:
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| One of Mercy Centre's two main office buildings |
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| My daily view from upstairs where I work |
I have been given the honor and privilege of volunteering at this place for the sake of one promising student. She is a lovely 17 year-old named Suwanna -- her friends call her "Pu":
Suwanna has received a full academic scholarship to attend United World College in Flekke, Norway. This school "has 200 students, aged 16-19, all selected on merit from over 80 countries":
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| Flekke, the Nordic village setting of Pu's new school |
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| A student-led trip just outside of town - I giggle looking at this |
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| Student leadership committee at UWC-Norway |
I think it is safe to say that Suwanna will be getting an experience like nothing she's ever imagined! She hopes to graduate with an International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma after two years in Norway.
At that point, she will automatically qualify for another full academic scholarship, this time to a four-year college in the US. Father Joe mentioned to me this week that these six years of fully subsidized top-quality education basically amount to $300,000 in scholarship funds. All is arranged by Mercy Centre, who has several students placed at one of UWC's twelve campuses worldwide each year. Pretty heavy stuff for most of us, especially for a 17 year-old from the slums of Bangkok.
My job is (not so) simply to help Suwanna to improve her English, since that is the sole language used at UWC-Norway. She has been learning English at her own public school since she was very young. However, that was with Thai teachers, often with limited English themselves. As a result, her listening and reading comprehension are pretty strong, and her handwriting is beautiful. However, her conversational skills need some strengthening; English is not reinforced outside the classroom, as this is a heavily Thai-speaking culture. She has never been forced to using English, but that will all change when she steps off the plane on July 28!
Suwanna is a very focused and hard-working student. We work one-on-one for three straight hours most days of the week. Plus, she has 3-4 other native English speaking teachers who see her just as often throughout the week. So, she is getting quite the crash course in English before she leaves. She seems to like all the attention, even if much of the material is difficult for her.
Our teacher-student relationship is mutually beneficial. Sometimes, I get a short Thai lesson as well:
Obviously, she thinks I'm a goofball, but that's perfectly ok. I like that I can elicit laughter from her, even if it's at my expense!
These are some of the people I work with at Mercy Centre:
Every day at the Mercy Centre building, lunch is served to all the office workers and volunteers in what I'll call the 'staff lounge'. It is prepared in a large kitchen by several cooks:
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| "Kaw tai-rup dai mei khap?" (May I take picture?) |
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| These were some of the most serious workers I've seen here |
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| Pork leg stew - "Khao Kha Moo" - Pretty fatty but delicious (Aroy-maak!) |
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| Lime juice, chilis in fish sauce, chilis in vinegar, all good. |
And, of course, lunch is also the time and place where all the socializing goes on. I have gotten to know some of the people at Mercy Centre largely through our time sharing these meals here:
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| Suwanna insisted on washing my dish each day - not kidding |
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| This is Khun Prawina, the excellent volunteer coordinator who hired me back in April. |
I will miss all these great people at Mercy Centre when I go home. Thank you for helping me understand what I never could have gotten from a textbook, a lecture, or a documentary film. Thank you for the work you do every day, for all these families of Bangkok.
