A Visit to the Mercy Centre
An extraordinary mission serving the poorest of the poor in the slums of Bangkok.
My partner Rick had mentioned that he wanted to contribute some of the proceeds from this website to a charity organization doing positive work in the community.
I had heard of a gentleman named Father Joe in the past from my friend, Bourbon Street restaurant owner Doug Harrison. Doug loves golf and every year he would
encourage his patrons to join the Father Joe charity golf tournament ….
Then I mentioned Father Joe to Rick and he suggested I pay him a visit. So today I set out to visit The Mercy Centre/Human Development Foundation in Bangkok. It was founded in 1973 by Father Joe Maier and Sister Maria Chantavoradom.
I knew father Joe worked with the poor but I had no idea in what capacity. So this morning I called to get directions and spoke with a gentleman named Gus. He said come on down so off I went.
When I arrived I was brought back to a small office that Gus was sitting in and he began to tell me the story of The Mercy Centre.
Evidently when Father Joe and Sister Maria started ministering to the workers in a slaughterhouse in Bangkok's largest slum named Klong Toey. These workers/parishioners were very poor people from Vietnam and Laos mostly. Their children didn't go to school and had a tough time getting any kind of work other than slaughterhouse work when they got older as they were branded outcasts.
Sister Maria and Father Joe then converted a slum house into a pre-school for all children in the slum. No one was turned away.
That was in 1973. At that time the focus was on the children and education as a way up and out of their dyer situation. And now 42 years later the focus is still on the children but there are several more programs in place along with a beautiful building that was donated by a wonderful man named John Cook from America. Notice the steel beams behind Gus in the above picture. You rarely see that in Thailand…. What a great gift…
Schooling for Slum Children – As the Mercy Centre reminds us there are still countless slum children who need to go to school and who need to learn to read and write just to survive. The Mercy Centre teaches about 250 children at their Klong Toey facility daily and has an outreach program that busses over 250 teachers out to over 60 poor communities teaching over 3000 of these troubled children. Typically in a community donated home or in a small room constructed by the Mercy Centre. Most of these students are from the streets, abusive families, abandoned, or are orphans that have no home life.
Shelter and care for orphaned children with AIDS - At the time of my visit it was a holiday so the majority of children were not at the centre but there were around 31 children from age 4 to 6 all with AIDS being cared for upstairs. It was truly heartbreaking to see these children who were born with such a terrible disease. These kids were eating lunch together at two large tables. When I came in they all greeted me in unison… One child could not see and only responded to touch. The girl next to her helped her eat by feeding her. Their gentle spirits and sweet smiles were amazing.
Gus asked I not take their pictures but was ok with me taking a shot of their shoes on a rack.
Learn more about Mercy Centre's child AIDS treatment program →
Shelters and Orphanages for poor, abandoned, and trafficked girls and boys – The Mercy Centre has 5 homes that provide shelter for 180 children including the 30 or so who were born with AIDS. The boys and girls are housed separately. The Mercy Centre's mandate is “Protection, Caring, Education, a Future full of Opportunities.”
"Each Mercy Home also includes social workers, cooks, tutors, and coaches. We send them all to school and nurture and love these children as part of our family. We teach them all we can to prepare them for life once they leave our Mercy family.” — Father Joe
Anti-Trafficking and Legal Aid Centre providing outreach services to street children – The Mercy Centre has several social workers on staff to provide legal services for street children. The police across the city are aware of the programs Mercy Centre provides and when they come across children in need on the streets they are brought in to The Mercy Centre.
Also, children found with small amounts of drugs are brought to the Mercy Centre for rehabilitation and eventually guided through the schooling. In addition in 1999 The HDF/Mercy Centre began a memorandum of understanding with Family and Children's Courts to begin accepting children through the criminal court system as an alternative to incarceration in detention centers.
Rick and I are proud to be donating 20% of all proceeds to this foundation so our website clients can help contribute to such a great cause. In addition, if you would like to make a direct donation to this foundation as well then you may do so at http://www.mercycentre.org/en/donate-today.
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Scroll down to see more views from the Mercy Centre.
