A helping hand

A helping hand

SOCIAL & LIFESTYLE
A helping hand

Beneath socialite Saisom Wongsasuluk’s glamorous party dresses and eye-catching jewellery beats the heart of a woman who finds great satisfaction in lending a hand to the needy.

Saisom handing out scholarships to orphans studying at Chalermprakiet 48 Pansa School.

A night out on the town often involves attending functions that can in some way support her broad range of social projects, some of which include better welfare for the mentally challenged and ethnic tribes in northern Thailand.

Saisom has for decades worked tirelessly to better the lives of the downtrodden. Despite being taken for a ride at times by con-artists, she continues with her policy to never turn away a person in need.

One of her success stories in the last three decades of social work has been the Chalermprakiet 48 Pansa School in Lamphun province, a boarding school for children who have been orphaned due to Aids. Through sheer determination this quick-witted personality built an educational institution from scratch over 12 years ago.

A high demand for schooling among orphan children residing in Ton Tong sub-district encouraged her to open a kindergarten for toddlers, but later she had to consider building a school because a large number of older children also needed
a future to look forward to.

Despite having to face a number of hurdles, she was able to pool together her resources to get the project off the ground and make it the success it is today. As president of the school, she is tasked with finding the finances and university scholarships to support the students’ further career endeavours.

Being a socialite has served its purpose, opening doors for her to connect with companies and educational institutions that are keen to offer their assistance. However, there is a lot of hard work and perseverance that goes into shouldering the school’s monthly expenses that can often reach
1 million baht. Never one to give up easily, she has fought hard to see that the needs of the children are met both physically and emotionally.

Saisom never turns down social functions for the simple reason that each can serve as an opportunity to speak to the audience about Chalermprakiet 48 Pansa School. She recalls fondly how a gay night club once invited her to attend their fund-raiser, the proceeds of which would be given to her school.

Decked up to the nines, it was close to midnight by the time she began sharing with the audience the heart-wrenching stories of her students. By the time Saisom was done there was not a dry eye among the partygoers. Needless to say, the event generated a whopping 80,000 baht in donations, which would go towards the upkeep of 400 students and school faculty members.

She admits to having become pretty thick-skinned when it comes to approaching people for help. Saisom, who comes from a privileged background, says that to convince her friends to donate sanitary napkins for the female students, she told them that the act would be merit-making to ward off medical ailments connected to the reproductive system.

Her efforts have paid off handsomely when it comes to the success the school has had with students who have gone on to study dentistry, nursing, engineering and more.

“I feel tremendous pride when our students make a name for themselves,” says Saisom.

“When these children first come to us they are often undernourished, sickly and have little hope of survival. We do our best to never turn away a child in need. While most of them are orphans, we also have students who come to us because their parents are too poor to feed them. However, despite our efforts to give each child a future, we continue to face an uphill battle with parents and relatives who want to take their child out of school so they can work to support their family. I am seriously thinking of making them sign a contract when the child enrols in our school to not interfere with them until after they graduate.”

Saisom came to this conclusion after watching a brilliant student miss out on
a bright future.

Naam Wan, who was sexually molested by her stepfather, was brought to the school by her mother when her husband was jailed for the crime. As she was completely dependent on her second husband for financial support, the mother requested her daughter be enrolled at the school.

“The girl was nine when she came to us, and stayed for the next six years,” recalls the school founder. “However, when Naam Wan’s stepfather was released from jail, the mother returned to take her daughter home. By then, we were informed of the sexual abuse, and were determined to help the girl by getting her a scholarship to study at a top university in Chiang Mai. Sadly, she caved into the demands of her mother to return home to support her parents. Naam Wan left in the middle of the second term of university to find a job at a local department store. It was devastating for me to see her future go down the drain.”

Saisom prepares her students to face the world by instilling in them honesty, truthfulness and trustworthiness. Getting along well with others, a willingness to compromise, perseverance and diligence are taught through setting good examples at the school. Such morals will serve as a competitive edge over their peers, she says.

As Chalermprakiet 48 Pansa School depends solely on donations. Saisom says all types of help are welcome because one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. From food given to the Gods to used clothing, there is very little the school administration will turn away.

To become self-sufficient, they grow their own vegetables and raise poultry. However, the conditions are such that the pigs are getting thinner because there is no leftover food to feed them, she says jokingly. “I always tell my students that we eat to live not live to eat, so to be grateful for times when well-wishers donate yummy stuff like Chinese sausages and duck, and be thankful for having food on the table the rest of the year.”

“Supervision and discipline are equally important. Students are expelled if they are found to have left the school premises without permission. Even if they have a month to go before graduation, they have to be made accountable for their actions, and told to leave,” says Saisom.

Speaking of the experiences she has had through years of managing the school, she says: “I tell my kids that your mother might have given birth to you, but I have given you life. So take this opportunity to make something of yourself. Come rain or shine, I will go out of my way to see my children have a future to look forward to.”

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