October 13, 1998
We care Street children from the Saphan Phut area sit on the steps at the Rama I statue with teachers Patcharee and Witthaya. The best way to help them is through education and work, says Mrs Patcharee: "I'd like to see companies give these youngsters job opportunities." -- Pictures by Smith Sutibut Mean streets STREET CHILDREN: A little love and understanding goes a long way in helping street children find to a safer road to travel in life Karnjariya Sukrung The school bell rings. Classes are over. Students and teachers stream out of the building and eagerly head for home. But not Patcharee Hongpanich. Her job is not over yet. The slightly-built, 46-year-old woman wearing steel-rimmed glasses hurries out of Sacred Heart Convent in Klong Toei on her way to her other teaching job - with the street children at Memorial Bridge (Saphan Phut). In her hands are plastic bags full of small towels, powder, shampoo and new pairs of sneakers. She squeezes onto the packed Number 4 bus and starts the slow journey across town through the dead-locked afternoon traffic to where a group of youngsters are waiting anxiously for her to bring them food and friendship. Her nighttime classroom is the spacious platform in front of the statue of King Rama I. The children rush to greet her as soon as she sits down on the steps. The sound of laughter and chatter fills the air. "Now I can take a bath and people won't run away from my stink," says Bang (not his real name), 17, with a laugh. The dirt-stained teenager has not washed for several days. Other boys are happy with their new sneakers. Now they can play football on the concrete field with the other boys and wear proper gear, not sandals or, worse, barefoot. "As a teacher, I think my mission is not limited only to school," says Mrs Patcharee, or "Kru Tai" to the street kids. "It's any place where there are children who need me. "It's different here on the street. When I am at school, students come to me and pay me respect. With street children, I have to adapt to their needs." Together with co-worker Witthaya Panmeesri, or "Kru Jake", they have taken some 15-20 street children under their wing over the past eight years. Back then, some of the children were very young; now they are in their teens. Every evening after school, Kru Tai visits her students at the Memorial Bridge to to make sure they have something to eat. "If she hadn't come today, we would not have had anything to eat," says Wat, 18. He adds that he and his friends have, at best, two meals a day and quite often none at all. To appease their hunger pangs, they resort to sleeping long hours, drinking a lot of water and scavenging for left-overs. Kru Tai had been successful in convincing a nearby temple to give her children free lunch. But the free meal project stopped recently due to some problems she does not want to talk about. Apart from dinner, Kru Tai also gives the children food for thought and moral support. From 5:30 to 8 p.m before going back to her home in the Huay Kwang area, she spends roughly two hours just being with the children and talking with them. "These kids desperately need someone who can listen and understand them," says Mrs Patcharee solemnly. "So all I do is to ask them whether they need me to do or find anything for them, to make their quality of life better. "Also, I try to subtly persuade them to study, to work, and most importantly to keep away from drugs and crime." Sometimes she brings textbooks from school, or newspapers to read out to the children and discuss news and current events. During school exam season, she brings the exam papers and asks the children to help her read them out, while discussing the subjects. "I try to get them interested in studying bit by bit, without making them feel that I'm pushing them. Telling rebellious teenagers to study directly doesn't work." Dealing with teenagers is difficult, especially street kids, so she uses the rules of love, understanding and patience. But sometimes, tough measures cannot be avoided - especially when it involves drugs. "All the boys and girls under my care are not allowed to take drugs. If I know they do, Iwill not give them money to buy food and I'll tell them Kru Jake and I are not happy about it. "I'll just say I don't have much money to give them. If they waste it on drugs instead of food, I can't see why we should give them any." At the beginning when many of them were still sniffing glue, Kru Tai recalls that she herself once became numb and giddy from the fumes and, later on the way home, she missed her bus stop and went all the way to the bus station. But now almost all of the children have quit the habit. Kru Tai's work could not be done without the full-time assistance of Kru Jake, who joined her several years ago. He works on the street during the day before Kru Tai arrives in the evening. Kru Jake's work starts as the street children's day begins. At around noon, he patrols the streets under the enormous flyover, and through the parks, in search of his children and any newcomers. His job is to wake them up and see whether they have had any problems during the night. Sometimes Kru Jake, a philosophy graduate from a Catholic college in Nakhon Prathom, becomes a hairdresser by neccessity. "It's difficult to serve these free customers for they always come up with a modern hairdo that I don't know how to do," he jokes. Wat cuts in: "But he does it anyway," he says with a wide grin, pointing at his trendy crew-cut. Kru Jake also plays the role of art teacher. "Many of these kids have artistic gifts. And in a way, art can help console their hunger for love and their suffering." While many of the kids are keen on artistic creation, others prefer music, and can often be found listening to a juke box in a cafe near Pak Klong Talad. After knowing one another for eight years, Kru Tai, Kru Jake and the street children have become like a family. Sometimes they plan business ventures together to raise money. "Last Loy Krathong festival, for example, we invested 800 baht to sell flower garlands, candles and incense sticks," recalls Kru Jake. "Some children offered the service of floating the krathong onto the river." "We earned 2,000 baht," chime in the children. On His Majesty the King's birthday, when crowds of people flock to Sanam Luang to pay homage, the kids make use of the big event by selling grilled squid and soft drinks there. Sometimes Kru Tai and Kru Jake join street teachers from other areas to organise a camp for the children called Leadership Camp. There, the kids have a chance to enjoy themselves like other children their age: meet new friends, try their hand at new activities, and, in the process, ponder their choices for going back to mainstream society. Mrs Patcharee first became aware of the vulnerable lives of street children when her vocal chords became swollen and her doctor advised her to give up her teaching career at Kasetsart Demonstration School. She continued working with children as a volunteer at the Foundation for the Better Life of Children. She was then recruited to the street teacher team. Her attitude towards street children used to be no different from many others who just see them from the outside. "They were appalling to me then," says Kru Tai, whose voice is still hoarse from an operation on her vocal chords. "They were dirty and ill-mannered. They loved to curse and obviously they had nothing that anyone could love." But after a few months on the road with these kids, she changed her mind. "They are victims of social malice," she says. "Perhaps it is adults' attitudes like mine that pushes these children to risk their lives on the streets." Apart from problems at home, Kru Tai adds that insensitive teachers can also play a role in pushing children to decide to live on the street. "They are the type of teachers who like to reprimand students for being stupid orincapable. "I feel sad about it because teachers should be the ones that students can count on if they can't rely on their families, not the ones who push them away." Although she is now teaching at a school again, Kru Tai's mission to street children continues, although it means she has less time to rest after work. She uses much of her meagre teacher's salary to buy clothes and essential toiletry items for the children such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, powder, combs, shampoo and soap. She has also received some financial support from Father Joseph Maier's Human Development Centre, and the Sacred Heart Convent where she works. Sometimes students and teachers at her school also chip in to buy food for the kids. Kru Tai's ambitious plan is to turn her house into a shelter for street children. But money remains a big problem. "At present, I can't look after them around the clock. When I'm not with them, I don't know what is happening to them. I'm quite worried that they might decide to do things they will regret afterwards," says Kru Tai. Without help and understanding, Kru Tai says street children have the potential to become criminals and drug addicts. "I want to help them out of this condition, to help them help themselves and be able to live in mainstream society," she says. Apart from understanding, the best way to help street children is through education and work, she says. "I'd like to see companies give these youngsters some job opportunities. Work will help them develop relationships with other people and give them self-respect." Struggling on their own, Kru Tai and Kru Jake feel their eight-year mission has achieved results. Many of the kids have quit their drug habits, given up selling sex and started working in other jobs. Sam, 18, is now a motorcycle taxi driver, and a few of the other boys are shop assistants. Some are thinking to returning home. "Though it is a tiring job, I can't just quit and leave them in mid-air. If we leave them now when they are not ready for the world, they might fall and end up shattered. "Our work is like helping drowning people. Apart from essentials, we give something of ourselves that the children can hold on to so that they can start life anew." Kru Tai also likens the work of street teachers to trying to grab the kids before they fall off a cliff. "We want to turn them back to a safer route in life. But they need help and understanding from society so they can walk confidently into the future." Info for donations: Contact person: Patcharee Hongpanich Address: 535/27 Soi Pracharad Bampen 15, Pracharad Bampen, Huay Kwang Bangkok 10320 Tel: 691-0084 If you cannot contact Mrs Patcharee Hongpanich, send your cheque payable to The Post Publishing PLC - for street children. Send it to Mrs Kusuma Mintakhin, Editorial Manager, Bangkok Post, 136 Na Ranong Road, Klong Toey, Bangkok 10110. Please also include a note with your name and address so we can send you a receipt. "We Care" is a weekly series honouring people who believe in giving. You can show you care by supporting the projects featured here each week. You can also let us know about people who unselfishly help others so we can honour them in these pages. Fax "We Care" on 240-3666 or call 240-3700 ext 3208 or 3212. Alternatively, e-mail sanitsuda@bangkokpost.net.		Classifieds Jobs Property Entertainment Investment Education Travel Sales Learn English Weekly Database Horizons NiteOwl Student Weekly Real Time Special We Care Street Art Back Issues Last Month Archive Company Servcies Subscriptions Advertising Annual Report
© Copyright The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd. 1998 Last Modified: Tue, Oct 13, 1998 For comments and letters to the editor see : notes Comments to: Webmaster Advertising enquiries to Internet Marketing