Today is kids day. All the kids in Thailand are puffed-up-proud of themselves on this; their own shiny day.
Mail, Pha Ngan and Mai come around, a raggle taggle procession of differently sized stompy feet. Proud in their proper baseball shoes, rather than customary dirty barefoot. Raucous on this the day no grown up can tell them no.
They each clutch a prize from the festivities in the main town, Pha ngan a cheap wind up car, Mai a ruler and pencil and Mail an already grubby doll. That they feel special, important and feted is written loud on their faces and warms my heart to see.
Pha Ngan, this troubled boy, on the brink of almost certainly delinquent teenage years, who runs and steals, is chased and beaten and neglected in equal measure. Who has the most infinite tenderness and sweetness with Clear Sky that is truly beautiful to behold. I know his path is set for trouble, his lack of love and care has written it so, and the trouble path is oh-so-dangerous for boys in this oh-so-wild of places.
I pray that somewhere in himself he has courage and drags up his strength in the face of adversity and clings onto his sweetness through it all, to find the love of a kind woman, and the comfort of a loving family.
Mai my little intrepid boy-man, the cutie pie who will melt a million hearts, whom tourists want to grab and hug at every opportunity, who loves baked beans. Who is a sensitive soul and cries easily in the face of other boys’ cruelty as he learns in his five-year-old world what it takes to be a man.
And E mail, my beautiful bouncing butterball baby girl. A little sunbeam, who makes us roar with laughter and brings brightness to even the shabbiness of happenings. Whose valiant heart is always happy, despite the persistent sickness that plagues her, the chronic asthma and the ongoing hospitalizations. With her grubby little legs, permanently dripping nose, and wild unkempt hair she powers through life with enthusiasm that knows no bounds.
Nong mail, kids day
Undaunted she throws herself at everyone she meets with the same open heart, asking only love in return. When I first met her she was a tiny, fat little thing, rolls of chubbiness, perfect cherub mouth and wide wondering eyes. Unfortunately she was also scared of farang and would scream her head off if I even looked at her.
The first time she let me take her out to the beach I fell in love, and knew that we would have a special relationship this little ball of merriment and I. When she took her first steps it was into my hands, and I thought I would burst with excitement and pride as she tottered towards me, arms aloft, trusting entirely. What big responsibility to witness her evolution from that squidgy powdered baby ball to this fabulous gorgeous girl who stands before me, or rather runs, jumps, kicks, and dances, before me.
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I didn’t even know Thailand had a National Children’s Day (วันเด็กแห่งชาติ) so I checked it out on the net. I read that kids can enter zoos and use buses for free on this day and many events are organized for them. It all sounds fun.
Mail looks a smashing kid and hopefully her asthma will clear as she grows up but if not then it should at least become manageable. I’m an asthmatic myself and it never stopped me playing sports when I was younger and recently it was revealed that David Beckham suffered with asthma too. I’m sure Mail will do better in life than the former mentioned person and if she does a tenth as good as the latter I know you and all the villagers will be damn proud of her. Does she have an asthma inhaler because I know they’re fairly expensive for Thai people, about 270 baht, or as a child does she get them for free?
I bet it’s goddamn noisy in your village today and nobody dare tell the kids to be quiet.
Nice post.
Hi Martyn thanks for commenting, It’s a bit of a misleading post though, I need to correct the date, it wasn’t actually today but Sunday the 10th, I’m just really slow.
And yes it was quite noisy in the village, especially as some of the kids got toy trumpets and drums.
thanks again.
Ooh, sorry martyn forgot to say, thanks for the advice about the asthma. Mail doesn’t actually have a prescribed one, when she gets difficulty breathing they take her to the hospital and they put her on oxygen. I think the oxygen has meds in it too, but I’m not sure because I can never clarify what it is. At one point she blew up though, and I’m fairly sure they had her on steroids. That said, she does seem to have improved a lot in the last year so hopefully it will clear up as she continues to get stronger.
Thanks for taking the time to care!
Many of the children here are in need. I just took on scholarships for two young girls to help them pay for their year in school. A little bit of money and kindness can go a long way. Great article.
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What a lovely post. Like Jo, too send money to help Thai kids with education. It is difficult to see just where to help, and the SET Foundation was a choice that suited me.
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