Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Thanksgiving Day













I had the neat opportunity to travel a little outside of Bangkok and visit Christian Care Foundation for Children with Disabilities in Thailand. ( please check out: ccdthailand.org )
The staff was very welcoming and hospitable to me. That is something I have grown to appreciate, because I know how much they have to go out of their way to show me around and answer my questions they have heard so many times. I learned a lot about abandoned children, particularly those with some type of disability. As my heart broke when I visited the government care facilities for children, my heart was also encourage to see what a great work this organization is doing.

They go into the government facilities and either try to get legal guardianship of some of the children or they work as a type of day care center and pick up and take home some kids.
Why go to so much work to pick up and take home these kids everyday? Or why fight the legal battles to have them live at CCD?
So they don’t have to lie in beds all day long, everyday. So their not just fed food, not being taught how to feed themselves (physically). Its so much easier to practically pour food in their mouths than to sit and teach a disabled child how to feed themselves.

CCD combats this injustice that the children are facing with a great hope.

They accept volunteers with open arms. They definitely have a need for physical therapists and people skilled in that area who are willing to donate at least 3 months of their time.

One story that really opens eyes and hearts of the reality of poor education and poverty is as follows…
Imagine a little boy having his foot burned off. The family does not know what to do or how to handle the situation. So they deem him disabled and give him no attention or hope of a future. He has no mental disability, only a tiny physical one, yet the family still gives up not knowing what to do.
It sounds odd and we can all think of 100 things right off the top of our heads of how to solve the situation. But for some reason, it’s not so simple.

3 comments:

jeremy phillips said...

insightful.

i also noticed you finally figured out how to make links to different people.

Adrian Martinez said...

that looks amazing. im happy you were able to be there.

Anna Margaret said...

What an incredibly awesome way to spend THANKSGIVING...

I will praise God's name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.
Psalm 69:30