In rural areas of Thailand you often see grandparents looking after their grandchildren as the parents have moved to the city for work or in some cases are in prison. They might come and see their children from time to time, but are not consistently around for them.
When parents have no relatives to look after their children they place them in children’s homes. This is mainly due to poverty, families are led to believe that the homes can offer the best care, a good education and hope for a more secure future.
The impact this separation has on the children though, are many and varied. They may lose the connection to their family and so once they become adults and have to leave the children’s home they don’t have a home anymore. Maybe they have lost out on land passed down through the family. A children’s home often has a big turnover of staff and short term volunteers coming and going, so children do not receive the more individual nurture that a family can give, whether it’s given by parents, grandparents or aunties and uncles.
So, when I heard about the program “Keeping Families Together” I felt this is a step in the right direction as it aims at strengthening the families. After some training for a number of church leaders in Central Thailand we started meeting with three families from two churches. Right now we are close to the end of the official “curriculum” with topics like: Fostering good family relationships, sustainable livelihood, dealing with addictions and gaming, to name just a few. It’s hard to measure the results as some are somewhat subtle and intangible. Are all the problems a family is facing solved? No, but the families may be more aware of the issues facing them and be more equipped to deal with them. Once the project is finished will that be the end of the relationships we have with the families? No, the mentors will continue to encourage and be there for these families.
Pray for this program to have far reaching benefits for children and ultimately families in Thailand.
