The Children's Stories
The Bicycle
Worawit "Cob" Padwong, six-years-old
An aid organisation brought him from another province. Both parents have died of AIDS when he was a baby. His overstrained, aggressive and eighty-year-old grandmother kept him in a TV carriage box. In this box he was living just like a captured monkey, was mistreated, developed symptoms of hospitalism, stopped being curious and was not able to keep things in mind since there was nothing to bear in mind.
When he first arrived at the farm it appeared to him like a huge playground. Cob romped around and was hiding behind trees and bushes, popped through it and observed the new area. Gradually he gained confidence and chose Joy as his new mother and let her carry him around. Leon, coeval with Cob and Joy’s real daughter, had to learn to share her mother with the other kids and stop reacting jealously. She needed to see the other children as siblings and embosom them.
In the beginning Cob did not use the facilities but every spot was good enough for him. Slowly we tried to accustom him to use the facilities and during the day he kept with it but not at night. There was an awkward smell in the rooms Cob was sleeping in with other children. Soon it was clear why. Cob wrapped his dejections into used clothes and stowed them in a hidden corner.
Attempts sending him to the kindergarten in Pongkum failed.
As soon as he arrived there he ran off into the wide world. This curtly happened a dozen times when the governess announced that the kindergarten is not suitable for Cob.
At daytime Cob stayed at the farm. He watched the adults and elder children bicycle and if there was the possibility he took it and just pushed and pulled it up and down the hill. He ran down the slope with it and operated the pedals by hand, studied the breaks, the chain, the steering-wheel, the wheels, the laws of gravity and the inertia of the mass.
One day there was standing a small bicycle next to the big one. It was brand new with stabilisers on the rear. It was just right for a little child without any experience on the bicycle. Cob pushed it up the hill and asked an adult to demount the stabilisers. He examined the route and his small bicycle, he got on it and off he went down the hill without any help -proud like king. He did not fall off but just arrived at the bottom of the hill.
From now on Cob was riding the bicycle every day. He dashed into bushes and beds, fell and contracted several scratches and bruises but he assiduously went on. In rain he stowed the bicycles in his room and slept close to them. If rain or sun and maybe even in his dreams he was happy –he had found the entrance to a fulfilling and satisfying life.
An aid organisation brought him from another province. Both parents have died of AIDS when he was a baby. His overstrained, aggressive and eighty-year-old grandmother kept him in a TV carriage box. In this box he was living just like a captured monkey, was mistreated, developed symptoms of hospitalism, stopped being curious and was not able to keep things in mind since there was nothing to bear in mind.
When he first arrived at the farm it appeared to him like a huge playground. Cob romped around and was hiding behind trees and bushes, popped through it and observed the new area. Gradually he gained confidence and chose Joy as his new mother and let her carry him around. Leon, coeval with Cob and Joy’s real daughter, had to learn to share her mother with the other kids and stop reacting jealously. She needed to see the other children as siblings and embosom them.
In the beginning Cob did not use the facilities but every spot was good enough for him. Slowly we tried to accustom him to use the facilities and during the day he kept with it but not at night. There was an awkward smell in the rooms Cob was sleeping in with other children. Soon it was clear why. Cob wrapped his dejections into used clothes and stowed them in a hidden corner.
Attempts sending him to the kindergarten in Pongkum failed.
As soon as he arrived there he ran off into the wide world. This curtly happened a dozen times when the governess announced that the kindergarten is not suitable for Cob.
At daytime Cob stayed at the farm. He watched the adults and elder children bicycle and if there was the possibility he took it and just pushed and pulled it up and down the hill. He ran down the slope with it and operated the pedals by hand, studied the breaks, the chain, the steering-wheel, the wheels, the laws of gravity and the inertia of the mass.
One day there was standing a small bicycle next to the big one. It was brand new with stabilisers on the rear. It was just right for a little child without any experience on the bicycle. Cob pushed it up the hill and asked an adult to demount the stabilisers. He examined the route and his small bicycle, he got on it and off he went down the hill without any help -proud like king. He did not fall off but just arrived at the bottom of the hill.
From now on Cob was riding the bicycle every day. He dashed into bushes and beds, fell and contracted several scratches and bruises but he assiduously went on. In rain he stowed the bicycles in his room and slept close to them. If rain or sun and maybe even in his dreams he was happy –he had found the entrance to a fulfilling and satisfying life.
The poor Harry Potter
Parkpoom "Artchi" Thammegae, eight-years-old
His eyes blink behind big and round glasses. He has clamped them securely to his head and without them he is as blind as a bat. Whensoever he laughs – gladly and whimsical - he turns into Harry Potter only he is not able to conjure.
The blind mother was guided by a neighbour and brought Artchi to the farm. She has a kidney failure and a dialysis is to expensive but now that Artchi is save and has a good perspective in life she can calmly die and hope for a better life afterwards.
For a while Artschi was belonging to the small community of the School for Life. We tried to raise money for his mother’s therapy but she died to soon. Artchi was examined by the queen’s doctor with the help of the German embassy in Bangkok. The diagnostic findings state that the process of getting blind is irresistible and the medical time delay is very limited.
Artchi assisted his mother the last days of her life. When she died and we were planning Artchi’s next examination with the doctors of the Chiang Mai University his sister turned up who just came of age. She moved with him to Chiang Mai and isolates him from further help. Abandoned by her mother she wants to manage everything on her own without doctors or the School for Life.
His eyes blink behind big and round glasses. He has clamped them securely to his head and without them he is as blind as a bat. Whensoever he laughs – gladly and whimsical - he turns into Harry Potter only he is not able to conjure.
The blind mother was guided by a neighbour and brought Artchi to the farm. She has a kidney failure and a dialysis is to expensive but now that Artchi is save and has a good perspective in life she can calmly die and hope for a better life afterwards.
For a while Artschi was belonging to the small community of the School for Life. We tried to raise money for his mother’s therapy but she died to soon. Artchi was examined by the queen’s doctor with the help of the German embassy in Bangkok. The diagnostic findings state that the process of getting blind is irresistible and the medical time delay is very limited.
Artchi assisted his mother the last days of her life. When she died and we were planning Artchi’s next examination with the doctors of the Chiang Mai University his sister turned up who just came of age. She moved with him to Chiang Mai and isolates him from further help. Abandoned by her mother she wants to manage everything on her own without doctors or the School for Life.
The Broom Seller
Tanakorn "Mod" Kaipanya, nine-years-old
At the age of nine Mod’s father died of Aids and his mother disavowed that she might be infected with Aids, too. Nobody knows where she is but probably she's awaiting her last breath.
Abandoned by his parents his grandmother took care of him. Regularly he collected branches for his grandmother in the forests. In partner work they tied them together to short-shaft brooms and earned 20 Bath a day.
One day the grandmother was feeling that she was going to die soon and that is why she asked the School for Life to affiliate Mod and assure him a good future.
Mod loves to draw and thinks he needs to be hard and strict to cope with life. Therefore he wanted to become a soldier but since he is at the farm he seems balanced and much softer, he romps around like a little child and is gaining trust for his new life.
Whenever he wishes to see his grandmother he visits her…
At the age of nine Mod’s father died of Aids and his mother disavowed that she might be infected with Aids, too. Nobody knows where she is but probably she's awaiting her last breath.
Abandoned by his parents his grandmother took care of him. Regularly he collected branches for his grandmother in the forests. In partner work they tied them together to short-shaft brooms and earned 20 Bath a day.
One day the grandmother was feeling that she was going to die soon and that is why she asked the School for Life to affiliate Mod and assure him a good future.
Mod loves to draw and thinks he needs to be hard and strict to cope with life. Therefore he wanted to become a soldier but since he is at the farm he seems balanced and much softer, he romps around like a little child and is gaining trust for his new life.
Whenever he wishes to see his grandmother he visits her…
The Sixth Sense
Nattachai "Boy" Taisamoot, six-years-old
In the summer of 2003 Nattachai’s mother is in the last stadium of Aids and send home from the hospital. The father is insane and not able to take care of Nattachai and so his mother send him to the School for Life.
At night, so Nattachai, his mother sends him her sixth sense. That is why he often cries, packs his property, waits until dawn and wants to walk to the village his mother is living at. We accompany him. His mother is breathing her last and so she tries to explain thateverything is going to be alright, he will have it good at the farm. Nattachai responds that he would not need the school, he still has 21 Bath and his mother another 60, they can easily live of it.
He cries a lot and is very sad. The people on the farm hug him -often for hours.
In the spring of 2004 Nattachai and the other children visit his mother in the hospital for the last time. She is lying together with several other badly diseased patients in a big hall where every one is just skin and bones, the skin is blackish and they gaze. Nattachai goes to her bed, sits down, they do not speak, they do not touch each other, his glance goes to the ceiling. He just sits on the corner of her bed, motionless and waiting.
The other kids who accompanied him withdraw to permit them to have their last encounter but soon Nattachai follows them. The mother rises tediously and tries to hold fast to a supporting frame but she is barely able to walk. Nattachai is waiting outside and then begins to play with the other children. Arriving at the door the mother turns to the right and leaves for the bathroom- she is gone. That was the last time Nattachai ever saw her.
Summer of 2004: Nattachai lives just like everyone else and does not cry anymore.
In the summer of 2003 Nattachai’s mother is in the last stadium of Aids and send home from the hospital. The father is insane and not able to take care of Nattachai and so his mother send him to the School for Life.
At night, so Nattachai, his mother sends him her sixth sense. That is why he often cries, packs his property, waits until dawn and wants to walk to the village his mother is living at. We accompany him. His mother is breathing her last and so she tries to explain thateverything is going to be alright, he will have it good at the farm. Nattachai responds that he would not need the school, he still has 21 Bath and his mother another 60, they can easily live of it.
He cries a lot and is very sad. The people on the farm hug him -often for hours.
In the spring of 2004 Nattachai and the other children visit his mother in the hospital for the last time. She is lying together with several other badly diseased patients in a big hall where every one is just skin and bones, the skin is blackish and they gaze. Nattachai goes to her bed, sits down, they do not speak, they do not touch each other, his glance goes to the ceiling. He just sits on the corner of her bed, motionless and waiting.
The other kids who accompanied him withdraw to permit them to have their last encounter but soon Nattachai follows them. The mother rises tediously and tries to hold fast to a supporting frame but she is barely able to walk. Nattachai is waiting outside and then begins to play with the other children. Arriving at the door the mother turns to the right and leaves for the bathroom- she is gone. That was the last time Nattachai ever saw her.
Summer of 2004: Nattachai lives just like everyone else and does not cry anymore.
The 'Waldgänger'
Wisanukorn "Joe", thirteen-years-old
Together with his grandmother Joe lived in a small hut in the jungle. Their earnings equal zero. His father died of Aids when he was only three years old. The mother disappeared, she might be even dead, Joe mentions, when he arrived at the farm.
That is how he became a 'Waldgänger'. He learned how to survive in the jungle. He knows how to dig out a mouse and eat it, which leaves are eatable, how to kill small animals with a crotch, how to catch fishes with a self made fish hook and how to defend oneself from snakes and scorpions.
For a few months he lived at the farm until his mother, a prostitute and an Aids carrier, appeared. Accepting the discrimination and against great odds she wanted to take Joe and have him around when she dies. Receiving backups from the School for Life, he lives together with his mother in the village.
Joe knows the hardest type of tracking; he can walk into the jungle without anything and still survive. And that is where his interests engage with his future plans: He wants to become a guide. But he has other interests as well. He loves to play soccer and plans on coming back to the School for Life when his mother is dead.
Together with his grandmother Joe lived in a small hut in the jungle. Their earnings equal zero. His father died of Aids when he was only three years old. The mother disappeared, she might be even dead, Joe mentions, when he arrived at the farm.
That is how he became a 'Waldgänger'. He learned how to survive in the jungle. He knows how to dig out a mouse and eat it, which leaves are eatable, how to kill small animals with a crotch, how to catch fishes with a self made fish hook and how to defend oneself from snakes and scorpions.
For a few months he lived at the farm until his mother, a prostitute and an Aids carrier, appeared. Accepting the discrimination and against great odds she wanted to take Joe and have him around when she dies. Receiving backups from the School for Life, he lives together with his mother in the village.
Joe knows the hardest type of tracking; he can walk into the jungle without anything and still survive. And that is where his interests engage with his future plans: He wants to become a guide. But he has other interests as well. He loves to play soccer and plans on coming back to the School for Life when his mother is dead.
Abandoned Twice
Preeyaporn "Nai" Tangswatdiwong, ten-years-old
Nutpong "Long" Tangswatdiwong, twelve-years-old
Ratikan "Ching" Tangswatdiwong, eighteen-years-old
Approximately four years ago Nai, her brother Long and her sister Ching woke up and noticed that their parents disappeared. Rumours say that they left because of their desperate situation to find work in Taiwan. Others say they got murdered. One fact certainly is true though: They never came back.
An uncle took the kids in but the trouble between him and his wife grew stronger. He already had to feed three children and soon it was clear there was not going to be enough food to keep a family of eight. Consequently Nai, Ching and Long woke up on fine day and again have been left alone. The uncle, his wife and their three children absconded.
Now they had to take care of themselves. They lived in a small hut in the jungle and nourished themselves with leaves, insects and berries to survive. They have keen and strong minds and fear hardly anything.
People of the village found them and mentioned the School for Life.Ching decided to bring her brother and sister to that place. Ching herself left but once in a while she appeared out of the jungle and visited them. We asked her if she was not afraid to live alone in the jungle but she answered with a strong voice: “No, nothing can scare her.”
That is how it came that she lived for an other while in the jungle all by herself. She borrowed a friend’s motorcycle to drive to the secondary school in Dai Saket, after that she drove forty kilometres to Chian Mai to work from six o’clock in the evening till two o’clock in the morning. After this exhausting day she returned to thejungle. She repeated this procedure every day and every night until she came totally exhausted and tired to the School for Life and pleased for affiliation.
For one year she lived on the farm, drove to school early in the morning and returned in the afternoon and very loving and friendly took care of the other children. One certain day she learnt that her parents neither are in Taiwan nor have been killed but got a lifelong sentence for drug distribution. Even the uncle had to leave because he has been persecuted by the police.
Ching does not want to see her father but very well her mother who still serves her sentence in Bangkok. So she did. She visited her with a tutor from the farm and the first time saw her again behind a glass pane and was allowed to talk to her for fifteen minutes. Many tears were flowing and Ching’s mother asked for forgiveness.
Ching came to know that the uncle was her parents’ boss, the hut in the jungle their hideout and he is living in wealth now. He survived the government’s drug war and hides his secret by pretending to be a ‘Guide’.
Today Ching is eighteen, has finished with school and in love. Nobody was able to hold her and so it came that she is living with her boyfriend in Chiang Mai. There she found work and casually visits her siblings and helps out at the farm. The farm became her home and she knows that doors will always be open for her.
Nai (translated: “where are you?“) took over the role of the big sister. She plays classic Thai-guitar and wants to become a doctor. Long (translated: “lost”) as well would like to become a doctor. He loves to swim and masters everything a house husband needs to know in the jungle: looking for ants’ eggs in the trees and clean up the dishes.
Nutpong "Long" Tangswatdiwong, twelve-years-old
Ratikan "Ching" Tangswatdiwong, eighteen-years-old
Approximately four years ago Nai, her brother Long and her sister Ching woke up and noticed that their parents disappeared. Rumours say that they left because of their desperate situation to find work in Taiwan. Others say they got murdered. One fact certainly is true though: They never came back.
An uncle took the kids in but the trouble between him and his wife grew stronger. He already had to feed three children and soon it was clear there was not going to be enough food to keep a family of eight. Consequently Nai, Ching and Long woke up on fine day and again have been left alone. The uncle, his wife and their three children absconded.
Now they had to take care of themselves. They lived in a small hut in the jungle and nourished themselves with leaves, insects and berries to survive. They have keen and strong minds and fear hardly anything.
People of the village found them and mentioned the School for Life.Ching decided to bring her brother and sister to that place. Ching herself left but once in a while she appeared out of the jungle and visited them. We asked her if she was not afraid to live alone in the jungle but she answered with a strong voice: “No, nothing can scare her.”
That is how it came that she lived for an other while in the jungle all by herself. She borrowed a friend’s motorcycle to drive to the secondary school in Dai Saket, after that she drove forty kilometres to Chian Mai to work from six o’clock in the evening till two o’clock in the morning. After this exhausting day she returned to thejungle. She repeated this procedure every day and every night until she came totally exhausted and tired to the School for Life and pleased for affiliation.
For one year she lived on the farm, drove to school early in the morning and returned in the afternoon and very loving and friendly took care of the other children. One certain day she learnt that her parents neither are in Taiwan nor have been killed but got a lifelong sentence for drug distribution. Even the uncle had to leave because he has been persecuted by the police.
Ching does not want to see her father but very well her mother who still serves her sentence in Bangkok. So she did. She visited her with a tutor from the farm and the first time saw her again behind a glass pane and was allowed to talk to her for fifteen minutes. Many tears were flowing and Ching’s mother asked for forgiveness.
Ching came to know that the uncle was her parents’ boss, the hut in the jungle their hideout and he is living in wealth now. He survived the government’s drug war and hides his secret by pretending to be a ‘Guide’.
Today Ching is eighteen, has finished with school and in love. Nobody was able to hold her and so it came that she is living with her boyfriend in Chiang Mai. There she found work and casually visits her siblings and helps out at the farm. The farm became her home and she knows that doors will always be open for her.
Nai (translated: “where are you?“) took over the role of the big sister. She plays classic Thai-guitar and wants to become a doctor. Long (translated: “lost”) as well would like to become a doctor. He loves to swim and masters everything a house husband needs to know in the jungle: looking for ants’ eggs in the trees and clean up the dishes.
To and Fro
Piyawalee "Kik" Thalomkham, six-years-old
Piyawadee "Kuk" Thalomkhan, six-years-old
Kik and Kuk, the twins are might be infected with Aids. The first examination’s diagnostic findings were positive and the second negative. A third still needs to be made. Kik and Kuk are very fragile for diseases, especially cough and fever.
With the age of one they lost their father, he died of Aids and the mother disappeared because of shame. The grandparents adopted the twins and stated in their school in front of everybody that even if they would know for certain that their grandchildren are infected with Aids they could not accept it. The children’s karma – Thai call it “gram”- is positive and as long they are well they are normal kids.
At the beginning the grandparents forbade another examination –the shock about the first diagnostic findings was deep. They wanted to have peace and let things move on regular. But finally they agreed to go on with the examinations.
If the third examination will deliver a negative result it would be the biggest present one could get. Kik and Kuk will keep on living with their grandparents and are positive that if they die one day the School for Life will take care of their beloved grandchildren. Sometimes Kik and Kuk visit the farm during the day, on the weekends or during vacation.
If the test results will be positive we will know that the pharmacist, Krisana Kraisintu, has found a medication for Aids. She developed a pill that might be able to fight the Virus. For 320 Euro a year HIV-infected persons can go on living, Aids patients can leave their deathbed and start a new life.
This price for one more year of living is twenty times cheaper then in Europe.
Piyawadee "Kuk" Thalomkhan, six-years-old
Kik and Kuk, the twins are might be infected with Aids. The first examination’s diagnostic findings were positive and the second negative. A third still needs to be made. Kik and Kuk are very fragile for diseases, especially cough and fever.
With the age of one they lost their father, he died of Aids and the mother disappeared because of shame. The grandparents adopted the twins and stated in their school in front of everybody that even if they would know for certain that their grandchildren are infected with Aids they could not accept it. The children’s karma – Thai call it “gram”- is positive and as long they are well they are normal kids.
At the beginning the grandparents forbade another examination –the shock about the first diagnostic findings was deep. They wanted to have peace and let things move on regular. But finally they agreed to go on with the examinations.
If the third examination will deliver a negative result it would be the biggest present one could get. Kik and Kuk will keep on living with their grandparents and are positive that if they die one day the School for Life will take care of their beloved grandchildren. Sometimes Kik and Kuk visit the farm during the day, on the weekends or during vacation.
If the test results will be positive we will know that the pharmacist, Krisana Kraisintu, has found a medication for Aids. She developed a pill that might be able to fight the Virus. For 320 Euro a year HIV-infected persons can go on living, Aids patients can leave their deathbed and start a new life.
This price for one more year of living is twenty times cheaper then in Europe.
Beyond the Seven Mountains
Wararee "Wow" Yooyen, ten-years-old
The parents are from far, far away and their journey led them across many mountains. The mother came from China but she does not know anymore where she met her husband.
Their last journey took them here- to Pongkum. There are not only children from the street but also families. Wow’s family is one of them and they searched for vacated shelters day by day and they neither have identification nor citizenship. They are illegal Migrants and were on the run afraid of being chased away.
Wow tried from an understorey deep in the jungle to get to school day by day. She had to climb a big mountain and arrived totally deserted at school while the other children learned Wow slept.
One day Wow’s mother got to know about the School for Life. She brought her daughter to the farm, pleased to affiliate her and offer her a good education. On the street Wow would not be save, especially not for a girl. We agreed and offered that they could keep a close contact to their daughter.
”At Home”, on the street, there was only a little bit of rice with chilli and salt. It never was enough to become full and contended. They were hungry most of the time. Now that she is at the farm she eats for three and is happy to be here.
One day the parents visited and brought another child, Cob. They asked for work on the farm. They got work and earnings together with a hut on the farm.
Wow loves crispy fried pork meat and playing the Thai guitar. Later she wants to become a musician.
The parents are from far, far away and their journey led them across many mountains. The mother came from China but she does not know anymore where she met her husband.
Their last journey took them here- to Pongkum. There are not only children from the street but also families. Wow’s family is one of them and they searched for vacated shelters day by day and they neither have identification nor citizenship. They are illegal Migrants and were on the run afraid of being chased away.
Wow tried from an understorey deep in the jungle to get to school day by day. She had to climb a big mountain and arrived totally deserted at school while the other children learned Wow slept.
One day Wow’s mother got to know about the School for Life. She brought her daughter to the farm, pleased to affiliate her and offer her a good education. On the street Wow would not be save, especially not for a girl. We agreed and offered that they could keep a close contact to their daughter.
”At Home”, on the street, there was only a little bit of rice with chilli and salt. It never was enough to become full and contended. They were hungry most of the time. Now that she is at the farm she eats for three and is happy to be here.
One day the parents visited and brought another child, Cob. They asked for work on the farm. They got work and earnings together with a hut on the farm.
Wow loves crispy fried pork meat and playing the Thai guitar. Later she wants to become a musician.
Not living und not dying
Titinan "Ti" Dato, eleven-years-old
Ti looks like a seven-year-old, small and lanky. Never ever he wants to have to go back on the street. Once he lived there with his family: four siblings, a pregnant mother and a destitute father. Most of the time they did not have any food or it was not enough to fill all the hungry stomachs. The father was trying to find work but kept in vain. If he had some work he only made two Euro a day. Even in Thailand six people cannot life of that.
His mother brought him and his seven-year-old brother to the farm and asked to affiliate them since there is no chance to survive on the streets at all, they would starve to death. Ti’s worst experience from the streets is to be hungry every day, a never stopping pain. Now, for the first time in his life he has enough food to get full, has a warm bed and room.
Ti likes to ad lib on drums and is attending the Lanna-Orchestra for children. He wants to become a doctor and likes playing soccer. He is growing very fast and might become very tall.
Ti looks like a seven-year-old, small and lanky. Never ever he wants to have to go back on the street. Once he lived there with his family: four siblings, a pregnant mother and a destitute father. Most of the time they did not have any food or it was not enough to fill all the hungry stomachs. The father was trying to find work but kept in vain. If he had some work he only made two Euro a day. Even in Thailand six people cannot life of that.
His mother brought him and his seven-year-old brother to the farm and asked to affiliate them since there is no chance to survive on the streets at all, they would starve to death. Ti’s worst experience from the streets is to be hungry every day, a never stopping pain. Now, for the first time in his life he has enough food to get full, has a warm bed and room.
Ti likes to ad lib on drums and is attending the Lanna-Orchestra for children. He wants to become a doctor and likes playing soccer. He is growing very fast and might become very tall.
Red Soil
Jamy "Jimmy" Jator, nine-years-old
When Jimmy came to the farm on April 2004 he looked like a six-year old but was already nine. He had a swollen stomach and his head became increasingly red. The adults thought he has worms but they were not able to explain the red face. The first days Jimmy tried to isolate himself and hid in hidden angles on the farm, on the field, behind the bushes on the Pickup’s parking lot. One day a farmer discovered that one of the Pickup’s wheels was unusually clean and shiny. At the second look he saw Jimmy licking the crusted red soil of one of the other wheels.
The following days the adults observed Jimmy wondering around looking for chunks of soil to eat. Soon we realized the problem: that was Jimmy’s way of surviving and not starving to death.
We tried to make him eat rice, vegetables and fish but Jimmy hang on to the soil. Therefore we had to guard him every day and night for two weeks to make him stop eating soil and offer him the food of the other kids. After that we left him on his own and a few days later he said he would not eat soil anymore. On the account of that everyone clapped and he got a big present. Finally his face changed from red to the unusual brown colour of everyone else. Sometimes he has relapses but just casually.
When Jimmy came to the farm on April 2004 he looked like a six-year old but was already nine. He had a swollen stomach and his head became increasingly red. The adults thought he has worms but they were not able to explain the red face. The first days Jimmy tried to isolate himself and hid in hidden angles on the farm, on the field, behind the bushes on the Pickup’s parking lot. One day a farmer discovered that one of the Pickup’s wheels was unusually clean and shiny. At the second look he saw Jimmy licking the crusted red soil of one of the other wheels.
The following days the adults observed Jimmy wondering around looking for chunks of soil to eat. Soon we realized the problem: that was Jimmy’s way of surviving and not starving to death.
We tried to make him eat rice, vegetables and fish but Jimmy hang on to the soil. Therefore we had to guard him every day and night for two weeks to make him stop eating soil and offer him the food of the other kids. After that we left him on his own and a few days later he said he would not eat soil anymore. On the account of that everyone clapped and he got a big present. Finally his face changed from red to the unusual brown colour of everyone else. Sometimes he has relapses but just casually.
Two final journeys
Noppharat "Bill" Yaitong, thirteen-years-old
†
As the dumbfounded police officer saw the rickety Pickup with no driver behind the wheel rolling down the country road he got on his motorcycle and followed it until he caught up with it. But to his surprise he saw a little boy sitting behind the steering wheel. He stopped him and asked him if he would be possibly insane. The little boy pointed at the backseat where his father was breathing his last. The Aids infected father wished to die at home and therefore the boy wanted to bring him from Pongkum to Lampun. The police officer let them through.
That is how it came that Bill, at that time ten years old, drove his father fifty kilometres to Lampun. They arrived in the afternoon but nobody was there and the father diseased at the same night.
Somewhere, far away, the Aids infected mother is awaiting her death, too. Once she has been a waitress but the last time Bill saw her she was deported into the kitchen to wash the dishes. Her disease did not allow her to go on with her life as normal. But that was long before Bill attended the School for Life.
One day – Bill has already integrated himself on the farm – his mother appeared, signed from Aids. Neighbours spoke badly of her, she was ashamed and wanted to take care for her son. Thereupon he moved with his mother. They both got support form the School for Life. Bill started to attend the secondary school in Doi Saket. The school borrowed him two pregnant cows as they calved he gave back the dams and raised the calves.
His mother finally died in July 2004. When the ceremony was over Bill visited the farm on a Sunday, greeted all the members of his new family and stated that he only needed to get some of his belongings before he could take his old space over again. On Tuesday, early in the morning, Bill boomed along the country road on his motor-cycle with a fairly high speed and wanted to take the turn leading to the farm but he lost control of his motor-bike and dashed right against a telephone pole.
There was nothing one could do – he died right away.
Deep down inside Bill must have known it, the tutors of the farm say. Hi might have felt his karma and just returned one single time to say goodbye to his big family.
Bill wanted to become a natural scientist and was a very talented flautist. He used to play the traditional Thai flute and was able to ad lib for hours on it.
How did he learn to drive a car? He learned it with eight years observing his father driving the car.
As the dumbfounded police officer saw the rickety Pickup with no driver behind the wheel rolling down the country road he got on his motorcycle and followed it until he caught up with it. But to his surprise he saw a little boy sitting behind the steering wheel. He stopped him and asked him if he would be possibly insane. The little boy pointed at the backseat where his father was breathing his last. The Aids infected father wished to die at home and therefore the boy wanted to bring him from Pongkum to Lampun. The police officer let them through.
That is how it came that Bill, at that time ten years old, drove his father fifty kilometres to Lampun. They arrived in the afternoon but nobody was there and the father diseased at the same night.
Somewhere, far away, the Aids infected mother is awaiting her death, too. Once she has been a waitress but the last time Bill saw her she was deported into the kitchen to wash the dishes. Her disease did not allow her to go on with her life as normal. But that was long before Bill attended the School for Life.
One day – Bill has already integrated himself on the farm – his mother appeared, signed from Aids. Neighbours spoke badly of her, she was ashamed and wanted to take care for her son. Thereupon he moved with his mother. They both got support form the School for Life. Bill started to attend the secondary school in Doi Saket. The school borrowed him two pregnant cows as they calved he gave back the dams and raised the calves.
His mother finally died in July 2004. When the ceremony was over Bill visited the farm on a Sunday, greeted all the members of his new family and stated that he only needed to get some of his belongings before he could take his old space over again. On Tuesday, early in the morning, Bill boomed along the country road on his motor-cycle with a fairly high speed and wanted to take the turn leading to the farm but he lost control of his motor-bike and dashed right against a telephone pole.
There was nothing one could do – he died right away.
Deep down inside Bill must have known it, the tutors of the farm say. Hi might have felt his karma and just returned one single time to say goodbye to his big family.
Bill wanted to become a natural scientist and was a very talented flautist. He used to play the traditional Thai flute and was able to ad lib for hours on it.
How did he learn to drive a car? He learned it with eight years observing his father driving the car.