Toey

Toey is a beautiful and happy 9 yr old girl.  I hate

 to say it but out of all the kids she is my favorite!  She is beautiful, smart and funny.  She is a good student, but she also has an edge that keeps you guessing, what is really going on in her mind?  Like most kids in the slum she doesn’t put with anything from anyone!  She like most people in Thailand she shows no emotion on the surface, but once you crack her hard exterior she is a sweet little girl who just wants to be loved.  She has 4 siblings, 3 brothers and one sister and lives with her grandmother (SoPa)  Her mother lives in Bangkok as well but rarely sees any of her children.  I have only met one one of her older siblings and it was her sister who is 13 years old and her younger brother.  When I met her older sister I wanted to cry.  Her sister is a 13 year old prostitute who is already “married”.  That killed me inside!

 

Not only because of her “job” but also because Toey looks up to her and already acts like her in many ways.  Looking at her I can see Toey’s future, unless there is divine intervention, I am afraid that she will follow in the footsteps as her sister and that scares me!  We are trying to convince her mother and grandmother to let her and her younger brother go to CAA but they believe that even though they have raised 10 children very poorly that they can break the cycle with these two.  Her mother and grandmother both have very little education and dropped out of school at a very young age.  I was studying the Bible with her grandmother and was very surprised to find out that she did not know who Hitler was!  I thought everyone knew that name!

They live in a big house by slum standards, but it is always full of teenagers and kids in their early 20’s  Their house is spot where all the young men and women want to go because they can do whatever they want without any rules.  Her grandmother thinks this is a good thing and it is keeping all of the kids out of trouble, but it is exposing a 9 yr old and a 7 yr old to drugs, alcohol, and a bad way to live life.  We have talked to her grandmother about this but she seems to think that it is a good thing, even though her 9 and 7 year old grandkids talk and act like they are 20!

Toey loves her mom, even though she is never around, when she does come around she lights up, like a Christmas tree!  Her and her little brother, also named Toey, are inseparable they are always sharing food and taking toys from other kids.  They are fun to be around and the minute you take them out of the slum they turn into the best kids in the world.  I would love to give her the opportunity to leave the slum, for good!  I hope that you will all join together and pray with us, that God will change the hearts of her mom and grandmother and allow them to study at CAA!