Phu is a single mother from Thailand and the sole provider for her two sons. She was in a motorcycle accident and broke her foot, leaving her disabled and without work for four months. No matter how hard she tried, no one would give her work because of her impairment. She felt like she was in the pit of despair with little hope for the future. When BSF heard of her situation, Phu was invited to join a family-strengthening program in Nong Pakhrang, Thailand. The invitation brought tears of joy to her face. It was as if a ray of light and hope suddenly shone into her dark situation!
Phu is from an ethnic minority group in Thailand. She doesn't have Thai citizenship, which can leave her vulnerable and often disadvantaged. Phu used to work as a maid, earning a monthly income. However, after her motorcycle accident, she couldn't find any work for months. She then spent all her hard-earned savings to take care of the basic needs of her family. The cost of her children's school tuition and the house rent became an overwhelming burden for her to bear. She felt hopeless and couldn’t see a way out.
When the Building Strong Families' team was made aware of Phu’s situation, they made plans to assist the family. On visiting Phu for the first time, they found her sitting in a dark house where the atmosphere felt extremely sad and heavy. The team encouraged Phu and gave her hope when she felt there was no hope. She sensed a safe environment and openly shared her sorrows and concerns. She no longer felt alone anymore.
During the Opening Day of the 18-month family-strengthening program, Phu and her children met and interacted with other BSF families in similar situations. They felt so much love being shown towards them.
To assist Phu with her financial situation, BSF spent time with her researching ways to generate more income for her family. Phu loves cooking! She can cook many different delicious types of food! Therefore, after a lot of discussion and planning, Phu decided she would like to sell packaged food sets and other yummy items she would prepare.
To help her get started, BSF supported Phu with two gas cookers, two sacks of rice, 5kg of pork, 5kg of chicken, and all the seasonings she needed. She was so grateful! Since she began, her little food business has made an instant impact! Phu is now making an additional income of about 500Baht per day! She now has enough income to cover all her daily family expenses and is already planning to expand her business in the future.
BSF also provided health assistance to Phu and her family by taking them for a full health check-up to the hospital. This pleased Phu very much. She usually has to pay a lot for medical costs because she isn't a Thai citizen and can't access the government's health care assistance. BSF also purchased much needed eyeglasses for Phu's eldest son to assist him with his sight and education. Phu was so grateful and felt so blessed to be a part of this holistic family-strengthening program.
After attending her first training day on “What is family?”, Phu was delighted to learn new ways to build a loving and strong family for her children. She said, "I now have a vision of what I hope to see in our family. I feel like light is shining into my life and I believe my family will become much stronger through this program."
BSF is a partner for project J1079 & J1102 with Australian NGO, Global Development Group (ABN 57 102 400 993). Donations to BSF through Global Development Group are tax deductible in Australia, NZ, and the USA.