Having raised her three daughters alone for the past six years, Oon had gotten used to solo-parenting. But when her divorce was finalised, her husband refused to take any responsibility for the children, plunging Oon into financial stress and difficulty. Working two jobs, Oon was able to make things work but at the costly expense of time with her children. When she heard about the Building Stronger Families program, Oon knew it was the opportunity she had been waiting for.
Raising three children alone is no small feat, especially in Chiang Mai, Thailand. For Oon, this responsibility wasn’t by choice, but happened as a sad result of separation from her husband over six years ago. She has been lovingly raising their three girls alone since, with some financial support from her husband. However, when the divorce from her husband was recently finalised, the children’s father stepped out of the picture – child allowance stopped, and he only rarely came to see his children.
Oon had no other option but to take up a second job to support her daughters; after her cleaning job was finished, she would go home and work a second sewing job. The weight of being the sole income earner (and parent) for her daughters weighed on her heavily.
She worried, as any mother would, about her daughters being left alone while she went to work, but she simply had no alternative. It was in this dark situation that Oon began to dream about working from home entirely to be the present mother she longed to be.
When Oon heard about the Building Stronger Families program, her heart filled with hope, knowing it was the opportunity her family desperately needed. She wholeheartedly devoted herself to the program, participating regularly in the activities and showing a deep willingness to learn how to succeed in caring for her family.
Soon after joining, it was time to consider the economic trajectory of the family, and Oon shared her vision of working from home with BSF. Her pre-existing skills in sewing were the key: if she could make this her primary job, she could be the stay-at-home mum her daughters needed. She explained to BSF that if she got an overlock sewing machine, it would generate over four times as much income than her current machine due to its functionality. While it would be a long-term investment, purchasing the overlock machine herself would send her family into debt, which was the last thing she needed. After hearing her vision, BSF supported her by purchasing the machine so she could stay debt-free and step into her dream of working from home.
Oon’s joy at receiving the machine was palpable: “I am very happy, indeed! Thankfully, through the program I now have it without any debt.”. Oon’s forwarding-thinking also sees a double purpose for the machine in that it can be a tool for her children’ futures, “[the] sewing machine…can be an inheritance to pass on to my children from generation to generation”.
Oon’s mothering heart no longer feels torn under the tension of financial and emotional provision as she is able to faithfully nurture her beautiful children in her own home.
“I feel more comfortable that I have time to take care of my children fully. I don’t have to leave them with anyone. In the morning, I don’t have to rush out of the house to go to work. [I] have time to spend together with my children.” - Oon
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.
Building Strong Families Foundation or มูลนิธิสร้างครอบครัวเข้มแข็ง is a registered foundation in Thailand (ชม770), approved by the Ministry of Interior.