One of Thailand's biggest slum communities has been given new hope thanks in part to money raised by Irish expats living in the Far East.
The destitute people of Klong Toey slum, in the heart of Bangkok, have benefited from the fundraising efforts of the organisers of the annual Asian Gaelic games.
Money raised at this year's games, which take place today and tomorrow in the Thai resort of Phuket, will again be donated to the Mercy Centre in Klong Toey, run by an American priest, Father Joe Maier. Last year €12,000 was raised at the games for the project.
The games will be attended by the President, Mrs McAleese, who is on the first official visit to Thailand by an Irish head of state. Gaelic teams from Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai, Malaysia and Japan will be taking part.
Father Joe, who has been described as the Mother Teresa of Bangkok, is a director of the Human Development Foundation, which opened the Mercy Centre in July 2001 for street kids, orphans and abused children. It also takes in children with AIDS. More than 150,000 people live in dire poverty in shacks in Klong Toey, which was once a thriving port area in Bangkok.
No child in need is turned away, said Father Joe. Yesterday we met 18-month-old Lek who was abandoned by her 19-year-old, HIV-positive mother. Her father died of AIDS before she was born and Lek also has the virus. Nok (4) has been at the centre for over a year. His mother died of AIDS, and no member of the family was able to take care of him.
Father Joe told of one case where a grandmother left her daughter's triplets into the home in return for two cases of whiskey. It was better that they be "sold" to the home rather than to a beggar gang, he said. Another equally destitute woman dumped her 11-year-old stepson, who was blind with AIDS, on the centre's doorstep.
The Mercy Centre programme touches the lives of thousands of the poor every day. It also has an AIDS hospice.
Father Joe, a Redemptorist priest born in Seattle and whose mother is from Cork, arrived in Thailand when he was 28. He was awarded one of the country's top honours for his work with the poor.
He said the children with AIDS - who attend classes the same as the others - had taught staff about mercy and joy and laughter.