Greyman Blog

You may remember that 8 weeks ago we rescued a young 15 year old girl called Peng (not her real name) and just the other evening we had the opportunity to catch up with her again here in Chiang Mai, Thailand.  She is a really shy, beautiful, 16 year old now who loves practising traditional Thai dancing and is doing pretty well at school. 

Peng on the night she was rescued

She told us the other evening that if Grey Man had not been there on the night she was sold she would never have been able to see her mother again because of the shame she would have felt.  Luckily, Grey Man was there and Peng now has a promising future if she gets access to a good education.

Presently she is attending a Welfare school which is available to people on a low income and free to attend but it means that she has to live away from her mother.  These schools do not provide a quality education and Peng has the potential to go on to University.  She would like to become a nurse so that she can help other people.

Peng does not fall under the normal Grey Man guidelines for assistance because she was not sent to a shelter.  She was able to be returned to her mother without danger and we don’t normally get involved with assistance in these cases.

However, we do not want to waste her potential and so I am appealing to you for help.  To pay for her schooling at a preferred school for the next 2 years will cost around 15,000 baht per year.  That is only $600 per year or $50 per month.  Here is a chance for YOU to make a significant difference in the quality of life of another human being. 

So I urge you to consider that for a small amount of money by western standards, you can change one life for the better.  If you want to support Peng please contact me by e-mail at admin@thegreyman.org and we will work out the details.  Even small individual contributions will quickly add up to the required amount and anything extra will go towards her continuing education.  Just let us know by e-mail that you want your contribution to go towards Peng’s education.  Thank you in advance for being in the arena with us and not just a spectator.

John

We realised a long-time back that rescuing children was not enough.  The real answer lies in giving children a future and that requires education.  Ethnic minority children often do not go to school or for only a minimal time.  This leads to lower employment prospects in the future.  To combat this issue we partnered with Kid’s Ark Foundation  in Thailand.  Their main focus is the support and care of AIDS orphans but they also have provided education to hundreds of children.

We liked their style and their philosophy.  They made financial support for a family conditional on the children attending school.  If the children were removed from school to be trafficked or for any other reason the money stopped coming.  This works very well and all of the children supported this way remain in school.  Grey Man started our prevention programme by supporting 28 families in one of the Lahu hill-tribe villages.  We continue this but have since expanded into providing transport for 100 children spread across three villages.  Without this transport many of these children would never receive an education. 

Motorbike donated by The Grey Man

We have also provided a motorbike for one child shelter that will allow the social workers to take information on trafficking to the villages at risk and will be used to travel to the families of trafficking victims to discuss re-integration into the family. 

Kru Nam is one of our favourite people so we have just provided the final payment for a truck to take Burmese ethnic minority kids from Kru Nam’s shelter to school. 

These two last projects were accomplished in partnership with Rotary Australia World Community Service (RAWCS).  They are all small steps but have the potential to create a major impact in the life of these children.