Mandate: Go to school.

Number of Mercy Preschools: 26

Number of Students: 3,838 (2008)

Community Coverage: 26 poor neighborhoods in Bangkok; over 20 Sea Gypsy communities in Thailand's South.

Brief History of Preschools

When Father Joe first arrived in the Slaughterhouse neighborhood as the Parish Priest of the Catholic community, he soon discovered that many of the poor children in his Parish were not going to school. Those few who were going were failing. Something had to be done.

 In 1973, Father Joe and  and Sister Maria Chantavoradom  set out to do something about the distressing situation. They transformed an abandoned eight-room wooden structure into a school. The school was on the edge of the slum area and it immediately became a “one-baht-per-day” preschool for neighborhood girls and boys, regardless of their various religious or ethnic backgrounds.                                  

These schools would and still do have a threefold benefit:

1) Poor children are educated to enter elementary school.

2)The mothers of the children are free to seek work during the day. This is necessary in order to supplement the usually very meager family income.

3) The schools give a certain stability, pride and dignity to the slum communities. The schools show the local government that these communities are a living and viable part of the city. One cannot simply ignore such communities. The schools are also meeting points for the parents and guardians who walk their children to school. There they can talk together and pick up on the local news and significant events. At present the schools have become a focal point for many community functions and weddings.

Father Joe and Sister Maria took their inspiration from a Muslim leader, Haji Tolaeb who had in 1966 opened Bangkok’s original “one-baht-per day” school in his own home in Klong Toey. His home, and now school, was a five minute walk from the tin roof mosque of which he was an Imam. At that time a Thai baht was worth about three U.S. pennies. Imam Haji Tolaeb’s school was serving the children of Bangkok’s poorest Muslim families. Imam Haji Tolaeb was spiritually and intellectually convinced that the children deserved the best spiritual and intellectual formation as was possible within the limits of his resources. He devised and developed a comprehensive curriculum that incorporated literacy skills, mathematics and science along with the teachings of Islam. In this respect he was a worthy successor to all of the great Islamic scholars in history. He was passing on their vision to the poorest of the poor children.

It was not long before many of the local Buddhist parents had asked that their children be admitted into the tiny school. He graciously took them into his growing flock of “scholar” children even though his resources were so limited. Some parents could not afford even the one baht per day. However Iman Taji wanted the parents to seriously value the education of the children. Hence he accepted a handful of rice, some few fresh vegetables or a piece of chicken in lieu of the one baht per day. He was convinced that this insistence of his on some payment would make the parents realize the importance of their children’s’ studies.

Father Joe and Sister Maria opened their first one-baht school based on the ideas of Iman Haji. The basic human and spiritual principles for their decision were in harmony with the convictions of Iman Haji.  Namely, all were convinced that justice, mercy and compassion should be the roots of their endeavors.

In 1973 Father Joe and Sister Maria asked Iman Haji if he would serve as the first principal of their growing pre-school system. This he did with eminent skill and wisdom. He served as principal until 2002, when he retired due to ill health. Both of his daughters have been teaching in the HDF pre-schools for 20 and more years. His youngest son became the Iman of the local mosque in the poor community.

Approximately 50,000 boys and girls from the slum areas have begun their education in HDF pre-schools.

School Curriculum: We follow the Thai national curriculum and make sure that our children gain their first lessons with a sense of triumph and joy. They can say with pride, "We learn to count, to dance, to sing, to tell stories, to play new games, to brush our teeth, to fight germs, to say nice words, to make friends."

Nutrition-Health: One out of five children comes to our schools malnourished and hungry, and it's very hard for our kids to learn on an empty stomach. We provide a lunch that for most of these children is their most nutritious meal of the day. Plus fruit and protein snacks in the morning and after naptime. We also provide childhood inoculations, and measure the children's health and development throughout the school year.

A Community Partnership: The communities help construct and staff the schools located in their neighborhoods. The HDF receives a 10 to 15-baht fee from parents each school day - just a fraction (approximately 5%) of the cost of most Bangkok private preschools. The fee is waived for over 500 poor families who cannot afford it. These poorest children also receive school supplies, book bags, shoes, uniforms, etc.

Additional School Program Benefits: Our preschools are the core of our community outreach and child protection activities. Slum leaders, police. and parents... they know they can depend on us, that we will go "to the wall" to fight trafficking of slum women and children, that we will save children who are abused, sick or abandoned, that we will take these children into our homes and care and nurture them for years, for as long as they have no family or place to live.

The Challenges
We must reach out to help the children living in the slums on the furthest margins - the slums that are barely visible, many of them no larger than ten makeshift shacks under a bridge. We must get the children living in these slums into school, and provide vans, teachers and classrooms if we have to. We must reach every rag-picker's kid, every construction worker's kid, every garland seller's kid and teach them how to read and write. In recent years we have operated several temporary schools for the children living with their parents on construction sites. We are planning to open up five new schools during the 2009-10 school year.

Our Thanks to the Mercy School Sponsors:

Arisaig Partners

The Atlantic Philanthropies

Barclays Captial Securities (Thailand)

British Women's Group

Federal Express (Thailand) Co., Ltd.

Kurt Meinen and Lisa Thompson

Linklaters (Thailand) Ltd.

Lloyd George Asia Foundation

Mercedes-Benz Leasing (Thailand) Co., Ltd.

Philip Morris PCL

Recreational Bangkok Biking Ltd.

UBS Securities (Thailand) Ltd.

Wings of Support 

Mercy Schools Budget 2009-2010

A note on School Budgets: The parents and guardians of the school children support their school with a 10-baht -per-day fee, if they are able, in partnership with our schools. We also receive partial subsidies for teachers' salaries, milk and some school supplies. The figures below represent HDF's actual out-of-pocket costs after deducting fees and subsidies.

School Name                                    Thai Baht                        USD*

Paisingto                                    Sponsored                        Sponsored

Watcharapol                            280,953.00                        8,263.32

Bangna**                                    Sponsored                        Sponsored

Rimtangrodfai                       344,167.85                        10,122.56

Poonsab                                    352,614.30                        10,371.01

Klongtoeinai                           Sponsored                        Sponsored

Rimklongwatsapan                        Sponsored                        Sponsored

Onnuch 40 Rai                        450,137.45                        13,239.34

Chokechai Ruammith                460,754.30                        13,551.60

Flat 23-24                                    Sponsored                        Sponsored

Yenarkard                                    Sponsored                        Sponsored

Zone 9                                    572,825.00                        16,847.79

Nikommakkasan                        616,760.00                        18,140.00

Ceu Plong Nok                        Sponsored                        Sponsored

Ceu Plong Nai                          Sponsored                        Sponsored

Flat 10 Dindaeng                        Sponsored                        Sponsored

Romklao                                    Sponsored                        Sponsored

Flat 17                                    729,023.40                        21,441.86

Koh Lao*** 830,000 24,410 

Sueyai                                  Sponsored                        Sponsored

Morawan                                 Sponsored                        Sponsored

Landin                               Sponsored                        Sponsored

Zone 8                                  1,459,067.65                        42,913.75

Flat 12                                 1,473,059.65                        43,325.28

Lock 6                                2,057,100.35                        60,502.95

Sukhapibal                             2,395,415.10                        70,453.39

*Dollar figures fluctuate according to currency rates vs Thai Bath, currently approx. 34 baht/US dollar

**Partial Sponsorship

***Koh Lao, located in Ranong Province, is a special school for the poorest of the sea gypsy children. 

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