Today was a special day at Mercy. Hundreds of the elderly poor in Klong Toey joined us for a Thai New Year luncheon feast and Songkran party. Monks from our local temple, Wat Saphan, chanted and gave blessings. Grandmas and grandpas danced to the old songs. And to make the day perfect, they taught their grandchildren the words, plus a few of the old dances and all the most important traditions. It was a beautiful day, and a wonderful reminder how blessed we are at Mercy to have thousands of caring friends and kind neighbors.

Our children celebrated Children’s Day this Saturday in perfect fashion – playing hard, eating ice cream and cake, swimming at local pools, roughhousing (pretending to be kung fu fighters), skipping rope, jumping and diving and cart-wheeling all around, and then, as the sun went down, finding even more ways to play harder and have even more fun.

Yesterday was a glorious day at our Mercy Centre. On the occasion of her birthday, HRH Princess Srirasmi visited our Mercy Centre to celebrate with our Mercy children, our kindergarten students, and all our house moms, house dads, teachers, and social workers.

Last week our social workers took 45 street children to a place they could barely imagine, far away from their everyday cares.

Last week our Mercy children, along with our kindergarten students, our staff, and neighbors, invited the monks from our local temple Wat Saphan to celebrate Mother's Day together as a community.

Our children rushed home from school last Friday afternoon to receive a group of special guests – The US Third Marine Expeditionary Force Band – a traditional 12-piece military marching band of the highest caliber and spirit.