Temple kitchens are always off to the side, unnoticed unless you are part of the kitchen staff ­­— those devoted ladies who cook and clean for every ceremonial meal. Auntie Grannie is one of the selfless.Not surprisingly, she is also someone who will always stand by your side when others turn away.

From an article in Big Chili, a Bangkok-based magazine, about how Mercy Centre is working with the poor during the co-vid 19 crisis.

Dear everybody

Happy Easter & Kitchen Supplies for our Slum Kindergartens

Feast of St Patrick

Dear all you fabulous lads & lasses, near and far,

Even though the dirty, ugly Covid – 19 Virus comes creeping and sneaking around our back door, like a smelly unwanted troll, our children won’t let the nasty monster in. “We wash our hands Fr. Joe.” All our mob of children and staff are safe and healthy.

Dear Everyone

Our children are home – happy/ beginning summer school vacation. Final exams finished last week – Four hundred finished kindergarten three (going into the first grade) from our 22 kindergartens where 2,000 slum children joyfully attend. Here is a letter from one of the graduates: thought you might want to share.

Father Joseph Maier, an Irish American priest who has dedicated his life to helping marginalised and abused children in Klong Toey, Bangkok, will be well-known to long-time readers of the Bangkok Post.