The Players:
* Fah Sai, abandoned 3-year-old disabled girl.
* Pai, director of Hand to Hand Foundation, who runs day care center for slum-dwelling toddlers in South Pattaya.
* Share Love with a Friend Project, associated with the above, and organizes monthly distributions of rice and milk, as well as wheelchairs when needed, to poor families with disabled kids. (This is a core beneficiary for the Jesters.)
* Jesters Care for Kids Charity Drive: “Believes every child deserves access to safe shelter, educational opportunities, and for the disabled, special treatment and schooling.”
Fah Sai with a nurse at the Camillian Home on the day she went to stay.
* Camillian Home in Lat Krabang: “Provides children living with disabilities and HIV/AIDS the closest achievable experience to a normal family and creating a barrier-free environment for people with disabilities and their families.” (This is also a core beneficiary for the Jesters.)
The Story:
Fah Sai lived in the Kophai slum area since her infancy and was the youngest of three kids to parents who were drug-users and dealers. After her birth, the parents stopped caring for their children, and as they were repeatedly arrested for their offences, the kids were often left behind to fend for themselves. When they were out of jail, the drug supplier would offer to ‘look after’ the kids, as long as the parents peddled his product.
Some say Fah Sai was born with cerebral palsy; yet still another version is that she was normal at birth and then dropped on her head without receiving any medical treatment. Regardless, the fact is that she was left neglected lying on the floor of the drug supplier’s house day in, day out.
Since she had no use of her legs and could hardly lift her head, Fah Sai would sleep on the floor for hours on end, occasionally being fed milk when someone responded to her feeble cries.
Ultimately, the drug supplier fled the scene, abandoning the children altogether. This was when Pai, who was working in the Kophai slum at the time, went into action. She was able to rescue Fah Sai and her older sister, Pet, but the brother disappeared with the drug supplier and never seen again.
Woody visits with Fah Sai, who is in wheelchair donated by Jesters, at the Hand to Hand Foundation.
At this stage, Fah Sai could only drink fluids because the muscles in her neck were never given a chance to develop. It took some time before she could lift her head and sit up with aid that she could then be spoon-fed and swallow solid food.
Pai eventually became the director of the Hand to Hand Foundation in Duck Square and would take her to the center in the day and back to her home at night. She became her primary care giver, which was an around-the-clock task.
In the meantime, both of Fah Sai’s parents, as repeat offenders, were finally given lengthy sentences in Chonburi. The father ended up dying in prison, while the mother still remains incarcerated today.
In due course, Pai, who was also taking care of other abandoned children in her home, knew that, if Fah Sai was going to get better, she needed professional care and regular physical therapy. However, she soon realized that there was no place available at any of the local facilities here catering to the disabled. And when she expanded her search the only institution that offered her a place already had over 2000 kids. After all, everyone concerned wanted her to have an environment that felt like a home.
Since the Jesters were already involved in Fah Sai’s welfare, and had provided her with a wheelchair, Pai then approached us about this dilemma.
The Solution:
It was then that we approached the Camillian Home in Lat Krabang near the new Bangkok airport as a potential suitable place for her. We consulted with Father Giovanni, director, and Faisal, coordinator, and both were positive about her being admitted there. We took Fah Sai up there for a visit and the staff immediately took to her, as she did to them. Moreover, there were only 19 resident disabled kids there. We knew we had found the place.
Two weeks later, on Saturday, March 24th, we made the trip up there again to deliver Fah Sai to her new home. She met the kids that were to be her new extended family, including the nursing staff, her new guardians.
When we were getting ready to return to Pattaya, we knew all was well. Fah Sai looked up at us, smiled and waved good-bye.
After such a rude intro to life, Fah Sai has finally come home to 24/7 loving care.
If you too would like to help special children, like Fah Sai, please visit us at www.care4kids.info and/or www.facebook.com/jesterscare.forkids.
