10 GIRLS
0 DOUBLE ORPHANS
ORPHAN CRISIS IN THAILAND
According to UNICEF, approximately one million Thai children live in vulnerable conditions. These include children who live in poverty, have lost their parents, have a disability or are forced to live on the streets. In addition, it is estimated that around 290,000 children have been orphaned due to HIV/AIDS. Thailand also endured the horrific 2014 Boxing Day Tsunami, along with several other natural disasters over the years. These disasters have claimed thousands of lives, and left thousands missing and displaced. As a result, many children were left without parents, and without a home.
Unfortunately, Thailand’s orphaned and abandoned children face harsh vulnerabilities and risks, such as exploitation, sex trafficking, child labor, malnutrition, poverty, and disease. In the northern parts of Thailand, many tribal communities exist, including the Hmong Tribe. For the Hmong people, discrimination heightens their daily struggle to survive. Because many of them do not have Thai nationality, they often cannot find work and their children are denied proper education. Eventually, this cycle of poverty drives many to crime. For the Hmong women, youth pregnancy, poverty, and peer pressure provides an easy gateway into prostitution. With high levels of incarceration and women being trafficked, children in these communities are often left alone and abandoned.
HOUSE OF FAITH
Lily and Somnuk Montrelerdrasme recognized the great need for a home in this specific area of Thailand to support children who had lost one or both of their parents or had been removed from their homes due to abuse or mistreatment. In 2008, the Montrelerdrasme family took a small savings and built a facility on their own land. In 2011, Serving Orphans Worldwide came alongside House of Faith. They provide the most vulnerable children in Thailand with a safe place to live, three meals a day, access to education, health care and more. We are proud to support the Montrelerdrasme’s and their ministry to orphaned Thai children.
Serving Orphans Worldwide travels to every orphanage we partner with to ensure needs are legitimate and 100% of funds distributed goes to the livelihood of the children.
PROMINENT ISSUES
Abuse
House of Faith has taken in children who have been physically abused in their homes. UNICEF reported that abuse prevalence ranges from 9% to nearly one in four children in the Southeast Asia region.
Destitution
Discrimination against the hill tribes has forced them into poverty. The World Bank estimates that 13% of the Thai population is living in poverty, and many times children are abandoned as a result.
Sex Trafficking
Thailand’s Health System Research Institute estimates that children in prostitution make up 40% of prostitutes in Thailand. In situations like this, children with no one to care for them become the most vulnerable.
HOME
House of Faith consists of four buildings – a kitchen, boys house, girls house, and a home for the directors. The children have access to bathroom facilities as well as clean water on site. They each have adequate bedding as well as mosquito nets to prevent them from mosquito borne diseases.
EDUCATION
At House of Faith, children have access to an education that they may have been denied before, due to their social status. However, all school aged children at the home attend school off premises, with transportation being provided by the home’s vehicle.
FAITH
Thailand is a 95% Buddhist country. Many of the children coming to House of Faith have not experienced Christ’s love before. The children are introduced to Jesus in a way they understand. They attend church on the premises, with the house parents leading the service.
HEALTH
Since most of the children at House of Faith come from the hill tribes, they have not received adequate health care. Now within the home, they have access to medical attention if needed, vaccinations and screening tests.
SPONSOR THIS HOME
House of Faith Thailand – Sponsorship Needs
$2,700 of $12,000 raised
This year, we have a goal to help improve the quality of care for these amazing children, and we need your help. Your gift will help provide education, a safe home, health, and adult mentors who can share the Love of Christ. Our promise to you is that 100% will go directly to the home.
OTHER URGENT NEEDS
Vehicle Repair
$0 of $300 raised
Security Wall
$0 of $15,000 raised