Using her home as a free day care center, Nuannoi Timkul (Khru Noi) hopes to save poor kids from drowning in a sea of poverty and illiteracy.
TKO (Keanu and Tristen Ellen) visited the Rat Burana slum of Thailand and found a 54 year old woman who has been caring for slum children for the past 17 years. After a spinal operation, Khru Noi was paralyzed from the waist down. All of her savings had been depleted and her husband, a factory worker and herself were near penniless. While her husband went to work, Khru Noi who was dealing with her own depression saw children in her neighborhood who were wandering around the town, often stealing fruit from neighbors gardens to eat. Unlike others who condemned the children, Khru Noi took them into her home and shared stories of life as well as the fruits from her home. According to Khru Noi, the parents of the slum children are mostly poor farmers who work as unskilled labor in the Rat Burana area. Khru Noi, who has a junior high education started to teach the children to read and write. Her husband earned 70 baht a day (approximately $2.10) and gave her 20 baht (60 cents) which she used for noodles to feed the children. Khru Noi sold her belongings and took odd jobs to earn extra money to buy books and a blackboard. Within a few years she had over 60 children. She tried charging the parents but the parents would then just make their children not go to Khru Noi and it left them wandering the streets so she stopped charging the parents. She has helped a few of the children graduate from school and as we watched her limp and drag her paralyzed leg across the room, we could see a true love for her children through her eyes. An amazingly inspiring woman, Khru Noi touched the hearts of our TKO family.
Once a woman who was sad and depressed about her own life. She has now taken it upon herself to help others. Today her kindness has helped her to find a passion to care and teach children in need.
We carried bags of dehydrated foods donated by Alpine aire foods and Natural high foods. We also packed soccer balls and toys donated by the employees of American financial network from their Holiday party. www.afn-net.com If you want to help Khru Noi, please let us know and we can send your donation to her or let you know how to reach her. She is in need of financial assistance and from what we saw, she truly spends every cent on the children. The very small, cluttered home had many children coming through during our 3 hours there. We purchased pizzas and drinks and handed out many smiles to these very thankful children.
Thank you,
Team TKO
The Ellen family
Brett, Mandy, Keanu and Tristen Ellen
TKO visits the slums of Thailand
