By Tim Dunham | Executive Director
I was recently visiting my nephew, who was telling me about his limited edition Nike basketball shoes he got for Christmas last year. He was so excited to add this special shoe to his collection that he has proudly displayed in his room. He never wears any of them - he only collects them. I was struck by how different things are for many children in Thailand. Take, for example, Sage and Thyme (not real names), who are eight-year-old twin sisters. They live with their grandmother because their mother has AIDS and is bedridden. Their grandmother is the only breadwinner in the family, but her income is not enough. While grandmother is out working, the twins help care for their very sick mom. In fact, one of the biggest financial burdens for the family is the cost of the AIDS medicine that is keeping their mother alive. The family was so poor that they could only afford to buy one pair of school shoes the twins had to share. That meant only one of the twins would wear the shoes one day and go to school, and the other twin would wear the shoes and go the next day. They didn’t have funds to buy school uniforms or lunch, so sending the twins to school was a tremendous hardship for the family. Not only that, but their friends at school would tease them because they had to share clothes.
Two years ago, a caring neighbor saw the difficult circumstances of this family and connected with Education Matters, and they were able to get a scholarship so that both twins could get the shoes, uniforms, and school supplies they both needed. Now, they can both go to school every day. The small amount of support it takes to buy them shoes and school uniforms has greatly impacted the lives of Sage and Thyme and the entire family. The scholarship also guarantees they get at least one substantial meal each day at school. So, next time you look in your closet at your collection of shoes, remember Sage and Thyme and the many thousands of kids in Thailand who are grateful to have one pair of shoes to wear to school!
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