By Jan-P | Resource development manager
Actually we shouldn’t be sharing the story of a boy named Winner just yet. In 6 or so years, we would have loved to share how much Winner is enjoying school, and how thankful his mother is with Siam-Care’s educational support. But things took a turn for the worse and as we write this, Winner is not there anymore. He was murdered when he was only 6 months old.
Early in 2018, one of our Bangkok staff was contacted about a 16-year-old girl named Oi (an assumed name, for her protection). This girl was HIV-infected and selling her body on the streets of Bangkok. We were hoping that we could get Oi back into school, so that she could get a different job. We started visiting Oi and soon discovered, that she was pregnant, most likely with her boyfriend. We also learned that Oi was abandoned by her parents at a young age and had no family left to look after her.
Boyfriend passes away
Oi’s boyfriend was HIV-infected as well, just like Oi. Unfortunately, he refused to take ARV-medication. As a result, his body’s resistance became too low and even before Oi gave birth, he sadly passed away. Oi was heartbroken but after only a couple weeks, she already had a new boyfriend. After meeting him, we feared that he would not take good care of Oi and soon, it became apparent that our fear was justified. He started beating up Oi, who accepted this violent behaviour of her boyfriend, as she had no one else to be with her and love her.
Bruised arms and chest
In March 2018, Oi gave birth to a handsome little boy, who she named ‘Winner’. Siam-Care helped Oi to raise her Babyboy and he even stayed with our staff for 3 nights per week, so that mother could work. Oi’s boyfriend was still the violent person he was before, and we also noticed that Winner often had bruises on his arms and chest. We informed the local government emergency shelter, but nothing was done. Mother denied that her boyfriend was being abusive and did not listen to our advice to split up from her boyfriend. We worried a lot about Oi’s and Winner’s wellbeing, but did give mother the freedom to make her own decisions.
Extremely stressful time
In September, as we were gathered with all our staff in Bangkok for a week full of training, we suddenly received a phone call. Close to our office, the body of a baby was found and it turned out to be Winner. The media was all over this case right away and a stressful and extremely sad period began for our staff. We had to identify the body, talk to the media, and also arrange a funeral as Winner’s mother and her boyfriend were now in prison and Winner had no one else to organize a farewell.
Keep on fighting
For our staff, especially for the ones who had looked after Winner, this was a very tough time. Siam-Care’s aim is to protect children and give them future. We would have loved to find a donor for the young winner, so that he could have started going to school at the age of 4. Unfortunately, things don’t always turn out the way we want them to. Siam-Care often thrives and is able to change lives. But sometimes things go terribly wrong. We will not give up and Winner’s story only inspires us to fight even harder for other children in similar situations. Will you fight with us? Thank you so much for making support to vulnerable children possible!
By Jan-Peter Kelder | Resource Development Manager
By Jan-Peter Kelder | Resource Development Manager
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