Thailand, Fatima Self-Help Centre, Bangkok
In 1965 the Good Shepherd Sisters began work in the Din Daeng area of Bangkok. The area has now changed beyond recognition. From the open paddy fields and slum dwellings, it is now a crowded busy metropolis. The slums have increased in number and the needs of the people facing unemployment, sickness, lack of educational opportunities have escalated.
Many, many women have found new life and hope through their involvement with Fatima Centre. Women like (X), a single mother with primary school education and twin girls to support, who learned the skills of sewing and has been able to move her family from the slum into a goverment housing apartment and educate her daughters - now in secondary school.
Some of the young women have been able to go on to complete tertiary education. In February this year - 2010 - six young women graduated. To support themselves in their studies they worked at the Centre for one year to save money towards their goal and continued to work part-time in the Fatima Centre until they graduated.
Information on how to find the Centre can be obtained by contacting the Good Shepherd Sisters in Bangkok:
Phone: 66 - 2 - 2450475 Fax: 66-2-6428716
E-mail: shepherd@cscoms.com
Website: www.goodshepherdbangkok.com
Here is a selection of their products
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1o% of Bangkok's residents live in slums. Many come from their villages to find work in the city and end up in the slums, living in shanty houses made from tin, cardboard, wood or whatever other material they can find. The slum dwellers lack easy access to clean water and sanitation and are particularly vulnerable to dengue fever in the monsoon season.
