He’s gone now but his 750 children are still here in Pattaya. Did you know Father Ray? Wow! What a guy!
Life is interesting. I’m not sure were we come from when we are born, other then our mothers. Some of us are lucky when we are born and where we are born. Sometimes I wonder just how lucky we are to be born when we were born in all of history. We could have been born in the past or the future. We could have been born to some other women in some other place on the world. I think our birth is just a lot of luck. They say that semen contains millions or billions of little wiggling sperm that are swimming up stream to fertilize one egg. What are the odds that some other sperm beat us to that one egg? How lucky we are to be born when in the entire history of humans including all of the past and all of the future. How lucky we are to born to these two people, our father and mother. How lucky we are to have been born in a country where there is so much of everything. Some places and countries have so little. Think about it. How lucky you are to be born when and where you were born.
We struggle to survive and to stay alive. Most of us have a chance because we have some education and training. We make a living. Some people make a bit more money then others. Maybe you have a few extra coins.
I have been very lucky in my life to be born when and where I was born. I received a fair education and was employed by one company for 35 years before I retired. Before I retired, I wondered what I was going to do with my time. During my life, my parents and I travel all around the world and lived in many different countries. We lived a privileged life, compare to some and modest life compare to other people in those countries. I found myself doing a lot of volunteer work after I retired. I needed something to do with my time.
The first time I visited Pattaya was a couple of years ago. I don’t drink or smoke. So, I found Pattaya interesting at the beach but that got boring. A friend suggested that we make a visit to the orphanage. I don’t like kids. They scare me. They cry and scream and other unmentionable things. I have two grown children of my own. When I was young, my wife took care of the kids and I worked at my job. I could only get a night job at the company I worked for because it was shift type work and we bid for the different start times and so, the low seniority employees (like me) had to work the afternoon shift.
When we first entered the orphanage, we were met by a guard at the gate and escorted to meet the staff. They guided us to the infant’s room or ward. There must have been 50 babies in that room. Each baby was in a pen or crib. The noise level was loud and scary because it seemed to me that all 50 babies where crying, peeing and pooping at the same time. It was driving me nuts. I couldn’t stand it. There were four young women there. They were so calm and smiling as they walked from crib to crib. The were in a never ending routing of picking up a crying, peeing, pooping baby and either changing diapers or feeding or just holding the baby. This routine never stopped. They worked at taking care of the babies’ 24 hours, 7 days a week, forever. Yikes! Let me out of here.
Outside the baby room or ward, I had a chance to talk to one of the women and I asked her how could she stand all the babies, crying, peeing and pooping all at once. I said that the noise was very stressful to me. She said, “It is music to my ears.”
All of a sudden, it made sense to me. Young women love babies. What they see and hear is fun and “music.” It was as though God knew what he was doing when he made women and babies.
So, how can I help when I don’t like kids? I asked one of the staff and she said, “Do you want to buy lunch for the 750 kids?” How can I do that? I am not rich. I’m a retired clerk with a clerk’s retirement income and that ain’t much. She said she would take any amount that I had in my pocket that day. Well, I gave her all I had except enough to get back to my hotel. She invited my back to the orphanage the next afternoon to have lunch with the older kids in a lunchroom.
The next day, my friend and I made our way back to the orphanage for lunch and the guard took us to the staff who escorted us to the lunchroom. It was just like in the movies. The kids lined up at a table that had three huge kettles on it. The first kettle was rice. The second kettle had light brown soupy stuff in it and the third kettle had dark brown soupy stuff in it. The kids had a choice of light brown or dark brown food or soup or what ever. They had a choice of water or water or water. They could drink anything they wanted, as long as it was water.
I had a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye as I was served the food by the kids. I was their guest of honor. We sat at a huge table by our selves at the door. They all seemed so happy and energetic. They were all relatively calm and orderly as they ate the lunch.
When lunch was over, all the kids in the entire room got up from their table and took the plate back and then, one by one came to our table and bowed their head and folded their hands and thanked us for “buying lunch.”
Well, that was it. Now every time I see one of those donation boxes in Pattaya for the kids in the orphanage, I reach into my pocket and give what ever I can afford at the time.
There is a better way to donate. You can fill out a form at the orphanage. There is a choice of ways to donate.
The world is a tough place. There are so many unfortunate people on the world. So, what are you expected to do, save the world. No, just help buy lunch for 750 kids at the orphanage in Pattaya.
There seems to be no greater feeling then to help someone else without expecting to get anything in return. Just do it.
Live long and prosper. Live, love and laugh.
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