2007 Education Project photos - Part 1

Click through to see photos from Sister Joan's 2007 Education Project - purchasing school uniforms for the students at the Klong Toey market.

View the Education Project Tabblo

2007 Education Project photos - Part 2

Click through to see photos from Sister Joan's 2007 Education Project - purchasing school shoes and bags for the students at the Klong Toey market.

View the Education Project Tabblo

2F Project day

Some of the people buying Sister Joan t-shirts ask that they be donated to children in Klong Toey and other slum communities in Bangkok.

Yesterday, Sister Joan gave away 30 t-shirts to students attending the 2F (Fares and Food) Project.

Further t-shirts will be given to students at future 2F Project days.

Photos from the 2F Project day - 28 August 2007

Donated t-shirts - 2F Project day

Each Tuesday afternoon during the school term, Sister Joan runs her 2F (Fares and Food) Project.

This project assists with transport costs and food money so that children and young adults are able to travel to school or university and buy either breakfast or lunch.

As part of the t-shirt project, donors have been able to buy a t-shirt and donate the shirt to a child in the slums.

On 28 August, Sister will hand out some of these donated t-shirts to the students attending her 2F project.

Sister Joan t-shirts - where are they now

Help expand the list of countries with Sister Joan t-shirts.

Order one today!

Japan sales

An initial order of 10 t-shirts has been sent to Japan.

Email us - sisterjoantshirts@gmail.com - if you live in Japan and would like to buy a t-shirt.

Thanks to Ray for his support of Sister Joan's work.

Photos from Sister Joan's Milk Run on Friday 24 August 2007

For more details on the Milk Run see - Milk Run details.

T-shirt thank you

A set of t-shirts was provided to the journalists and crew from Australia's 60 Minutes on their recent trip to Bangkok.

Once the date of the airing of Sister Joan's interview with 60 Minutes is known we will provide details.

Photos from Sister Joan's 2F (Fares and Food) Project

Each Tuesday afternoon during the school term, Sister Joan runs her 2F (Fares and Food) Project.

This project assists with transport costs and food money so that children and young adults are able to travel to school or university and buy either breakfast or lunch.

Further details on the 2F Project are set out on Sister's website - Fares and Food Project.

The Nation article - some of the problems in Klong Toey

This article was provided to us by Jim Pollard of The Nation.

Boom in teenage mothers in crowded Khlong Toei

Punnee Amornviputpanich

The Nation 23-5-07

At just 18 Waew is heavily pregnant with her third child and has no idea how her family is going to get by without any income or security in life.

"My husband has been out of work for five months already," the young woman said.

Waew said she had to borrow money from other people every day to feed her family.

"Life is so difficult that I don't know how to put it into words," she said.

Waew is not the only teenage mother haunted by hunger and an uncertain future in Bangkok's crowded Khlong Toei community.

Seventeen-year-old Money had to leave school in grade 10 because she got pregnant last year.

Now in the seventh month of her pregnancy, Money knows that the Bt6,000 a month her boyfriend earns from selling SIM cards will hardly be enough once their baby is born.

"I must admit that I am worried," she said.

The Kluay Nam Thai Hospital located near the Khlong Toei community has registered 161 pregnant teenagers in the past five months.

"Some of them are addicted to alcohol, cigarettes and drugs," said hospital gynaecologist Kongsart Deeniran.

The hospital has seen a steady rise in the number of teenage pregnancies in recent years: 101 in 2004, 192 in 2005, and 207 in 2006. All of them were younger than 18. The increase has caused concern among socialworkers.

Nittaya Phromporboonchuen, head of the Duang Prateep Foundation's community development division, said many teenage mothers had no idea how to raise their children.

"When these children are left on their own, they risk being led astray," she said.

According to Nittaya, a survey conducted in the Khlong Toei community found that up to 2,000 young children there had been lured into the drug trade.

"Because of broken families or other family problems, so many children in this community have been trapped in a vicious circle of drugs, glue-sniffing, liquor addiction, methamphetamines and sexual promiscuity," she said.

Boom in teenage mothers in crowded Khlong Toei