From Loss to Hope: Mee Mee's Story
When Life Changed Overnight
For Mee Mee, life changed suddenly when her husband passed away just days before her family was due to join the Building Strong Families program.
Overnight, she became the sole caregiver for her two children and four grandchildren.
Mee Mee is from a Lahu family who had moved to the community in search of a better life. Before her husband’s death, she and her husband had been able to earn a basic income together. But after losing him, Mee Mee was left to carry the responsibility of providing for her family on her own.
Yet, even in the midst of grief and uncertainty, Mee Mee held onto one important hope:
She wanted to keep her family together and create a better future for her children and grandchildren.
A Small Opportunity
Through the BSF Family Strengthening Program, Mee Mee was supported to start a small laying-hen business. She received 40 laying hens to help her develop a source of income for her family. But the chickens were only the beginning. The opportunity needed someone willing to work hard and make it grow. And Mee Mee was ready!
With determination and hard work, she learned to care for the chickens and found customers to buy her eggs. Today, her chickens produce around 40–45 eggs every day. The income from selling eggs is helping Mee Mee manage household expenses and provide food for her family.
Through the BSF Family Training on Financial Management, Mee Mee has learned how to manage her business income more carefully, including separating household expenses from business costs and setting aside part of her profit for savings. She has been applying these skills to her egg-selling business and is now able to save some of the profit she earns. She has also built her own regular market, giving her greater confidence in her ability to manage her business and provide for her family.
As Mee Mee jokes:
“We eat eggs so often! I’m very grateful to BSF for giving my family such a great opportunity.”
The eggs are not only helping her earn an income—they are also helping feed her family and reduce their daily food costs.
A Family Moving Forward
For Mee Mee, this journey is about more than raising chickens. It is about rebuilding after loss, creating a livelihood, and keeping her family together. Today, she has a growing source of income, greater confidence, and renewed hope for her family’s future.
BSF is a partner for project J1079N with Australian NGO, Global Development Group (ABN 57 102 400 993). Donations to BSF through Global Development Group are tax deductible in Australia, NZ, and the USA.
Building Strong Families Foundation or มูลนิธิสร้างครอบครัวเข้มแข็ง is a registered foundation in Thailand (ชม770), approved by the Ministry of Interior.
