Single grandmother, Ya, knows the depths of sorrow, having lost a daughter in an accident and a husband to separation because of alcoholism. Still, her devotion to her family runs deep, but it wasn't until the BSF program that she was able to really move towards economic breakthrough for her and her little granddaughter...
Devotion to family is something that runs deep in many cultures; taking care of an extra one, two, or five children because of extenuating circumstances is not uncommon in places like Thailand and Nepal. One compelling example of devotion is our Ya, who has lived in Chiang Mai, Thailand since her birth – a true local. She and her husband were married for quite some time, however, his alcohol dependence sadly drove the couple to separate, so she has been supporting herself alone for some time. Earlier in life, Ya and her husband had two beautiful children: a son, and a daughter. The joys of their life, these children grew up into independent adults and started their own families; both children ended up moving away to different provinces where they worked. For any mother (and grandmother!) such distance is always hard on the heart, but Ya made it work for her family.
Tragically, one day she got the heart wrenching news that her only daughter was involved in a car accident and passed away; the sorrow she felt was unspeakable – losing a child was never the way it was meant to be. Thinking fast, she took in her granddaughter, named Fah, to raise. As her husband and her had separated in the past, the financial load of providing for herself and sweet little Fah felt like a burden on her shoulders. She worked to support herself by selling fried meatballs, but due to her limited finances she had little capital for the business, resulting in insufficient income to meet family expenses. What was worse, her son didn’t do anything to help take care of her and Fah.
Ya was in a position of borrowing from relatives to make ends meet and to purchase the supplies she needed for her meatball sales. Through our Chiang Mai base, BSF heard about Ya’s family situation, and spoke to her about the details of the program. She became interested and decided to try the program out. After her interview, Ya's family was selected to join the program.
After money management training and small-business planning, she was gifted a number of equipment pieces to assist her with furthering her meatball business. Two gas tanks, one set of meatball fryers, one oil drip tray, one glass cabinet, and other equipment pieces were invested into her family’s future. Even a renovated pavilion for her to serve as a location for selling the meatballs was now hers! After receiving support from the program, Ya started earning approximately 200-300 baht per day. Now, her meatball shop has started to attract more and more customers. Currently, her income allows her to support her family and can potentially improve her living conditions in the future! Ya's persistence to support her family is truly paying off.
Ya’s gratitude was overflowing as she shared: “I would like to sincerely thank BSF for giving me and my granddaughter the opportunity to participate in this program, and for the support for our family’s livelihood. Without the BSF program, I would not have been able to continue my profession because I did not have the funds to improve my career. I also want to thank BSF for allowing our family to spend time together during Family Fun Days. We have never been able to go on trips together because we needed to work to earn money, so I had no opportunity to travel with Fah. But with this program, I have had the chance to spend time with my grandchild. Thank you so much.”
BSF is a partner for project J1079 & J1102 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.