A day at the farm

By Michael

A half-hour’s drive from Mercy in congested Klong Toey, Bangkok, and we arrived at the “farm.”  The farm is about 2 1/2 acres, located off an expressway.  It has a large pond, and a klong [canel] makes up one of the borders.

Three years ago, Father Joe asked me to look at a structure that was half-built on the farm.  The land was donated, and Father Joe had procured a load of used teak and mahogany.  The plan was to build a structure reminiscent of old Thailand.  At that point, construction problems had come up, so we didn’t know what we would find waiting for us this time. We were pleasantly surprised when we arrived yesterday and found a beautiful Thai-style house, including high thresholds to keep out the ghosts.

Mike in front of the Mercy farm house.

Mike standing near the platform that the boys sleep on...

The interior of the house is one large, open room, with a small room in the center.  All the woodwork is Thai mahogany.

Fourteen boys, ages 10-12, are living at the farm right now.  Wannee plans to move seven more boys out there soon.  They are from Mercy, but are enjoying the “country” living away from Klong Toey slums.  They can walk to school!

Once we’d seen the inside, we donned large-brimmed hats as the sun is painfully hot these days, and walked the property behind the house with Wannee.

The staff and boys are trying to get a working mini-farm going.  Of course, one of the obstacles is money.  Always money.  They need more.  But for now, they have a small garden going. (The land is extremely dry and cracked, and they need money for machinery to bring the water from the klong and turn over the soil.)  Here is a picture of the garden right now.

Mike and Wannee walking in the garden at the farm

The bamboo arches are cut from bamboo in front of Father Joe’s house at the main compound! The bamboo sticks are soaked in the pond and bent over the garden to form trellises! While we were there, the staff cut big bunches of cilantro for us to take back to the main compound kitchen cooks. Nothing is wasted, and here Wannee explains the way they make an organic, natural pesticide from old wood. The wood is burned in a barbecue, the oil from the wood is contained in a pipe that flows into bottles, thus making the pesticide for the garden.

Wannee explaining the pesticide production to Mike

The housemom made us a great lunch while we were there: chicken, eggs, soup, fried fish caught by the boys in the pond, and of course, the ever-present vat of white rice.

Our feast at the farm

Of course, it isn’t idyllic: the boys sleep on that hard, wooden platform you see in the interior picture above [with little more than straw mats below them], there isn’t enough money in the budget to keep the projects going, and the boys are far from the action at Mercy Centre, but by all accounts, the boys are very happy in this world of their own creation.