Poy Hospitalized

Poy in the hospital.

    Poy is the 14 year old girl about whom I wrote when I was in Thailand.  Readers of my blog may remember the stories about Poy.  She is the foster daughter of Gai and Mai, the Tuk Tuk taxi drivers.  They took her in when her family collapsed because of addiction to methamphetamine.  While I was in Thailand we got Poy to her first visit to the dentist where she had cavities in two teeth filled. She's the one who broke into tears when I bought her a phone telling her foster mother "no one's ever given me anything."

   Now Poy has been hospitalized in Bangkok where she had surgery.  She needed surgery because while she was still living with her family she drank toilet cleaner.  The surgery was something that could not be done in the local hospital in Ayutthaya so she went to Bangkok.  She should be released this week.

  It is the custom in Thailand that families take care of their own.  If parents can provide then extended families; uncles, aunts, grandparents, etc. step in.  In Poy's case the entire family is addicted to meth so there was no one to help.  That's when Gai and Mai stepped in.  It is very unusual for non-family to get involved in a case like this.  But, not only did they get involved, they got her to medical care and have been bearing the costs out of their own meager income.  They may have even surrendered their Tuk Tuk to pay the hospital costs.  In addition  they have been traveling to Bangkok regularly to visit Poy.  Bangkok is an hour away.

   Our congregation, Grace University Lutheran Church, has joined us in providing financial support to Gai and Mai as they have cared for Poy.