| My Adopted Girl: Bumeu Weiyu |
| This is my adopted girl from Thailand. Her name is Bumeu Weiyu (phonetic). She is 12 years old, 3rd of the 5 children in her family. She lives in one of the Ahka villages about 48km from Chiangmai. Her father passed away some years ago. Her mother recently remarried and eloped with her newly wed husband taking away only youngest son. The 4 older children were abandoned to be cared of by the grandmother. She had studied 3 years in a village school, which is run by volunteers and is free of charge. Of course, the simple facility is only a shelter with blackboard, some wooden tables and benches. I suppose the focus is to learn to read and write in Thai and perhaps some mathematics. She wanted to go to school with better facility, but financial situation does not permit. |
| Our Adoption |
| About my girl |
| Home Bumeu Page Bumeu's Village Bumeu's School Sponsorship Back Next |
| Bumeu's situation was brought to my attention when I was chatting over the phone with a pastor from Thailand about his ministry in northern Thailand primarily to the Karen tribes and villages. I had heard of many poor people in that part of Thailand and seen pictures of their living condition. After listening to her case, I was deeply moved and my heart went out to her. After careful consideration and discussion with my wife, we decided that we would adopt her. Our adoption comes in the form of sponsoring her education. She will be starting Grade 4 when the school term start in May 2004 at Chiangmai SDA School, which is about 55km outside the city of Chiangmai. As the school is some distance from the village and will take half a day to walk there, so she and her elder sister, who is adopted by someone else, will be staying in the dormitory in the school. The sponsorship will cost 16,000 baht (about S$720) a year until she finish grade 12. I think that amount may increase considering inflation rate. Putting money aside, it really doesn't cost us much to touch and make a difference in a life of someone. Jesus said that the poor will always be with us. God bless us, so that we can be His instrument to transfer His blessing to some poor people. It makes our lives more meaningful too. |
 |
| Depend on how thing goes, I certainly hope to establish some kind of relationship with her. My initial impression of her is she is a very shy girl. Her sister on the other hand is more outspoken and independant. Thailand is not very far from Singapore, I can always take a trip up north to visit her. First, I hope she will pick up her English Language skill so that I can communicate with her. Otherwise I will have to learn to speak KAhka or Thai, but I'm not good in picking up new language. Hopefully, I can fly her to Singapore for holiday. With her mother disappeared, I'm not sure what the possibility of getting her a passport is. Children need their parent's signature to get a passport. The sponsorship will be for the next 8 years until she completes high school. Hopefully she likes to continue her education in college, I will try to continue to assist her. We will wait and see the situation when the time arrives |
 |
| What's next from here? |
 |
| From left: Bumeu's elder sister Mee Tei, Bumeu, younger brother and grandmother. The eldest brother is not in picture. |
| Home Bumeu Page Bumeu's Village Bumeu's School Sponsorship Back Next |
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|