Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
English Subtitles: ON (To turn off, click the CC button at the bottom right corner)
Good Afternoon ladies and gentlemen
Every Saturday afternoon at 2 P.M.
"Seek Real People" TV show
supported by
PTT Public Company Limited
and AirAsia
It's great to meet all of you again here
For today
The story is led by our new moderator
Ms.Chonlanat Goygoon or Palm
Today, Palm will show us
the story about giving
which is about a sacrificial and beautiful heart
of one woman
as a giver
who gives even though she's not fully ready at the time
We will get to know her more today.
Most people know her as Mother Lawan.
She takes care of over 150 orphans.
and she has been doing this for over 20 years.
The story of Love, Impression, and Sacrifice
and the beauty of the great giving of Mother Lawan
is what Palm wants to show you today.
Let's follow her in "Seek Real People" TV Show.
(Music)
Lawan has gone through many obstacles in her life.
Difficulties in her childhood
The failure of her family.
The worst thing is that she became bankrupt
and almost lost everything in her life.
(Lawan's voice) In the past, a teacher's salary was not much.
One day, I started thinking that
life should be better than this.
So, I started planning to do my own business
and decided to open a petrol station.
During that time, we faced an economic crisis known as
the "Bubble Economy" in 1997
I couldn't manage my cash-flow.
I was stressed because of
my business' problems and
also was dealing with family problems.
My family relationships were not good.
Sequentially, my stress caused me health problem.
At that time, I had Laryngeal cancer.
I couldn't stand it anymore.
I couldn't take these two things
The things that I had hoped for were not working out
and my only thought was that
I want to die.
death was the only solution I could think of because
I had a lot of debt.
My debt was approximately $ 400,000 at the time
Every breath could be counted against me as interest.
Then, I was forced into bankruptcy.
(MC) While her she was in this really low place,
she chose to bear another great burden
which was to be a benefactor and mother
of more than 150 rural hill tribe children.
In a big house named
New Vision for Life Foundation
which is a home filled with love
warmth and laughter.
I realized that true happiness in life
is not about
what we have.
And I realised that
a happy life is
the life that we understand
know, and see problems
and we have an opportunity to give.
In the past, I thought that giving was about giving things
So, I was trying to find something to give.
But now, I understand that
real giving is not about "things"
But it is actually about giving love and sharing happiness.
It is about giving opportunites
and encouraging each other.
It's about giving direction and
things that are not simply objects.
So I realised what true giving is and the meaning of really helping people.
(MC) As people of the hill tribes in the community asked for help,
Lawan came to inspect that area and met the people there.
She had to consider whether these children were eligible to receive the support
from the foundation or not.
Most of the children are from Hmong, Lahu, Akha tribes.
Right now, we are closeby
the border between Thailand and Laos,
and it's also on the border between the Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai provinces
(Mother) "Oh wow, you are so pretty"
This case is an emergency
that we just received information about from the community
So I came to see the area and saw that
their living condition is really bad
Her father is disabled, and mother is in a really tough place
The children have rough living conditions.
and they receive no government aid or welfare.
(MC) What are the problems you encounter one most of your visits the community?
(Lawan) Mostly, the problems we encounter are
Poverty
lack of educational opportunity
there is no school in the area.
When parents feel that they are at a disadvantage
their children are left behind.
and no one takes care of them.
"Okay, please say "Good Bye" (Sawasdee) to your parents.
And we are leaving.
"Please keep this document and don't lose it"
"Goodbye, father. Goodbye, mother. "
"Hug your father too".
hug your father
See! you have a friend already.
[Lawan's Heart of Love].
Don't forget. The 5th "Seek Real People" Award.
"If morals do not return, the world will perish"
You can submit the name of people, who you think,
are eligible to receive the award in the different fields
from now on.
You can follow the details on
our website or our Facebook.
The award ceremony will be held on 21 December this year (2013)
at the Thailand Cultural Centre.
See you there.
[Seek Real People 10 years].
(MC) It is now about 5 AM,
The children are waking up
Every child has own chore to do upon waking up.
Some clean the house
and some cook.
All of them are very diligent in doing their chores
without any reluctancy.
Mother Lawan said that
the reason for having daily chores
for the children every morning like this is to
help them to be responsible and be disciplined.
in the morning, how do you divide the responsibilities for the children?
(Mom), I train them to be responsible like in a family.
Every morning, each child has their own chores.
such as cleaning the windows and the meeting room
cooking and taking care of the younger children.
These are their responsibilities.
For me, after I wake up, I will shower Leena.
After that, I go to the kitchen
and prepare the food for the children to take to school.
These are my chores.
(Each and every dish, every piece of food, don't eat it wastefully).
(MC) Usually the children go to this school,
do they have money for snacks at school?
(Mother), No, we don't have that.
We only send packed lunches.
I try to prepare food that my children won't be ashamed to show their friends
such as fried chicken with rice.
(MC) Why do these children not have money for snacks?
(Mother) We must be trained to save money.
We do what is good.
The snacks are good if we have enough.
But if we don't have enough, I would teach children that
It is ok, if we can't have snacks.
But we still have meals.
Snacks now cost no less than 10 Baht (0.30 US dollar)
100 people x 10 Baht. It's already 1,000 Baht per day. ($32 per day)
If we use that 1,000 Baht ($32) to buy food
it will help us get full. It's more useful.
I explained it to them like this.
(Mother teaches), "Time is the way of life...".
(MC) Every morning before the kids go to school,
Mom will teach the children on a daily basis.
She said that it is to
strengthen the children's minds.
(Mother teaches), "Is it difficult to be good? ... No, it's not hard. "
"Who we are begins with the way that we think, correct?."
Good thoughts lead to good actions and receive good results.
(MC) You have this conversation everyday, right?
(Mom) Yes, I do this every morning before they go to school.
I think that fostering children must be done continually.
And it must be fostered in the mind,
and in an attitude of living life.
These things take time.
And it must be done consistently.
I want to build them up the whole time that they are here.
When they leave this place,
they need to be ready to face society and the people in the society.
and they can use what we taught them to survive.
(Mother shouts) "God bless you!"
"Goodbye".
(MC), When was the foundation established?
(Mother) Well, I thought, I have only one life, and
I failed everything I planned to do
It all completely failed.
So I thought, "how can I spend my life usefully?"
I was thinking about this.
and in the end, I decided that
I would invest in people's lives.
I wanted to help people.
At that time, I knew some hill tribe students from
my old business. they were staff at the petrol station.
I had an opportunity to visit thier families, and
I saw their living condition.
Oh, I felt, I felt so sorry for them.
I thought my life was very depressing and unlucky, but
I saw that their lives were even worse than mine.
They had nothing to eat, and I felt that
even though I didn't have anything,
I might be able to help them.
I started out by taking five children who were in a really tough place.
This was when I started the foundation
from what I had
(Mother teaches little kids) "A rabbit has two eyes".
"Can you make eyes? Here, two eyes"
"and two ears".
"If I point to anyone, that person gets to answer. Ok?".
"Understand?".
"Okay".
"The following sound belongs to what animal?".
"Gab Gab Gab".
"Gab Gab is the sound of..."
(Children respond) "A duck".
(MC), while you were a bankrupt,
You were helping the children.
even though you didn't have enough to take care of yourself
you were still facing difficulties.
What were you thinking?
Why did you want to help others?
(Mother) People said, aren't you afraid of doing this?
And doing that,
Is there any other hidden purpose?
like, using the children as tools
in order to do something for yourself?
But these insults
or these negative words, They did not build me up.
I choose not to think about it
because my purpouse in doing this was to be happy
by having a chance to give,
and an opportunity to help
These little children to have hope.
Kids are like a white cloth
What we paint or what we draw on it dependeds on
what goals that we have for them.
I want to see these children who in the past had no choice,
get to choose what to be when we give them a choice.
"So, one two three ...".
(Kids) "Gab Gab Gab ".
(MC) As you have to take care of many children and
they are at different ages,
Lawan divides children's responsibilities systematically.
The elders take care of the younger children.
When children return from school,
all of them know their own responsibility
and they begin working on them right away.
(Mother), garbage will be put here,
but it is needs to categorised by type.
Don't burn money!
Well, garbage is also money.
(MC) What are you doing with this?
(Lawan) Oh this! I'm helping him to categorise the garbage.
(MC) While walking here,
I saw many children (teenagers) were cleaning.
(Mother) Oh, yes.
(MC) Do they also have to clean in the morning?
(Mother) Actually, they have to clean both in the morning and evening.
This is to practice
discipline and responsibility
and teamwork.
If the children have too much free time,
they may spend their time in the wrong way, and
they could become bad kids.
(MC) Every evening
Lawan talks with the teenagers
To give them council and help them guide their of lifestyle.
Lawan said "Talking" is very important
because when the teenagers move out
they will face a lot of emotional issues
and they will have a lot of questions.
Metting with them like this is like preparing them mentally
they help to grow the "immune system" of the children's minds
to be ready for the real world outside of the house.
(MC) Why do you think this type of "talking" is important?
(Mother) I actually see it like
pouring water into a bottle.
If there are a lot of bottles of water and it splashes.
Each bottle would get only a little water.
But if we break them down into bigger groups,
we can more focus and deeply on those
Because this group is of a similar age.
(MC) So, when you talk to them,
what do you talk about?
(Mother) Mostly, it's about
the life that they will have to face
because in today's society, there are many different things that they will have to face
And we can't go with them all of the time.
But it's like we give them a vaccine
Giving them ideas of what they will face, and having them think
about how they will go through those situations and difficulties.
It's better to prevent something before it happens
Picturing what the children will be facing and
giving them ideas and concepts, for example,
If you come across this situation, you should react like this...
(Mother teaches) "We can aim high, and we can get there if we have enough energy"
"Therefore, if we know about Love,
"and we have love in our hearts."
"The measurement of love is giving."
"Giving"
"Does anyone think, 'I'm poor'?."
and I don't have anything to give anyone".
If we think carefully
No matter how poor the person is
No one is too poor to give and share.
What we can give other is,
at the very least, helping others to feel good."
"Well ... yes, we live together,
and we can give and share good feelings with each other.
Help, support, and understand each other.
(MC) Some people say that raising children,
takes firrmly disciplining, and then
children will grow up with efficiency and capability in the society.
But Mother Lawan said, that her house is led by love.
Why is that?
(Mother) Love can win over everything
It's what can unite all things.
the children come to live in the same house, but
they have different backgrounds.
they speak different languages, and
everything is different.
But I think that
Love creates the unity
so I focus on love
To help the children understand
what true love actually is.
and when we love how we can show that to each other
sharing their good feelings and
expressing their love to each other.
(MC) With the responsibility of taking care of more than 150 children
Mother Lawan bears a lot of expenses
each month she faces
problems with of cash-flow
and more debts increase.
She does not want to just wait for others to help.
So she tries to support herself as much as she can.
The children and her plant vegetables
for their own food
and to sell to make a living
and earn money for the family
(Mother) We are going to build our vegetable farm so that
the children can grow their own vegetables to eat
We have a lot of children here, and
we aim to continue this project for a long time
Taking care of children takes a lot of time, and
we have to find out
what some ways are that we can
support ourselves.
So I taught the children that
other then from helping ourselves by saving money
I also told my children that
which opportunities that we can save,
saving is like earning
If we can help ourselves,
then we can help others in the future.
So, we have to do it!
(MC),Did you say you have a mushroom farm?
(Mother) Yes, it's right there.
Solving chidrens problems
what we we are doing everyday
doesn't really change the cause, but it changes what happens in their lives now
So we think about how to solve the problem from the cause by
teaching them to be wise
when they return to their community.
so that they don't have to be poor and desperate again.
and they can take care of their kids
so this is how we solve the real problem that they are facing
(MC) How does it look when
the children have to participate in this?
(Children) we cut the grass and
till the farm.
(MC) Till the farm?
Do you really have strength like those guys?
like to carry a lot of stuff, climb trees, etc.
you can do that? you are so small.
(Children) I can't
but I try to do my best.
(MC) You do your best, good.
Wow
Don't you want to play, watch TV or
enjoy what other kids do?
(Children) Yes, I want to play
but we cannot
If we were mothers, and we all went out to play
no one would take care of this
this is like our home,
so we are helping each other with the work.
(MC) Have you ever eaten your own vegetables?
(Children) Yes, I have.
(MC) how did you feel when you ate it?
(Children) It's delicious.
(MC) delicious?
What else do you feel?
(Children) I feel that others can also eat our vegetables, and
it's like we benefit the community.
(MC) I'm so proud of it.
(Mother) "Bring it up here first, then spread out".
"spread it out carefully".
(MC) How much money do you have to spend for a month?
(Mother) The average cost of food per person
at the very least,
Is 45 THB (1.5 USD) per day, per person
In one month, with over 100 children
that's around 300,000 THB per month
(MC) where is the majority of you income from?
(Mother) It's from donations.
from asking from some people we know.
but it's not certain. Sometimes we get it, but sometimes we don't.
Our monthly income is not stable, but
our monthly expenses are around
300k - 400k THB per month.
for everything and every expense.
(MC) So, is your support enough?
(Mother) No, it's not. that's not enough at all.
I'm in a situation where
Sometimes, only 5 THB ($0.15) for
hmm,, for the ....what's it called?
For the card for medical treatment.
One child was sick and I took her to see a doctor, and
the doctor said the card is 5 THB.
I didn't even have that 5 THB
to pay for the card.
(MC) Are you worried about this?
like when you were in the past when you were in a hard place.
When things were stressful.
How did you control your feelings?
(Mother) I closed the door, and
stayed in my room alone.
so that I could consider what to do
and how to deal with this problem.
My children are hungry, and
it's my responsibility as their mother.
What I could do is
to close myself in my room. But I didn't cry like I was discouraged.
We must believe that there are things that are spiritual.
We believe in the spiritual and we pray
Sometimes, I kneel down, and cry with the spirit
"Help me."
I believe that there is a holy spirit in this world.
but I didn't know what it is, but
I believe if I do a good thing.
I will be blessed. I have faced many unexpected situations,
for example, someone drove in, one day,
and donated rice to us.
We didn't know who he was, and where he came from.
Oh, it was like something that
makes me feel that human beings must do good things, and
there must be something great that will come to help
Therefore, doing good things
doesn't mean that we have to be rich before giving.
Giving is done by the heart.
If we wait until we rich, then we give
we won't have a chance to give.
Especially in Thailand, many people need help.
If we wait to give
to be rich before giving,
We will definitely miss our chance to give.
personally, I'm bankrupt, and
I don't have anything of my own,
but I have my heart.
I have this experience.
Just we have to decide to do something,
especially to children, and to people we love.
I saw these things happen
and things are getting better.
(Mother) Let's say, "Do you want to buy mushrooms?"
(Children repeat) "Do you want to buy mushrooms?"
(Mother) "These are fresh mushrooms"
(Children repeat) "These are fresh mushrooms."
(Mother) from our New Vision foundation.
(Children repeat) "from our New Vision Foundation"
(Mother) "to help the kids to get lunch"
"To help the kids to get lunch"
(Mother), welcome here, cheap mushroom, cheap mushroom
"There are non-toxic vegetables".
"Kids grew them".
"ok, let's help...get some for me"
(Children) non-toxic vegetables.
(Mother) non-toxic vegetables here
(Kids say) "non- toxic vegetables here"
(Children) non-toxic vegetables
(Mother) "Here you see, if we help each other, we can do it."
"Is this good, kids?"
"When we go back, we can take care of vegetables, mushrooms together.
"and we sell them together."
1,940 Baht ($64)
(MC), although Mother Lawan tried to support the foundation by herself
no matter how hard she tried,
it's still not enough
because she has many children to take care of.
and the past financial situation is
in crisis, still.
Mother Lawan has to try every way
not to let her children starve.
(MC) Mother, what are you writing?
(Mother) I'm writing the project
which is a fund-raising project
to support our foundation's expenses.
When I have free time after my children
go to sleep in the afternoon.
I search for any funding opportunity
that can support us.
(MC) It's a fund-raising project to request funds from other organisations.
At present, is there any organization continually supporting
the New Vision Foundation?
(Mother) No, we don't have any.
(MC) and how is the financial situation now?
how is it?
(Mother) now, our foundation has less than
5,000 THB ($160)
to take care of around 150 children.
(MC) If I were you,
I couldn't do anything and would be very stressed, but you
you look very calm, still. How do you feel?
(Mother) Hmm, have you ever seen ducks swim?
(MC) ducks swim?
(Mother) the top of the water is calm,
but under water, hmm.. I'm thinking all the time.
and I...
(MC) the feet are moving
(Mother) I try to find every way to deal with it.
I'm thinking, but I have to be conscious and control myself.
If we can't control our consciousness,
we won't be able to think of what to do.
(MC) So, you are trying to support yourself first
by planting vegetables and raising pigs.
Sustainable farming
for the whole family is still not enough for living?
(Mother) it is not enough
because there are a lot of children here
we can't produce in time, but it can help.
hmm, we have to take care of ourselves first
we don't want to cause a burden to a society
We have to think of how and when can we support ourselves.
and I tell the children that we need to have goal for this.
We try not to be a burden to our society.
but we must have an opportunity to give back to the society
even though it's not time yet.
we need to help ourselves.
and request help from the society first.
In the future, we have this goal
to be able to support ourselves.
(MC) Mother, how is the rice now?
(Mother) we still have a half of sack.
(MC) This is all you have in this house?
How many meals will this make?
(Mother) about 2 meals
(MC) You mean, 2 meals for all the children here?
Then, what will you do when you have no more rice?
(Mother) We will try to figure it out.
We will discuss what we can do.
(MC), Normally, when rice is running out,
what do you do?
or also food, meat, and rice?
If it's running out, what would you do?
(Mother) I have to find a way..
to not let my children starve.
Find the way to let them
have food to eat.
I must provide food for the children.
sometimes, I make boiled rice
just to make more portions
if it is delicious, the children will eat it.
First, they must be full.
But if we talk about the quality,
we shouldn't talk about it
(MC) What if boiled rice is still not enough?
If there is no more rice, what would you do?
(Mother) Sometimes, I need to talk
with the store about credit.
To ask whether I can have credit to get rice.
I must be successful.
I can't fail. I must find any way.
If I couldn't get from this store, I would go to another one.
(MC) So, you have to ask for credit first?
(Mother) Yes, whenever I receive a donation,
I pay the store back.
If there is no donation, I have to use credit again.
That's the way it is.
(Mother) Unfortunately, the rice for the children is all gone.
Can we ask for 5 sacks on credit?
(Seller) If I do so, I can't manage my cash-flow.
Can you buy this time?
And you can still owe for the previous sacks.
(Mother) Can't I have just 5 more sacks?
(Seller) I cannot promise this.
I have to wait for my boyfriend because
he is on a delivery.
(MC) Do you feel ashamed that you have to keep asking around?
(Mother) No, I don't feel embarrassed because it's always like this.
and it's what I have to do.
it's for my children, so...
It's not embarrassing.
(MC) Why do you cry?
(Mother), I wonder
when will I be free from this situation.
(MC), so it's not because you were rejected?
(Mother) No, because
They must have their reasons and limitations.
They couldn't give over their limit.
Hello
Unfortunately... uh ...
Now, the rice for the children is running out.
Can I use credit?
(Seller) How many sacks do you want?
(Mother) 5 sacks
(Seller) Today, I can't.
(Mother) Can I just have one or two sacks?
(Seller) Let me call and ask first.
It is now half past four.
Let me call to ask
if the owner will agree or not.
(MC) From seeing your living conditions, you and the children are limited,
and everyone has to take care of each other,
Why do you still receive more children?
(Mother) I want to help even though I don't have enough.
I believe that there must be something good
that will come in to our lives. I realised that
Even though staying with us may be hard,
they can still receive educational opportunities.
Though we are poor, they can still go to school.
It's true that it's hard with us and it's hard in village.
But with us, they still have educational opportunity.
(Mother) "Oh, this is not ... mine was taken"
To where will this be delivered? (Boy) Noodle shop.
(MC) oh! he delivered this here?
(Mother) Yes, he did.
3 small sacks are equal 1 big sack.
It's 460 THB ($15)
(MC) So, you can pay later?
(Mother) Yes, they delivered to us to eat first.
(MC) How much do you owe them?
(Mother) Now, it's 1,350 THB ($45)
(MC) so, this will last for...
(Mother) This will last for 2 - 3 days.
We now have enough to last for 3 - 4 days
(MC) Do you often have this kind of situation?
The situation when you have any money to buy rice?
(Mother) It's always like this for the past 10 years.
2 months later.
(Sound of children singing) Happy Birthday to you.
MC) How much do these children mean to you?
(Mother) WIthout them, something is missing in my life.
(MC) I noticed that you are working very hard.
Where do you get your energy from?
(Mother) My inspiration is love.
I try to give my best for my beloved children.
I have energy.
I want the children to receive what they hope for.
The things that they want to get, to have, and to be
just like other people in society.
Because of their background, it would be very difficult for them
to get these things without giving them the opportunity.
They couldn't choose where to be born but they can choose want they want to be
if we give them the chance.
(MC) Today is Mother's birthday, what do you want to tell her?
(Child) I love you, mom.
(MC) Can you express how much you love her?
(Child) I love her wholeheartedly.
(MC) You love her wholeheartedly.
(Child) because she gives a lot of love to all of us.
and our mother promised us that
she will never leave us alone.
(MC) The thing that Lawan has shown for us to realize is that
Love is powerful
and it's miraculious.
Depening on how you use the power of Love,
it can benefit in many ways.
To love oneself or to benefit others
For Mother Lawan, she has used it for fulfilling the value of being a human
for children who were unprivileged and abandoned.
She doesn't only make their lives grow
and bloom as it should be, but also
she teaches them
about the value and the true meaning of love.
and when the children grow up,
they will know how to give and share love to other people
as they have received from Mother Lawan today.