Meeting Hom, our sponsored child in Thailand!

A memorable and extraordinary day, which gives meaning to our sponsorship!

After several weeks of anticipation, I finally got to meet my sponsored child Janyawein.
I know a little about him thanks to the files sent to me by the charity, but we’ve never communicated with each other before. He doesn’t even know my face or anything about my life… So we have everything to discover today. This is where he lives every day, in his uncle’s house in Ban Han, near Sikhio (a few hours from Bangkok).
The day began with a meeting with Camille, a French overseas volunteer with Children of the Mekong in Thailand, and Janyawein’s English teacher. We made a quick diversions to a shop, as we were keen to find a football shirt! When we arrived, we were greeted by a veritable welcoming committee: Janyawein, his grandmother, the person in charge of his sponsorship programme (group of sponsored children) and the deputy head of his school.
Janyawein got to know my family through the many photos I showed him. The English teacher helps us communicate enormously, as he speaks almost no English. He’s very impressed but very receptive to everything we say. We were delighted to be able to give him our little presents (schoolbag, ball, books, balls, pencils, sweets, etc.). He proudly puts on the football shirt and seems very happy to eat the little packet of sweets, which he devours without batting an eyelid!
We learn that Janyawein would like to become a footballer and that his favourite subject is sport (10-year-old boys are not so different from one country to another)! Camille suggested a game to share a simple moment in life with my sponsored child: the football would be ideal for improvising a few passes! Two laundry baskets were used as goals and the game could begin! We discovered a little boy who was passionate about football, very smiley and happy. It was a great moment that I won’t forget! The heat (37 degrees) naturally put an end to the game, and we decided to take everyone to lunch!
The meal was an opportunity to find out even more about him. His nickname is Hom and his first name is only used for formalities, as it is for all Thai people. It’s still the summer holidays, but he can’t wait to go back to school. It was time to say goodbye and the team dropped us off at our bus stop. We said goodbye to Hom, his mum and the team, whom we thanked for a wonderful time.
We don’t know when we’ll be back, but we do know that we’ll be exchanging letters for a long time to come, to continue the little bond we created that day. A memorable and extraordinary day, which gives meaning to our sponsorship!