CHILDREN FIND HAPPY HOMES WITH FOSTER FAMILIES

[lee]

CHILDREN FIND HAPPY HOMES WITH FOSTER FAMILIES

Project for abandoned, orphaned and HIV-positive youngsters is proving a success

Story by ANJIRA ASSAVANONDA

Thanong Thongphu, 53, wrapped his arms around a six-year-old girl who climbed onto his lap as soon as he sat down on the floor. Smiling gently at the little girl when she called him ''Dad'', he looked at her so lovingly that few would think he is not her real father. The Thongphu family is one of 18 in the Huay Luang community, in Kut Chap district of Udon Thani, that have taken part in a child fostering and adoption project initiated by the Social Development and Welfare Department.

Mr Thanong and his wife, Sa-nga, took in the girl, Jenjira Kulsiri or ''Namwan'', from the Udon Thani Home for Girls, a welfare centre for abandoned, orphaned or HIV-positive children in the Northeast. Initially, they agreed to take care of Namwan until her real family came to pick her up or until the centre could find a new family for her.

''The community leader told the villagers about the project and our family became interested. We have three children of our own, but they are already grown-up and always away for work. So we thought having a little child would help cheer us up,'' said Mr Thanong.

The couple talked to their children, who showed strong support and willingness to have a new little sister.

After having taken care of Namwan for over a year, they decided to adopt her. ''Namwan has the love of everyone in our family. I feel no difference between her and my own children. I'll send her to school until she graduates from a university,'' said Mrs Sa-nga.

Chalatip Punnabut, director of the Child Adoption Centre, said about 500 abandoned children had been left in the care of state welfare centres over the past two years. Most of them were the results of unwanted pregnancies.

There were also another 1,000 children, aged up to five years old, living at welfare homes across the country. These youngsters are those who were neglected, or who became orphans after their parents died of HIV/Aids, or whose parents were put in jail for criminal offences.

''For those who still have their parents, we will first try to return them to their families when they are ready. However, in many cases their families no longer want them back. That's why we started the foster family project, to find a warm and happy home for them,'' she said.

Children living with foster or adoptive families stand a better chance of developing into good adults than those raised in welfare homes, she added.

''Welfare homes have limited manpower. They don't have enough staff to take good care of the children. But in the case of children living with foster families, they will be raised with parental love and care,'' Ms Chalatip said.

The foster family project was first launched in 1999 in the Nonsang community in Nong Bua Lam Phu, before it was extended in 2001 to the Chiang Pin and Huay Luang communities in Udon Thani.

''The chosen communities must be close to the welfare homes so our staff members can follow up after sending the children to the foster families. Mostly, we visit them once a month,'' said Pareun Nitayasuthi, head of the Udon Thani Home for Girls.

Every foster family receives training before taking in a child. The centre pays each foster family 2,000 baht a month to cover the expense of rearing a child.

''The important thing we told every foster family is to always be prepared for separation when the real parents or adoptive families come to pick up the children. They must be aware that their role is only to 'foster' the children temporarily. But when the time comes, most find it hard to control their emotions,'' she said.

[valentine]

Lee. Thank you for the nice article from the Bangkok Post. It may be of interest to some that there are 180 foster parents with children just from the Udon home. Most of these were invited with the kids, to the recent open day to celebrate childrens day. Needless to say they all seemed to have a good time. In case any forumites are thinking of fostering may I just caution. Because the welfare dept pay a monthly sum for the kids keep, all applicants are strictly vetted to make sure of the reasons of the potential fosterers. It goes without saying that the money given doesn't come any where near the cost of care.Most carers contribute a lot of money from their own resources.
As the fostering period could be quite lengthy, it is normal to seek foster parents as near as possible to that of the natural parents. This would normally rule out most of the potential farangs from doing so.There is also a concern regarding the permanent residency issue. What happens if a farang foster father has to return home.These are real issues of concern and in no way a discrimination against us. I know that Khun Pareun the Homes Director welcomes and encourages our participation in all the girls activities.