Bumeu Weiyu's Page

Update on Sep 2006

Update on Dec 2005

In December 2005, I visited the karen refugee camp in northern Thailand and spent 4 days there to teach children English language and observe the lives of the refugee. After that, I spent the weekend in Chiang Mai so I that I can spend sometime with Bumeu.

When I saw Bumeu, I realised how much taller she had grown. She is now taller than her elder sister, Mee Tei. I looked at the old photo I took of the sisters 2 years ago, Bumeu was shorter. Now it is the opposite. I should have taken a new photo of both girls together. Pastor Phamor jokingly told me that Bumeu was really growing vertically and her sister was growing horizontally. It sounded so mean and I was relief when I saw Mee Tei. It was really just a joke. Mee Tei just did not seem to grow much. She is going to be small built.

On Sunday, we took Bumeu and Mee Tei to Chiang Mai city . I wanted to buy them new pair of shoes and clothes, so we went to Carrefour Hypermart, which sells reasonably priced items for average Thai.

The first on my shopping list was new pair shoes for both girls. Bumeu had a hard time. We realised that her feet were big. In the woman shoe section, we got the largest size available, size 8 (American size). Some shoes had cutting that was tight on her feet. The pair of shoes which she liked very much did not have her size. In the end, she had to settle for the 2nd choice. Mee Tei did not have the problem.

Next on our list was clothing. That was when I could see that they were really girls. Girls are.fussy about what they dress. Bumeu said she liked all the colourful T-shirts and pants, so she could not make up her mind what she wanted. I had to help her with some suggestions. She wanted something which she could wear to church on Sabbath, so Pastor Phamor suggested a blowse and skirt, which in my opinion was suitable for old aunties.They are teenage girls. It did not take us to prove that I was right. Bumeu said the clothes was too old fashioned for her.

We spent about 1 and a half hour before we billed the items. It was really a quick shopping. According to Mee Tei, they had never gone shopping because they had no money, so it was an enjoyable experience. Considering buy so many things for the 2 girls for less than 1,600 baht (S$66), it was really cheap for a Singaporean like me. When I saw the smiling face of the girls, I felt it was all worth while.

After lunch, we went to a church to wait for a friend. While waiting, I tried to play 5 stones with the girls. I was so used to using little bean bags as stones when I was young but we were using real stones. The girls outplayed me. We had some fun time together, until Mee Tei said she had to returned to school for a cafeteria duty at 4:30pm. We were not aware of that. I thought we were going to drive the 1 hour journey back. However, Pastor Phamor gave Mee Tei money for them to take a truck modified Taxi (Songkot) home. I was a bit worried, but Pastor Phamor said Mee Tei knew the way. I gave the 2 girls a big hug and we reluctantly bid farewell. I had a plane to catch, so I could not follow them back.

After they had left, I remembered that I had forgotten to buy the sweater I promised Mee Tei. It was cold in Chiang Mai area during the year end period. She had told me she did not have a sweater. We went to Lotus Hypermart to get the sweater. Pastor Phamor would pass it to her for me.

I was happy to meet Bumeu and really spend time together.

Update on Aug 2005

Bumeu and me and the school compound on Sunday

Bumeu chatting with her dormitory mates

Bumeu plays pick-up-stick with her dormitory mates

Update on Mar 2005

Update on Dec 2004

What's next from here?

The Adoption

Date: March 2004

Home About EOP Children List FAQ EOP Update Changmai Academy Bumeu's Page Pa Mai Dang Village

My Adopted Girl: Bumeu Weiyu

About Bumeu

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 Akha villages about 60km from Chiangmai. Her father passed away some years ago. Her mother recently remarried and gone away with her newly wed husband. She only took youngest son. The 4 older children were abandoned and were taken care of by the grandmother.

She had studied 4 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. Classes are often inconsistent.

She wanted to go to school with better facility, but financial situation does not permit.

From left: Bumeu's elder sister Mee Tei, Bumeu, younger brother and grandmother.
The eldest brother is not in picture.

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, I decided to adopt her to be her sponsor.

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 independent. Thailand is not very far from Singapore, so I can always take a trip up north to visit her. With the operation of budget airlines, this makes the cost even lower.

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 Akha or Thai, but I'm not good in picking up new language. Hopefully, I can fly her to Singapore for holiday. With her mother non-contactable, I'm not sure what the possibility of getting her a passport is. Children need their parent's signature to get a passport. The strict law of Thailand in protecting children makes it even more difficult.

The sponsorship will be for the next 7 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.

We have written to each other a few times. She expressed her gratitude of me for sponsoring her. She said I was always in her thought and she hoped to meet me again. Similarly, I always think about how she is doing in school as well. I told her that I would visit her in Dec 2004.

I did make a trip to visit her in December. When I saw her, she was all smiling. She looked completely different from the first time I saw her in March. I could see that she was a happier girl after she started schooling in Chiangmai Academy. She was very excited to meet me again. I could also see from her eyes that she was filled in gratitude.

While we had dinner together, she told me (someone had to be translator) that she enjoyed Mathematics in school. We did not have a lot of time together, but I sensed that we were forming a relationship.

School term finished. Summer vacation starts. She wrote to me to tell me more about how she is going to spend the vacation time. She also said that she hoped to become a nurse one day.

Pastor Phamor told me that she struggled with both her Thai and English language. This in turn caused her to be handicapped when learning other subjects. Bumeu was not born Thai. Her mother tongue is Ahka. Although she spent 4 years in the village school, she did not learn as much as we hope. That is one of the weaknesses of village schools.

Her teacher had recommended her to attend summer school to catch up with her lessons. It would cost 2000 bahts. I told Pastor Phamor to enroll her in the summer school and I would pay the fee.

My next trip to Chiangmai will be in August 2005. I will meet Bumeu again.

The adoption comes in the form of sponsoring her education. She will be starting Grade 5 when the school term start in May 2004 at Chiangmai Adventist Academy, 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 would 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.

From left: Bumeu's elder sister Mee Tei, Bumeu and me

In August 2005, I get the chance to visit Bumeu again. This time, I led a group of friends who are sponsors of the EOP kids.

Bumeu was very much a happy girl. I could see she was so happy to meet me. While we had dinner together, she was so affectionate. She had some pomelo for me and wanted to put it into my mouth personally. Of course I allowed her.

On Sunday, I visited her in the school dormitory. I could see that she had many friends there. They chatted and played games together. She showed me the bed where she slept. I could see that she was a very neat girl. Her bed was very neatly arranged.

I hope she could speak English soon so we would be able to talk to each other more.

I was informed in the middle of the year that she had left the school compound with some school friends without permission from the dean. It was her first offence, so Pastor Phamor was informed and no harsh action was taken by the school. Pastor Phamor had consulted me how she should be punished. Most certainly spanking was out of question as she was already a big girl who could think and reason. I proposed that she should do some community work as a form of punishment. I wanted her to help out in the fruit farm in Pastor Phamor's training institute during some weekend.

I also wrote to her to express my disappointment with her for disobeying school rules, but I encouraged her to study hard. She wrote back to me promising me that she would obey school rules and be obedient. She also promised that she would work hard so as to let me down again. I was happy that she straightened her thought.