Panthira lives with her father and her mother. She is responsible for working at various household chores. Her father is sometimes employed as a farmer and her mother is sometimes employed as a farmer.
As part of Compassion's ministry, Panthira participates in church activities. She is also in pre-school where her performance is average. Telling stories, playing house and playing with dolls are her favorite activities.
Please remember Panthira in your prayers. Your love and support will help her to receive the assistance she needs to grow and develop.
Panthira lives in the mountains of Ban Huey Nam Khun, home to approximately 1,600 residents. Typical houses are constructed of wood and have corrugated iron and leaf or grass roofs. The primary ethnic group and language is Karen.
The regional diet consists of fish, beans, chicken, pork, rice and vegetables. Common health problems in this area include colds and dengue fever. Half the adults in Ban Huey Nam Khun are unemployed but some work as subsistence farmers and earn the equivalent of $48 per month. This community needs vocational training, a center market and addiction rehabilitation programs.
Your sponsorship allows the staff of Huey Nam Khun Child Development Center to provide Panthira with Bible teaching, medical and dental checkups, health education, nutritious food, community service opportunities, sports, special celebrations, school supplies, English classes, field trips and computer classes. The center staff will also provide trainings for the parents or guardians of Panthira.
Thailand's central region is a rich agricultural area known as Asia's rice bowl. The northeast is poor, subject to seasonal droughts or floods, while the north has forested mountains and fertile valleys. Rain forests fill the south. Monsoons, high temperatures and humidity dominate Thailand's tropical climate. A major tsunami in December 2004 claimed 8,500 lives in Thailand and caused massive destruction of property in the southern provinces.
Compassion works mainly among the Karen, Lisu and Lahu tribes. The Karen of western Thailand are rice farmers, although some are mahouts - keepers and drivers of elephants that haul logs in the teak forests. The Karen are environmentalists, protective of the forest. Many Karen are Christian. The Lisu live in remote villages at high altitudes largely concentrated in northern Thailand. The Lahu, mountain people of northern Thailand, farm rice and maize and hunt with poisoned arrows. The majority of the country's population is Buddhist; less than 1 percent is Christian.
Founded in the 13th century, Thailand is the only country in south and southeast Asia never colonized by a European power. Since 1975, Thailand has provided asylum for refugees from communist Indochina. For its aid, Thailand has received acclaim from international organizations supporting refugee relief. In 2006, the elected government of Thaksin Shinawatra was overthrown by a military coup. Martial law was partially revoked in January 2007, and HM Bhurnibol Adulyadej now serves as the official head of state.
Map of Thailand
Child's Location: Southwest of Tak
