Fr. Ray Vocational School for the Disabled
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Family History and General Information
Opor’s birthplace is Bangkok but her family moved to Roi Et, a province in the northeast of Thailand. Her parents were separated when she was 2 years old, and her father brought her up. Opor married and lived with her husband in Chiang Mai, a province in the north of Thailand. She has a son who is now 9 years old. They lived in a rental room, which also was their small factory. Her husband produced handmade wooden dolls while she sold them. They faced an economic crisis and had inconsistent income. Opor decided to separate from her husband who now looks after their son. She says she will look after him when she completes her course and gets a proper job. Opor had an accident when she was 2 years old. She lived with her father in a typical Thai Isaan house, which was built on stilts. The area underneath the house can be used as a living area, for storage or for keeping animals. Her right leg fell into a gap between the floor boards, and her father tried to pull her up. This caused her suffer from a slipped tendon. Her leg became small, short, and weak. She now has to walk on tip-toe. Her eyesight is very poor so she wears contact lens. Opor finished from the Non-Formal Education Center equivalent to twelve years in March 2004, 6 years after having done nine years of her schooling at a normal school. She had joined in the vocational training for a school term in 2001 but she did not have enough financial support. She stopped her educational life and worked as a housekeeper for a foreigner in Lamphun, a province in the northeast of Thailand. Inconvenient transportation caused her to quit her job there so she started to work in Chiang Mai. She had some computer training at Yardfon Vocational Rehabilitation Centre in Chiang Mai in 2008. She learnt about the Redemptorist Vocation School for People with Disabilities from Yardfon Centre. She is grateful to have been accepted, on her first attempt at the entrance examination and she is now one of our students in the Computer and Business Management English Program class.
Opor’s birthplace is Bangkok but her family moved to Roi Et, a province in the northeast of Thailand. Her parents were separated when she was 2 years old, and her father brought her up. Opor married and lived with her husband in Chiang Mai, a province in the north of Thailand. She has a son who is now 9 years old. They lived in a rental room, which also was their small factory. Her husband produced handmade wooden dolls while she sold them. They faced an economic crisis and had inconsistent income. Opor decided to separate from her husband who now looks after their son. She says she will look after him when she completes her course and gets a proper job. Opor had an accident when she was 2 years old. She lived with her father in a typical Thai Isaan house, which was built on stilts. The area underneath the house can be used as a living area, for storage or for keeping animals. Her right leg fell into a gap between the floor boards, and her father tried to pull her up. This caused her suffer from a slipped tendon. Her leg became small, short, and weak. She now has to walk on tip-toe. Her eyesight is very poor so she wears contact lens. Opor finished from the Non-Formal Education Center equivalent to twelve years in March 2004, 6 years after having done nine years of her schooling at a normal school. She had joined in the vocational training for a school term in 2001 but she did not have enough financial support. She stopped her educational life and worked as a housekeeper for a foreigner in Lamphun, a province in the northeast of Thailand. Inconvenient transportation caused her to quit her job there so she started to work in Chiang Mai. She had some computer training at Yardfon Vocational Rehabilitation Centre in Chiang Mai in 2008. She learnt about the Redemptorist Vocation School for People with Disabilities from Yardfon Centre. She is grateful to have been accepted, on her first attempt at the entrance examination and she is now one of our students in the Computer and Business Management English Program class.
November, 2009
After staying at our School for 2 weeks, Opor finds the teachers very helpful and kind. A talkative self-confident woman, she mixes well with everyone in her new society. The food is good and she has made many friends. She is having no problems so far following the class. There are many games in our programme of sports adapted for the disabled in which all students are encouraged to participate. Opor would like to play badminton, which she had often played. She sometimes looks serious and worried about her health. Her aim is that she gets a proper job and saves some money to invest in the future. She wants to form a business to sell handmade products made by the handicapped. Opor would like to thank the Sponsors for her opportunity to study here, as without the School she feels there would be no other place to turn to. (WS)
April, 2010
Opor displays herself as a responsible and self-confident student who diligently does her school assignments. An easy-going smart lady, she enjoys being part of the Schools social activities. This term, she was very proud to have met the Prime Minister of Thailand at the seminar for the people with disabilities. She works hard at school, she also takes keen interest in sports, handicrafts, and cooking. She studied three subjects and achieved an A in Basic English-87%, and two Bs in Life and Society-79% and in Keyboard Skills-75%. She has returned home to be with her family during the school’s long holiday and she will return to her studies when the next term begins in May. (WS)
