Chala’s Orphanage
I get an email from Chala, who I met during my trip to the Chiangmai slums in 2007:
Hi Daniel
First of all I would like to say thankyou for what you are intending to do for the Shan.
We are also continuely praying for this project,I thanks the Lord for being with us all the time, By the grace of God we are able to start orphanage I have already accumulated the kids right now 45 of them are with us.
If you can search out those who can support please tell them somehow I got to start it, I cannot stand with the situation which they are facing in Thailand,I believed that if we are doing the right things for him he will not forsake us.Next time I will send picture of 45 kids to you, please search out who have heart to support thease kids.
Regeards
Chala
Background:
Chala is a ex-refugee Shan who is in his mid-30s. After fleeing Burma in the eighties while he was a child, he served as a child soldier before becoming a Christian in the 1990s while in the Mae La refugee camp. He speaks 7 languages (all the minority languages on the border), and has this immense heart to go back to his people.
Chala and his daughter in their village
While I was with him in Thailand, I talked to him regarding the refugee crisis. As a minority tribesperson whose brother has been killed by the Burmese military, he harbours very little hate: he has come to accept life as it is. Now living in Chiangmai, Chala works as a translator and church worker of a simple, fervent faith- I have never come across anything like it before.
The orphanage:
A few days before I left, he brought up the subject of what could be done to help the refugees. I listened intently as he described a Christian orphanage he wanted to start to house the many children whose parents had been killed in Burma. Now he has started his dream, and there are 45 children under his care.
Chala (left), Me and Yizhang at the home for the elderly in Chiangmai.
Chala has told me it requires about S$4000 to run his orphanage- what a paltry sum to house, feed, and educate 45 or more children! In spite of that, it will be difficult to convince people to put their money into this- there have been numerous cases of these “aid” people running off with the money, which hinder genuine attempts to help.
If you can search out those who can support please tell them somehow I got to start it, I cannot stand with the situation which they are facing in Thailand
It is so easy for me to just close his email- after all, emails are always so easily ignored, especially when he can’t afford to call you on your handphone. Then I could concentrate on my prelims, which will go a long way into getting me into a good college. But there’s something in me which tells me this isn’t right, and thus studying gets a competitor on the priority list.
wow, daniel. i must say i’m really impressed by the heart you have for these people, even after annie and i both exhorted you to focus on your studies last fri.
Chala indeed seems to be on track to do something life-changing for the refugees, and for the Lord! especially since he speaks 7 languages (chinese, anyone?).
i believe God is calling you to something great.. continue to seek and walk with Him and He will grant you success in his eyes.
that being said, don’t forget your studies! :)
[...] months ago I wrote about Chala, a former Shan State Army fighter who now works as a translator and has started an orphanage in [...]