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Ooy Dee Jodsomchan
"It must have been two years ago, " Ooy Dee Jodsomchan, 81, says.
"My sight wasn't good for many many years. But we never had money for an operation so I knew what would happen to so many poor people here: I would turn blind."
Ooy Dee suffers from cataract, a clouding that develops in the lens of the eye and leads to loss of vision and without treatment to blindness.
Blindness of cataract can be cured by replacing the lens by an artificial one. It's a common and short operation. Ooy Dee should have had this operation free within the Thai healthcare system.
"When I got too old for working in the fields I started to do odd jobs old people do, cleaning garlic for example. It pays very little, but at least you make some money. But for me this is over now too."
  
Ooy Dee comes from Chiang Rai. "My husband came to Chiang Rai for work and I liked him, though he was poor. He had no land. He had build this house, but it is government land here. He died 30 years ago."
"I have one son, he is 55. He never married. He's in the hospital now, he has AIDS for over 10 years. He cannot take care of me anymore. They say he may die soon."
Ooy Dee is at the mercy of her neighbors now; all of them are squatters, they don't own any land and work as laborers in the field. She doesn't receive a pension from the government.
"I never eat pork or beef. I only eat boiled vegetables, chili sauce and rice. I only eat twice a day. When you're older you don't need that much anymore."
 
Sticky rice is the staple food in Chiang Mai Province. People usually eat 1 liter per day.
Here's our plan. Every month we will bring Ooy Dee 30 liters of rice for 300 baht ($ 8.82 / € 6.52).
In this way, her neighbors, who are poor themselves, won't have to worry about her daily rice.
Also we will look into the why Ooy Dee's eyes were never treated properly, and we will consult surgeons in Chiang Mai to see if there still is a way to cure Ooy Dee from her blindness.
We would like to thank Miss Phim Rob from Chiang Mai for being a rice sponsor for Ooy Dee.
If you too feel like supporting someone in need for 300 baht per month ($ 8.82 / € 6.52), please contact us.
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