mei's story
My father left my mother when I was seven months old, and my mother left me with my grandmother. My mother came back and started to take care of me when I was 9 years old. At that time, my mother had no money to send me to school, so I had to go out and work in the market butchering chickens for 30 Baht ($0.75US) per day. If the chicken didn't sell well, I had to accept the chicken as my wage rather than money.

I did this until grade 6, when I got a new job at a cookie distribution shop. I earned 1500 Baht ($37US) per month, but this wasn't enough for my family and the school fees for my sister and me. We did not own property, and had to pay rent every month. After I finished grade 6, I had worked at the cookie store for five months and I could see it was not helping.

I made a decision to come to Bangkok with a friend and found work at a glass factory. Now I was earning 2500 Baht ($60US) per month, and I worked there for five years. I had to use this money to pay for my expenses in Bangkok as well as send money home, so this still wasn't enough.

I was now 18 years old, and my friend suggested that I work on Soi Nana as a bar-girl to earn more money. I worked there for two years and my friend suggested Soi Cowboy. I realized that the life at this bar was very different. Life was much worse at Soi Cowboy, and I was now selling and using drugs. I was no longer sending money home on any regular basis and I had no morals in my work in the bar. Soon I was like a street girl, selling anything I could until I was arrested three years ago for having and selling drugs.

After three months in prison, I was sent to a drug rehabilitation center so that I could stay free from drugs. After another three months, I was released and sent home to Nong Kai to rest. I only stayed home for one month, and went back to Soi Cowboy because I had no goals, no job, and no money.

This time, while at Soi Cowboy, I met workers from The Well. Soon after I met them, I was rejected by a European man who had said he would take care of me. He paid for me to be free from the bar, but then he would tell me to go away so he could stay with other women. I didn't know what I should do. The people from The Well counseled me and made me understand more about what life is and that I could survive even if this man wouldn't stay with me.

I began to spend more time with The Well after that and received Christ in November. I quit my job right away and did not go back. I know that I cannot find any love from a man in that place.

I know that I was longing for a father's love, but I hadn't had that since I was seven months old, and my real father passed away three years ago. Even though he is dead, I long to visit him, even if he is in the ground. I tried to act like a man before, and was even in some lesbian relationships, to show that I am strong and that I can protect and take care of the girls. I know deep in my heart that I am the one who is longing for that kind of love and protection from someone.

Now my desire is to follow God's way, and my life belongs to Him. When I joined The Well, I was the only person in the program. I was able to support my mother by working with The Well. Now my little sister, who is 14, has also joined The Well and became a Christian. In the future, I want to study more and become a teacher. I want to have a good future. I want my family to look at me differently than before, to see that I am not a prostitute anymore, but that I have a good future.