Rice Seeds: When impossible becomes possible

When we first started our Rice Seeds Sponsorship Program, our heart was to teach the group of children that we met to dream beyond their own community. We wanted them to dream that other things were possible, even those things that other people had told them were impossible. They were a small group of migrant worker's children growing up in makeshift homes near the construction site that their parents worked in. What seemed impossible for these kids, are actually things that most of us take for granted: 

- the opportunity to not only attend high school, but to succesfully graduate
- the opportunity to pursue a university degree
- the opportunity to be granted citizenship in the country that they were born in, the only country that they have ever known as home.
-the necessary documents to do things that other people consider ordinary, like buying a house or getting a job
- being able to choose their own job, and pursuing one that they love, not just one that helps them make ends meet

When we first started, the two oldest children were 12 year old girls: Wanlee and Tuway. We didn't have any money to help them, but when they approached us to ask us to speak to their parents so that they could stay in school, that was what we did. 

They were the first children in their community to ever attend high school. So, on the journey along the way, they were the first to reach every significant milestone. They faced many obstacles along the way, having to fight for their dreams each step of the way.  

Today those two girls have both completed their university degrees. One of them has been granted Thai citizenship and the other is in the process of pursuing her Thai citizenship. They are both working in jobs that they enjoy and helping to support their families. One of them is in the process of building a house.

Over a period of 13 years of walking in faith towards their dreams, the impossible of yesterday has become the possible of today. They not only succeeded at reaching their own dreams, but have opened the way for many others who have come after them.