My mother

She works hard, serving the customers under the sunshine while customers are selecting the types of tree they want. My mother Tatsanong is 47 years old. She is in good health but sometimes she sneezes because of the dust in the air. She works at a tree-nursery and sells many things species of plants, garden decorations such as Venus statues, fountains or miniature waterfalls, and marble tables . My mother has to control the work of the male employees, and has to go to other gardens to find different tree species . In spite of her workload, she has supported her children while they were preparing to graduate and has encouraged them to success in life. She sometimes says that she is tired but I, my sisters and brother, as her children, try not to give her too much trouble. My mother was a tradeswoman since she was young. After the Second World War, Thailand was an underdeveloped country . Most houses were located in a garden, and there were ditches for plant- ing useful trees around the house . When she was a child, she had to glue the phosphorous head on to matches to send to the factory before going to school. When she came back in the evening, she carried two buckets on her shoulders to neighbouring houses to ask for remnants of food to feed pigs . WORLD HEALTH 3/89 My mother by Porntip Kanokvijitjalearn from Thailand, 23. She is a graduate of the Communication Arts Faculty at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok. She works in sales promotion. When she finished the com- pulsory curr iculum from the Radsingkorn Temple School, she would pick vegetables in the gar- den and prepare them for sale in the market place. The next morn- ing, she would go to the market barefoot, nearly two kilometres every day, carrying the veg- etables in two baskets. When she sold all of them she would hurry home to pick more vegetables. She also picked betel fruit, swing- ing from the top of one betel palm tree to the next because she was too lazy to climb down and up again. She would throw the betel fruit into a ditch so as not to damage its skin. She was a teen- ager at that time, but now is too stout and old to do such things. A rich man lives near my mother's house. My mother and grandmother always helped them when they had a party. My mother's duty was to put the plates away and pour leftovers into a bucket. Because she was poor and had never eaten good food she used to dip her hand into the bucket to find a chestnut and eat it. The chestnut was still warm and smelled good. She told me that it was delicious and she can s ti ll remember how good it tasted . Because of her diligence and assistance at this wealthy house , the owner gave my mother a bronze belt . At one end of the belt there is a carvmg of a goat, which is the sign of my mother's birthyear. She is very proud of this belt and has kept it ever since. She proudly tells her chil- dren about this experience. My mother met my father, a handsome teenager, when she was 19 at the School of Chinese. He was richer than her , so he led a life full of joy and adventure . But he died recently of cancer at the age of 49 . Since they were mar- ried , my father and my mother gradually built up a stable living standard. They made a plan to travel abroad once in their life after having worked hard for a long time. At that period, my dad had blood draining from his nose. The doctor told my mother that it was cancer. She was very shocked. My father did not know it. My mother cried deeply in her heart but she pretended to be normal in front of my dad. She told the news to me, my sisters and my brother to soothe her distress . Today I have only my mother. I, my sisters and my brother have to do our best to show her our gratitude. We are a close, warm family , and we love her the most. • The women of Thailand are hard workers, often adding trading activities to their house chores. Photo L. SinnarfD 29