Street library at Bangkok
In 1996, the volunteers began visiting another group of people living in very precarious conditions under and around the Arun Amarin Bridge, not far from the Thonburi Railway Station.
The volunteers first came to this community, which they refer to as "Bangkok Noi" after the district in which it is located, following a chance encounter with a child who used to live at an other place called Saphan Phut and whose family had taken shelter under the bridge. This family encouraged the team to visit and begin art activities with the children there.
This community is made up of families, adults, young people, and children, some of whom live in the open air under the bridge or find shelter in the garden of the nearby temple, while others rent rooms nearby. A canal provides water for bathing, laundry and washing dishes. The people do a variety of odd jobs to support themselves and their families. The temple provides a source of income for many people: some earn money by cleaning, others make and sell flower garlands. Some people sell turtles, birds, and fish, which visitors buy and set free as a way of making merit; others collect plastic bottles and cardboard for recycling, or cut and sell sheets of plastic in parks and temple fairs for people to sit on.
Over the last few years the people have lived in constant fear of being evicted because the authorities have been renovating the area for tourism. Extreme poverty is very present, although it is difficult to see who are the poorest because the population fluctuates; some people stay for a long time, some seem to pass through every now and then, maybe staying for a few weeks or months, while others come only once. Despite this fluctuation, it is a place that maintains a strong sense of community and the volunteers frequently witness gestures of solidarity.
In November 2003, a group of adults who used to take drugs regularly realized it was destroying their relationships; they decided together to stop the habit in order to support each other in a better way, and succeeded.
