In the remote mountain village of Baan Thoet Thai, Thailand, just six miles from the border with Myanmar, PIME Missionary Fr. Paolo Salamone serves hundreds of vulnerable children and families facing overwhelming difficulties.
As pastor of Holy Trinity and St. John Paul II Catholic Churches, Fr. Paolo provides spiritual leadership not only to his parish communities but also to people living in 25 surrounding villages. His ministry extends far beyond traditional pastoral care. Every day, he responds to the urgent educational, material, and emotional needs of families struggling with poverty, displacement, and the ongoing humanitarian crisis along the Thailand-Myanmar border.
At the parish, Fr. Paolo operates a hostel that provides a safe home for nearly 70 children. About 30% of these children come from refugee or migrant families who have fled violence and instability in neighboring Myanmar. The hostel offers them security, care, access to education, faith formation, and the opportunity to build a brighter future.
Aside from the children living in the hostel, more than 500 additional children in the surrounding villages depend on Fr. Paolo's support. These children receive assistance with educational expenses, school supplies, faith formation programs, and, in many cases, food and medical support for their families. For many, this assistance is the difference between a child staying in school or abandoning their education.
In addition, the needs of Fr. Paolo’s mission have continued to grow since the 2021 military coup in Myanmar and the ongoing civil conflict. Thousands of families have been displaced from their homes crossing into Thailand seeking safety. Arriving with few possessions and limited resources, these refugee families face significant challenges as they attempt to rebuild their lives in an unfamiliar environment.
Your contributions to this project help provide food, shelter, education, school supplies, faith formation programs, and medications for refugee children and low-income families. Your support will make a direct impact in sustaining and expanding Fr. Paolo’s life-changing ministry.
Leader
Scholarship for hill tribes children who once settled in north Thailand in the forest area call "The Golden Triangle". In these forests there are many villages of the hill tribes people who are fl...