synopsis

A man battles poverty, disease, organized crime and an ill equipped government in his efforts to bring education, a safe home and a sense of hope to thousands of Bangkok’s slum children.


When Father Joe Maier, an American Catholic priest relocates to Klong Toey, Bangkok’s worst slum, he is overcome by the daily struggle against poverty, disease, abuse, prostitution and drugs that the inhabitants face. A struggle poignantly illustrated by the growing number of helpless, innocent children living on the streets, some orphaned, some simply abandoned. Father Joe decides build a school, a safe haven for these children, and regardless of faith, race or gender, offer them a ray of hope. The crime lords know the children are their most profitable asset and try to take them back. Father Joe must make a choice; abandon the children, or do whatever it takes to keep these kids in school and off the streets. Over a forty-year battle, with courage and perseverance, Father Joe and the children build a new community within the slum… a community based on dignity, acceptance, trust, and hope.