The Human Development Foundation
Encyclopedia
The Human Development Foundation (HDF), also referred to as the Mercy Centre, is a non-profit and non-denominational organization in Bangkok
, Thailand
. It was established by Roman Catholic Redemptorist priest Father Joe Maier
with Sister Maria Chantavaradom in 1975.
The Human Development Foundation is represented in the US by the Human Development & Children Foundation, a registered 501(c)3 charity. (HD&CF).
The organization and its Mercy Centre (the first and largest free AIDS hospice in the Klong Toey slums of Bangkok, founded in 1993) is a declared partnership with the poor, committed to building and operating schools, improving family health and welfare, protecting street children
's rights, combatting the AIDS crisis, responding to daily emergencies, and offering shelter to orphan
s, street children, and to children and adults with AIDS.
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
. It was established by Roman Catholic Redemptorist priest Father Joe Maier
Father Joe Maier
Father Joseph H. Maier, C.Ss. R., is an American Redemptorist priest who lives and works in the Klong Toey slums of Bangkok, Thailand, where he co-founded the Human Development Foundation with Sister Maria Chantavarodom in 1973...
with Sister Maria Chantavaradom in 1975.
The Human Development Foundation is represented in the US by the Human Development & Children Foundation, a registered 501(c)3 charity. (HD&CF).
The organization and its Mercy Centre (the first and largest free AIDS hospice in the Klong Toey slums of Bangkok, founded in 1993) is a declared partnership with the poor, committed to building and operating schools, improving family health and welfare, protecting street children
Street children
A street child is a child who lives on the streets of a city, deprived of family care and protection. Most children on the streets are between the ages of about 5 and 17 years old.Street children live in junk boxes, parks or on the street itself...
's rights, combatting the AIDS crisis, responding to daily emergencies, and offering shelter to orphan
Orphan
An orphan is a child permanently bereaved of or abandoned by his or her parents. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents is called an orphan...
s, street children, and to children and adults with AIDS.