CHAPTER 7MODEL A LIFE WELL LIVED
While life is finite we seldom know when it will be exhausted. We like to believe it is endless or at least ignore how tenuous our hold on it is. Our time, how we share it and what difference we seek to make is the yardstick by which we are measured. ‘The purpose of life,’ wrote the philosopher poet Ralph Waldo Emerson, ‘is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.’
Growing up in the slums of Khlong Toei in Bangkok was always going to leave a lasting impression on Khun Rotjana's character and mindset. But from my experience that impression will not necessarily be the obvious one. Living in an environment where everything is a struggle can either generate resentment and anger or build resolve and gratitude. It can foster a will to escape the poverty and build a life beyond the struggle or trigger a fight against those who fail to understand the challenges they face.
Khun Rotjana grew up in the slums and decided that education was her way forward. While she didn't necessarily see it as a way out, it was certainly a pathway towards a brighter future for her and her family. Supported by Khru Prateep and the Duang Prateep Foundation, Khun Rotjana would be one of the first graduates from a school set up in the slums to give children a chance to avoid the life of poverty and struggle they were destined to lead.
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