[Inonanialry]

The following was an article about Susan Aldous in the Bangkok Post today. We will be publishing our own interview with Susan later this week on thai-blogs.com. What I was interested in asking her was why she felt it was alright to visit and help convicted prisoners. A lot of people are of the opinion that they deserved any punishment that is given them.

The gift of love

Australian Susan Aldous has spent much of her life offering sympathy and understanding to the outcasts of Thai society

Bangkok Post
STORY BY KRITTIYA WONGTAVAVIMARN,

As a light rain began to fall, Susan Aldous tried to speed up her stride despite the encumbrance of three huge plastic bags full of clothes, snacks, dolls and photographs. When she met the group of women at the emergency home, she gave them a loud "Sawadee ka!" with a clear and correct Thai accent.

The women, some of whom were just sitting around, others cooing and feeding their babies, crowded around the tiny Australian lady. One by one, Aldous gave them each a big hug, a kiss and a photograph of themselves. Beaming and giggling, the women gave Aldous kisses on the cheek in return.

The hugs, kisses and photographs are not merely gestures but are meant to heal, said Aldous.

"Many young girls living in this shelter were kicked out of their homes and felt very desperate. Some are very young mothers and some are HIV-positive. So I've tried to give what I have, not money of course, but love, care and attention," said the 47-year-old.

"And a simple three-baht photograph can make a difference. When I gave photos to those with HIV, they were able to send them back to their families. They felt important and they felt that they would not be forgotten when they die. The women could also see the growth of their wombs and their babies. A simple thing really helps."

Aldous, who has a 17-year-old daughter, is a tiny lady with a huge heart. Her rich laugh, broad smile and bright eyes are the visible characteristics of a directed, irrepressible and dynamic personality.

Aldous has spent much of the past three decades doing charity work. Through occasional support from friends, acquaintances and well-wishers she lives according to her faith, travelling and spreading her message of love to those in need.

"In society, the great disease is loneliness. It's amazing that everybody wants only one thing: They want to be loved, appreciated and understood, and to know how they are important. And I always believe that lives have value and purpose. We all have power to do something to make the world better. We can be a part of the solution, not the problem," she said.

In her youth, Aldous took a path of self-destruction. Rebelling against her upbringing in suburban Melbourne, she ended up a high-school dropout and a drug addict.

"I had always been a rebel. I thought that if life was just eating three meals a day then getting married, having kids, having a bigger car and dying - that made me sick. It looked so empty. So I was becoming really dissolute. I started drinking heavily and taking drugs. I was carrying a gun to protect myself. I was hanging around with gangs. I became a hippie. At 16, I was trying to kill myself on the streets of Melbourne's red light district. I really knew I wouldn't live to 17," she recalled.

Then the young Aldous was moved by a Christian group singing on the street whose members were people from all walks of life; from hippies and former drug addicts to a ballerina and a businessman. They challenged her by saying: "If you want to throw your life away, why don't you give it away."

"And that really hit me," said Aldous. "I prayed in the middle of the street and said 'God, if you are real, please come into my heart, change my life, forgive me for my mistakes and help me to live a life of love.' I didn't see angels in the sky but a miracle did happen and I stopped taking drugs. I just stopped. And I felt high like I'd never felt high before because I knew I could do something with my life. I had a purpose."

Leaving the world of drugs and petty crime behind, Aldous began to help those in need while making ends meet by working as a "Playboy bunny" hostess. "I thought that when people felt lonely they wouldn't go to church, but they would go to the club [where I worked]. It was a good place for me to spread my message: 'I'm just going to change the world with love,"' she said.

As an adopted child, former drug addict, hostess, hippie, Christian and single mother, Aldous is able to use her background to reach people of all ages and social standing.

After travelling around Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, Aldous came to Thailand to work at the Southeast Asian Games, which were held over nine days in Bangkok in 1985.

"I came here for nine days and didn't leave for 17 years," she laughed.

Aldous began doing personal counselling at hospitals in Bangkok and organising anti-drugs programmes. She later began working with inmates sentenced to 30 years to life in Bang Kwang Prison, the experiences of which are detailed in her inspirational memoir The Angel of Bang Kwang Prison. The autobiography tells of Aldous's efforts to give a voice to those suffering unimaginable indignities in Bang Kwang.

"My first impression when I stepped into the prison was how unhappy the guards were. The guards were just very unfriendly. They were lowly-paid workers and they were just frustrated, not any different from the inmates. And I said 'That's it! Within one day I'm going to make every guard in this place smile!' That was my goal. And I could achieve it. I was just crazy. I just waved, smiled and said hi to everyone. People thought I was mentally ill. But I didn't feel shy or afraid of what others would think of me. I think it's better to be crazy and happy than crazy but sad.

"At the time my daughter was still young, like a little angel. She sang to everybody in Thai around the prison and that softened the guards a little bit."

With her flamboyance and sincerity, Aldous's friendship with the guards, and the prison executioner, flourished. She started teaching the guards English and helping as a translator in the prison. Bit by bit, the seed of trust grew, allowing Aldous to initiate a series of entertaining and empowering projects in the prison.

One of her first and most successful projects was to provide eye tests and glasses to elderly inmates.

"The youngest of the elderly group was 58 years old. Out of a hundred people, three had 30-year sentences and the rest, aged up to 90 years, had sentences of 80, 90, 100 years ... these were crazy sentences. In a week if there were 100 men, three or four would die because of poor nutrition, bad eyesight and lack of medicine. So we fed them, gave them clothes, a packed lunch and the message of love."

Aldous said that sharing love with other people is one of the simplest and most effective ways to bring about positive change in the world.

"Sometimes men were just crying like little babies in my arms, and I just thought that it didn't take a lot to make a difference. Everyone can give love, and all that built up together can make a change. I always use my life as an example. I'm the least likely person to succeed but I had recycled all the rubbish in my life. If I can change, if I can do this, anyone can do something and can make a difference."

Aldous married a convicted heroin smuggler from the US who she met in Bang Kwang. After living together in California for three years the couple recently divorced.

Aldous moved back to Thailand last year. Since then she has once again devoted her time to helping others, especially women and children who are victims of domestic violence.

Recently, Aldous was invited to assist the Hospital Accreditation Institute under the Ministry of Public Health as a volunteer and adviser working on the Humanised Health Care project. Working with a team of doctors, nurses and other health officials from the Institute, Aldous will visit six hospitals in different areas around Thailand.

"Together we will inspect and critique the 'Loving Hands' projects at the six hospitals then convene a workshop to analyse and summarise our findings. These findings will be put together in a workable format for 200 hospitals nationwide to implement.

"​[The Loving Hands project] is like the Patch Adam Projects. We will use clowns and interactive acting to reach those who suffer in hospitals. I also will be just hugging, loving, caring and helping the patients. I won't do much, just going bed to bed, talking to people, holding their hands, praying with them, crying with them, holding them and hugging them. When they die I just help them die and help them pass on to a better world with peace. It really is a simple thing but it really changes the atmosphere of the hospital, " she said.

Aldous's ultimate goal is to have people discover what they can do to help other people.

"I don't want people to come and join me. I don't want people to work with me. But I want them to think, 'Oh! Instead of trying to be nice to the boss, maybe I could go thank the toilet cleaner for the good job she's doing,' because the toilet cleaner is no different from your boss. If she doesn't come to work for a week you'll surely be in big trouble! Everybody's important. I believe gratitude is the greatest attitude."

Although she's seen as an angel by the criminals, the women with HIV/Aids, the homeless young mothers, the hospital patients and other underprivileged people she works with, Aldous says she too has her own special angel.

"I have a guardian angel who guides me and whispers in my ear. My other angels are friends who give me encouragement or put a gift in my mail box. Prisoners, women and children are angels who brighten up my day. I believe we can all be angels. Maybe we don't have wings, but we can feel them beating in our heart, inspiring us.

"Everything we have gone through - anger, agony and pain - we can learn from, turn around and make into something good. Every life has value. I'm not perfect. I'm only human. We all can make mistakes, but mistakes will teach us that we can help someone else to get through their mistakes. I believe we are comforted to comfort other people. If you open hands to give you open them to receive."

[Inonanialry]

I will publishing my interview with Susan Aldous on Saturday morning at www.Thai-Blogs.com.

[Inonanialry]

You can now read part one of the interview:

http://www.thai-blogs.com/index.php?...&c=1&tb=1&pb=1

[megatrendsZ]

nice interview, something i found interested and I got a lot of answers out of it

If you do decide to take that one step closer to visiting prisoners like you mentioned then be sure to let us know how it goes. I certainly couldnt do something like that personally