Diagnosed with terminal cancer, Suthasinee 'Tew' Noiin has no time for despair - she has 112 orphans at Ban Homehug to look after

Told you had just two years to live, how would you feel and what you would you?

Suthasinee "Tew" Noiin, 52, is facing just such a situation due to colon cancer, but instead of falling into depression, she is happily sharing her life with underprivileged kids she calls "her children".

"I have to detox every day and make my mind peaceful," she says. "Sometimes I'm so tired I can't stand up." But this doesn't make her hopeless.

"Money, a long life, or reputation don't lead to a meaningful and happy life," says Tew. "Helping others does."

More than 20 years ago, a newly graduated Tew left her life of convenience in Bangkok to help abandoned, sexually vi¬olated and HIVinfected children in the Northeast.

A mother to youngsters

She first established a project for children and juveniles, which helped 22 drug addicts and moms with unwanted pregnancies. Now she is "mother" to 112 children and youngsters at Ban Homehug in Yasothon. Half of her charges are living with HIV, and several have completed their undergraduate education and gone back to take care of others.

"The children are my best medicine in tough times. I try to get up whenever I hear their voices," says Tew.

The spotlight fell on her life after she starred in a TV commercial for an insurance company and was then invited to tell her story on TV shows.

"I've decided to publicise the plight of Ban Homehug's chil¬dren so that they'll be taken care of in the future, when I won't be around," she says. "It's been a success, as there are more people visiting and donating goods. But the economic downturn means money is only trickling in.

Donations of money can be made to the Suthasinee Noiin Foundation for Children and Youth through the Siam Commercial Bank account number 5612211877.

To contact her call (045) 722 241.