Mercy Centre Human Development Foundation

Bangkok, Thailand

Fr. Joe Maier works in Bangkok, Thailand, and founded the Mercy Centre Human Development Foundation, through which he has spent more than 45 years creating simple, progressive solutions that positively impact the lives of thousands of children and their families.

Mercy Centre is dedicated to building and operating kindergartens, protecting the rights of children, fighting the HIV/AIDS crisis, responding to daily emergencies and offering shelter to orphans and HIV/AIDS patients. A staff of 12 conducts education and care for HIV positive patients in hundreds of homes and battles human trafficking.

In the process, Fr. Joe has earned the respect of grandmothers, government officials, Buddhist monks, the local Imam and the Crown Princess of Thailand. He claims his faith is far from perfect, but Archbishop Desmond Tutu described him as “the vivid expression of God’s will for how we treat the human family.”