Support Wanny's Dream: A New Life and Job in Vancouver

I am asking for help for Wanny, a Thai lady, my friend, who is trying really hard to make a new life for herself. She lives in northern Thailand, a very rural place. She has a daughter that just went off to college and Wanny is trying to pay for it in addition to supporting herself. A few years ago she took an extensive, formal training class to learn Thai massage. She received her degree and began to practice in her hometown, but she makes not more than $30 per day, sometimes zero. Not enough. It’s her dream to move to America, “the land of opportunity”, but given the US immigration climate, that won’t happen. (She was recently denied a US tourist visa.) She’s had a Canadian boyfriend for years and even managed to get a Canadian visa and travelled with him to rural Alberta looking for work as a Thai massage therapist. No luck. If she can’t get into the US, Canada is her second choice. She has another trip planned in mid-February 2025 to go to Canada again, this time to the city of Vancouver to have better luck finding job. But about a month ago, her boyfriend dumped her and won’t pay for her trip except for her airfare which was already purchased. She’s very distraught. She can get to Canada but can’t afford to stay there to find a job. I really hope we can raise enough money to pay for her lodging, food, transportation, etc. for several weeks in Vancouver so she can find work and get settled. And some to pay for her daughter’s college until she can earn enough on her own to send back to Thailand. This would mean the world to her and her daughter.

Who am I? A few years ago I had an interest in going to Thailand and got online to find out more. I found a chat room with actual Thai people and Wanny happened to be the first person I met. In exchange for helping her with English, she taught me so much about Thailand and Thai culture. I’ve since gone there 3 times and love it so much. I’m retired and on a fixed budget or else I would help Wanny myself. During my last trip there, I met Wanny in person so I can verify that she is real and is not scamming me or anyone with her story. I’ve seen her massage degree, her airplane tickets, and her pictures in Canada her first time.

I really hope that we can help Wanny live her dream. She’s very upset and doesn’t know how she’ll be able to go to Canada to look for a job. She works so hard and dreams so big! She’s never heard of GoFundMe so this would be a total shock to her if strangers help her cause. I’d really like to pay her back for all of her help and advice she’s given me about Thailand over the past few years. We’ll update donors with her success!