What’s it like to be a kid in Asia? Come meet Saron from Bangladesh and Ariel from Indonesia and find out!
Discover the games kids play, the foods they love, the clothes they wear and the different ways they get around. Along the way, you’ll meet even more kids from across Asia and get a peek into their everyday lives.
What looks like your life? What surprises you?
I'm Saron!
I’m 13 and live with my parents in Dhaka, Bangladesh. I love sketching, playing hide-and-seek with my friends and eating jhalmuri, a spicy puffed rice snack. Most of all, I want other kids to know that you shouldn’t let anyone’s doubts stop you from chasing your dreams.
I'm Ariel!
I’m 10 and live surrounded by coffee trees high in the hills of South Sulawesi, Indonesia! I love playing marbles with my friends, riding around my village by motorcycle and even drinking coffee grown right here in my village. Come see what life is like where I live!
Meet My Family
I live with my mom, Akhi, and my dad, Ripon, in the biggest city in Bangladesh. The city may be crowded, but I love the two-room apartment my family shares.
I love living in my village in Toraja! I live with my mom, sister, brother and my nephew. We’re wearing colorful traditional Torajan clothes that we wear for special occasions.
Homes Across Asia
Two-year-old Pavesh lives with his mom, dad and big sister in a small home that’s made of gray concrete blocks in Sri Lanka.
Nawkaybu stands with her mom, Muekakue, and her brother, Joryopho, outside their home in Thailand. They’re wearing colorful traditional outfits.
Jayven lives with his family in this bamboo house in the Philippines. That’s his mom, Helen, sitting in the doorway, while Jayven and his neighbor hang out together nearby.
Welcome to Chhav and Mok’s home in Cambodia! They live here with their five kids, including their twin baby girls.
Two-year-old Pavesh lives with his mom, dad and big sister in a small home that’s made of gray concrete blocks in Sri Lanka.
Nawkaybu stands with her mom, Muekakue, and her brother, Joryopho, outside their home in Thailand. They’re wearing colorful traditional outfits.
Jayven lives with his family in this bamboo house in the Philippines. That’s his mom, Helen, sitting in the doorway, while Jayven and his neighbor hang out together nearby.
Welcome to Chhav and Mok’s home in Cambodia! They live here with their five kids, including their twin baby girls.
Two-year-old Pavesh lives with his mom, dad and big sister in a small home that’s made of gray concrete blocks in Sri Lanka.
Nawkaybu stands with her mom, Muekakue, and her brother, Joryopho, outside their home in Thailand. They’re wearing colorful traditional outfits.
Jayven lives with his family in this bamboo house in the Philippines. That’s his mom, Helen, sitting in the doorway, while Jayven and his neighbor hang out together nearby.
Welcome to Chhav and Mok’s home in Cambodia! They live here with their five kids, including their twin baby girls.
Fast facts:
- Homes up high: In parts of Thailand, Cambodia and Bangladesh, some homes are built on stilts to help keep them cool, dry and safe from floods.
- Homes that float: Some families in Asia live in houses that float on lakes and rivers so they can rise and fall with the water.
- Built from nature: In many villages, homes are made using materials that grow nearby, like bamboo, wood and palm leaves.
Where I Play
Saron
I love going to the National Botanical Garden with my friends! It’s peaceful. There’s lots of space to run around, laugh and play hide-and-seek away from the busy streets. When I’m at home, I like to sketch and make art.
Ariel
I like playing marbles with my friends because I usually win the game and take home a lot of marbles!
Eleven-year-old Pornsiri plays hkaw shi, a traditional spinning top game, in Thailand. The handmade tops are often passed down from dads to sons.
Six-year-old Dilu and her friends love playing jillbole, a popular marble game in Sri Lanka. It takes a sharp eye and a steady hand to hit your target. Ready, aim … roll!
Saron
I love going to the National Botanical Garden with my friends! It’s peaceful. There’s lots of space to run around, laugh and play hide-and-seek away from the busy streets. When I’m at home, I like to sketch and make art.
Ariel
I like playing marbles with my friends because I usually win the game and take home a lot of marbles!
Eleven-year-old Pornsiri plays hkaw shi, a traditional spinning top game, in Thailand. The handmade tops are often passed down from dads to sons.
Six-year-old Dilu and her friends love playing jillbole, a popular marble game in Sri Lanka. It takes a sharp eye and a steady hand to hit your target. Ready, aim … roll!
Saron
I love going to the National Botanical Garden with my friends! It’s peaceful. There’s lots of space to run around, laugh and play hide-and-seek away from the busy streets. When I’m at home, I like to sketch and make art.
Ariel
I like playing marbles with my friends because I usually win the game and take home a lot of marbles!
Eleven-year-old Pornsiri plays hkaw shi, a traditional spinning top game, in Thailand. The handmade tops are often passed down from dads to sons.
Six-year-old Dilu and her friends love playing jillbole, a popular marble game in Sri Lanka. It takes a sharp eye and a steady hand to hit your target. Ready, aim … roll!
My Favorite Outfit
Saron
This is my favorite outfit! It’s a colorful salwar kameez, a traditional outfit worn in Bangladesh. The red dot on my forehead is called a tip.
Ariel
My favorite outfit is this traditional Torajan one that we wear for special occasions. Behind me are Tongkonan, traditional houses with roofs shaped like buffalo horns!
Saron
This is my favorite outfit! It’s a colorful salwar kameez, a traditional outfit worn in Bangladesh. The red dot on my forehead is called a tip.
Ariel
My favorite outfit is this traditional Torajan one that we wear for special occasions. Behind me are Tongkonan, traditional houses with roofs shaped like buffalo horns!
Saron
This is my favorite outfit! It’s a colorful salwar kameez, a traditional outfit worn in Bangladesh. The red dot on my forehead is called a tip.
Ariel
My favorite outfit is this traditional Torajan one that we wear for special occasions. Behind me are Tongkonan, traditional houses with roofs shaped like buffalo horns!
How I Get Around
Saron
I take a cycle rickshaw to school every day! The streets in Dhaka are really busy, but my school and my parents’ work are close to our home.
Ariel
Motorcycles are how we get around my village! My family and our neighbors use them to travel from place to place.
In rural Bangladesh and along the Thailand-Myanmar border, some kids travel to their Compassion center by boat!
Saron
I take a cycle rickshaw to school every day! The streets in Dhaka are really busy, but my school and my parents’ work are close to our home.
Ariel
Motorcycles are how we get around my village! My family and our neighbors use them to travel from place to place.
In rural Bangladesh and along the Thailand-Myanmar border, some kids travel to their Compassion center by boat!
Saron
I take a cycle rickshaw to school every day! The streets in Dhaka are really busy, but my school and my parents’ work are close to our home.
Ariel
Motorcycles are how we get around my village! My family and our neighbors use them to travel from place to place.
In rural Bangladesh and along the Thailand-Myanmar border, some kids travel to their Compassion center by boat!
Fast facts:
- Millions of kids across Asia miss out on school. Poverty, disasters and living far from a school can make it hard for some children to get an education.
- Floods, storms and other disasters can turn kids’ lives upside down, damaging homes and schools and making it harder to find food and clean water.
- Compassion helps more than 407,000 children across Asia to learn, stay healthy and safe, eat good food and discover Jesus’ love!
My Favorite Snack
Saron
Nothing beats the taste of jhalmuri! It’s made with puffed rice and it’s spicy and yummy. I eat my vegetables too, but jhalmuri is my favorite treat!
Ariel
In our village, we grow coffee, and children my age are used to drinking coffee every day. I help to pick the coffee beans.
Saron
Nothing beats the taste of jhalmuri! It’s made with puffed rice and it’s spicy and yummy. I eat my vegetables too, but jhalmuri is my favorite treat!
Ariel
In our village, we grow coffee, and children my age are used to drinking coffee every day. I help to pick the coffee beans.
Saron
Nothing beats the taste of jhalmuri! It’s made with puffed rice and it’s spicy and yummy. I eat my vegetables too, but jhalmuri is my favorite treat!
Ariel
In our village, we grow coffee, and children my age are used to drinking coffee every day. I help to pick the coffee beans.
Fast facts:
Get to know some of Asia’s most famous (and yummy!) food:
- Indonesia: Nasi goreng (fried rice with veggies and often a fried egg on top).
- Thailand: Pad Thai (noodles fried with veggies, egg and a tasty sauce).
- Sri Lanka: Kottu roti (little pieces of flatbread cooked with veggies, egg and sometimes meat).
- Philippines: Adobo (chicken or pork cooked in a tasty sauce made with soy sauce, vinegar and garlic).
- Cambodia: Fish amok (fish cooked in a creamy coconut sauce, often inside a banana leaf).
- Bangladesh: Kacchi biryani (rice cooked with meat, potatoes and lots of tasty spices).
Where We Buy Our Food
No shopping carts here! In Cambodia, many families buy their groceries at busy open-air markets, where stalls are piled with colorful fruits and vegetables, fresh fish, meat and other foods for the family.
Ariel
My village is far from the city, and we don’t have a market. Every day, vendors from a nearby village ride their motorcycles here with vegetables and other things we need! I’m buying some fresh fruits and vegetables.
No shopping carts here! In Cambodia, many families buy their groceries at busy open-air markets, where stalls are piled with colorful fruits and vegetables, fresh fish, meat and other foods for the family.
Ariel
My village is far from the city, and we don’t have a market. Every day, vendors from a nearby village ride their motorcycles here with vegetables and other things we need! I’m buying some fresh fruits and vegetables.
No shopping carts here! In Cambodia, many families buy their groceries at busy open-air markets, where stalls are piled with colorful fruits and vegetables, fresh fish, meat and other foods for the family.
Ariel
My village is far from the city, and we don’t have a market. Every day, vendors from a nearby village ride their motorcycles here with vegetables and other things we need! I’m buying some fresh fruits and vegetables.