Thailand – Teaching at Primary Schools
Thailand – Teaching at Primary Schools
My plans were big, I wanted to go far way, gain a magical experience while obtaining study credits. However, there were also things that held me back, so, as middle ground I conducted the short field study which allowed me to go to Thailand for two months. How a day looks like while being abroad would be a different experience for every organisation and country, but I can share you mine. Every morning, I woke up with a blue sky and sun in a rural area in North-East part of Thailand. I stayed at a campus with a few bungalows in which other volunteers were sleeping. Every volunteer gets a very warm welcome including a barbecue at night. For most nights after, I cooked dinner with the other volunteers but there were also some nights that we went to a restaurant or having barbecue. It was nice having a lot of people around on campus.
Next to living there, I had to do the volunteer work and write the report. My work existed in several disciplines. There was a food forest, which I had to support and improve. During my stay I was able to enjoy the fruits of our own papaya trees, as well as lemon grass, cabbage and bananas. I also had free time which I spent going to the market, visiting temples and preparing the Christmas lunch for over one hundred children.
However, my main task was teaching English at multiple small primary schools around the area. The weekly schedule contained one or two schools per day for a few hours. The English level of the children greatly varied, so sometimes games were more suitable and at other schools the children were used to write everything down that was on a white board. The language barrier is sometimes difficult, but it gives to opportunity to communicate with the children in a more creative way. After eight weeks getting to know the children - and schools and staff - they said, “Teacher, teacher, goodbye!”
Indeed, it was as wonderful as I hoped it would be! I am very thankful for this experience.