After a week and a half in Thailand, I began adjusting to the 12-hour time difference and the huge culture change in this beautiful foreign country. I have been staying in the boarding house at the Regent’s School and have met other boarders from many different places around the world from Russia to Lithuania. On February 16th the school had a 10- day break for their half term. During this time they offered a community service project trip to northern Thailand near the popular city of Chiang Mai. As an exchange this brought an amazing opportunity to travel the country more and I was excited to see cities other than Pattaya.
Once we got to the Ban Maelid School, our home for the next five days, we were greeted by about 100 young Thai students bowing at us as we passed by them in the cars. We got to meet the kids briefly and then toured the school. First, we were shown the bathrooms which were Thai style, meaning the showers were buckets of cold water that you pour onto yourself, and you had to squat for the toilet. This was a huge change and it was somewhat good news to hear that we were sleeping on the classroom floors.
Spending five days at this school was life-changing. We got to rotate between four activities throughout the day. The first was learning the students’ language and culture known as Karen, the second was teaching the children English, the third consisted of a P.E. class where we played sports with the kids, and the last was helping the community construct a water tank which included building a cement wall. Everyday surpassed the last as the kids were so friendly and eager to learn, and the staff were so welcoming and hospitable. It was very difficult to communicate with the students because we didn’t speak the same language, but I still had the opportunity to make many friends.
It was hard seeing the villages the students live in because it seems so unfair how these kids deserve so much but have so little. Yet despite this they are always so happy. I learned how skilled they become at inventing fun activities to do with their friends to pass the time while simply using rocks or sticks.
On our last night we had a bonfire with the small group of Ban Maelid students that board at the school. After eating, everybody started dancing and we got to experience traditional Thai dancing. It ended up being a huge dance party around the fire pit and everybody was having fun doing the Gagnam Style and the Macarena!
The following day we got ready to leave and had to say our farewells to the Ban Maelid family. As we said goodbye to the students, they gave us tons of bracelets and letters that they made and it brought tears to most of our eyes. It was sad leaving, but it made me realize how lucky I was to have done this trip and it didn’t truly feel like I was doing community service but more like I had been given the gift to meet these wonderful and unforgettable people. –Sarah Humes ’15