Phew! Okay I need to work on that a bit more.
Anyways, my name
is Cormac, I’m from Ireland, and I’m volunteering with Mplus+ in Chiang Mai
this summer as part of the EIL Ireland Global Awareness Program in
HIV/AIDS. Like my partner in crime at
Mplus+ - Maria Flavin – I’m a travel award winner with EIL.
Mplus+ is a fantastic organization that works mainly in promoting sexual health among men who have sex with men (MSM), preventing HIV and other STIs by promoting safer sex with condoms and lube, and encouraging and facilitating testing. In addition it aims to promote LGBTIQ rights and positive visibility – just last week we had an event on LGBTIQ rights and social movements in Thailand (shown below), and on Sunday Mplus+ hosted the annual Miss Healthy Thailand, an event focusing on sexual health, rights, wellbeing and positive visibility for trans women in Thailand. I am really excited to be working with this organization, and I have already learned so much from them. I hope that my different experiences and background in LGBTIQ and HIV efforts back home will mean I can contribute at least in a small way to the project, as we exchange ideas and experiences in this area.
You can spot us quite easily in the above picture. I’m
to the left of Maria and we’re in the left of the photo. This photo was taken at the opening of the
LGBTIQ History Gallery for the ‘No His-tory but Ours’ 2 day event on LGBTIQ
issues last week. That’s most of the
team there – they are so much fun! Also
shown below is myself and Maria at the opening of Miss Healthy Thailand 2015!
About me: I’m a medical student in Dublin just
finished my second year at University, and I’m also a committee member of my
University’s LGBTQ+ Society – so you’ll usually find me at a lecture, the
library, a coffee morning or workshop.
I’m interested in sustainability, renewables and development – I was
that ten year old kid who used to pester the principal about getting a compost
bin and pleaded with my parents to get solar panels – I still get really
excited about developments in the field and how each one of us can empower
ourselves to make for a more sustainable, greener life. I’m also a Disney fan and like to listen
occasionally multiple times a day to cheesy pop music!
So far my
experience in Chiang Mai has been thought provoking, adventurous and
inspiring. I have already learned so
much not alone from the people at work and in the locality but from living with
the other volunteers. Each of us has our
own unique background and experiences and it’s allowing us to find out more
about each other, which is fantastic.
I also like
languages (I’m learning some French in University and I did Spanish in
secondary school) and the language here (especially the written language) is
very different to my experience of European languages. The language is tonal which means how you say
a word changes its meaning, and Thai script so far has been a bit of an
unfolding mystery. For example, Thai
script is written as an abugida rather than an alphabet (which means that
vowels can go above, below, to the left or right of consonants and the form of
the vowel changes depending on the syllable in question), so reading it is like
playing detective, because you do get more familiar with it in time and there
is a nice feeling of accomplishment when you finally get why something is
written like it is. At the same time,
while the tones and script make for another dimension to the language, much of
the grammar is simpler than its European counterparts, such as with tenses,
plurals and conjugations. Given how
friendly and willing to engage the locals are - even with my plundering tones
and faulty strung-together phrases – I’m looking forward to getting more
familiar with this interesting and exotic tongue
I can’t wait to
see what the next six weeks has in store for me, both in work and with the
other volunteers. You can follow my EIL
blog at http://www.eilireland.org/users/cormac
Thanks, Cormac
Thanks, Cormac
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