CCT Volunteer Mansur Alam (BEAM and ARI)

My name is Mansur Alam, this summer I have been blessed with a wonderful opportunity to spend 2 months volunteering in Chiang Mai, Thailand. I have come to volunteer with the Cultural Canvas Thailand through EIL Explore programme. It is a dream of mine to work with ethnic minorities and Refugees because I myself is a refugee from Burma. I’ve spend my early childhood living in a refugee camp in Bangladesh. And I came to Ireland in 2009, never having attended school and with no English I have faced many difficulties and challenges every day with the language and school work.

So I know what the situation is like for the people living in such camp because I can relate. this is why I have chosen to volunteer here in Chiang Mai where I heard about the Burmese refugee students who left the country and now want to go to university in Thailand.

I will be teaching science at the BEAM foundation in Chiang Mai two days a week, Tuesday and Friday. BEAM is an organisation that provide education to the Burmese refugees who did not had the opportunity to go to college or complete their education in Burma. The aim of this project is to prepare the students to passed the GED exam so that they can apply to university in Thailand.

In my free time I will be working with the Art Relief International (ARI) programme where I will be working on different workshops such as, visiting foster home, children schools and many more. I am very excited to be here and can’t wait for my work to begin.

Thanks,

Alam

CCT Volunteer Tori Carey Week 3 Teaching Placement Baan Thao Boon Rueng

This week in Baan Tao Boon Reung School the children practiced how to tell time. They made their own clocks by using paper plates for the base and cut out arrow shapes for the hands. They had so much fun doing this. Each student got to show their own creative side, while also learning about time. 

 Later on in the week we went on a field trip. The whole school got to visit Chiangmai Zoo on Thursday. We had the best time! The children got to see a range of different animals. Each student was also provided with a zoo booklet which they recorded each animal they found.

We also got the chance to watch a live bird show. Which some of the children got to participate in it. They held out their arms while the birds landed on them, which brought a lot of laughter to the crowd. Their smile says it all! It provided great fun and entertainment for everyone there. 

 After lunch the children all got to go into the water park, which of course I had to go in, despite not having a swimsuit or towel! We got to play some water sports and had a couple of water fights (teachers vs students...which got a bit competitive!)

It was another busy week here at the School however, no matter how hectic or busy our week gets we always have so much fun.