CCT Volunteer Sarena Sanchez's Blog Post temple School Wat Kuang Singha

A week and a half ago I started my internship at Wat Khuang Sing School where I am teaching English to students. While my time there has not been long, I have experienced many different things. I am teaching English to students 1^st through 3^rd grade and have learned so much in such a short amount of time. The Thai school that I am placed at is extremely different than any school I have seen in the United States. The students are very orderly and polite and the school has a schedule that even includes time for the children to brush their teeth after lunch! There are no bells that indicate when classes are over or starting, but at certain times of the day specific songs play that signal that it is time for either an activity such as lunch, or time to concentrate while returning back to the classroom setting after play time.

Some challenges that I have faced so far include learning how to manage a classroom full of children, lesson planning strategies, and my teacher being out of town for the first three weeks of my internship. As for learning how to manage the classroom, I was able to reach out to friends who have previously taught young children. Specifically a friend who taught English in Korea, where she did not speak their language was extremely helpful. She gave me tips on non-verbal signals and other techniques that made a huge difference in my classes! One thing that definitely made me nervous at the start of my internship was the idea of lesson planning. I do not have any previous experience with creating my own lesson plans and was struggling with what to do. Once I had a better grasp on the information that the children already knew, it became a bit easier to manage. My lesson planning could still use much improvement though and I will continue to work on it! Lastly, when I started my first few days at the school, I learned that my co-teacher would be going out of town for three weeks, leaving me to teach my classes on my own and also take on a majority of hers to teach on my own as well. At first that was extremely intimidating, as I was not used to leading a classroom on my own, but it eventually grew to be a blessing in disguise. I believe that running these classes on my own has given me the opportunity to create a stronger connection with the students, as I am who they go to when they have a question even though we may not understand each other’s languages fully. I will be excited to have my fellow teacher return, but I am grateful that I was able to learn so much from being on my own.

One of the most interesting things that has happened at my school so far is that last Friday the students put on a market in the morning! Each grade had foods to sell. Some of those were popcorn, omelets, fried banana and fried mushrooms. They also sold books, toys and trinkets to other students. I spoke to one of the other teachers who told us that the market happens once a month and is helpful because not only does is build a community among the students and teachers (who also help and participate), but it gives the students invaluable life lessons. It gives them the opportunity to see what running a business is like and lets them practice skills such as counting and money handling. I thought that this was such a great idea and would love to see something like this happen at schools back home!

CCT Volunteer Duncan Brody Blog Post Temple School Wat Thong Gai

   I guessed before coming to Thailand that the story of this trip would be ‘not knowing anything and just going for it’. It turns out I was very right about that. Even the day just before my internship began I knew close to 0% of what I needed. All of the interns woke up on that 4^th Monday (1^st Internship Monday) and drove to the Arts Relief International house. From there, the twelve of us received our general orientation. Luckily, the teachers had a second day of orientation to accomplish a more specific understanding. Our orientation/group leader notified the three of us (ESL Teachers) that our internship was particularly challenging, and that it would require a significant level of resilience and preparation. Since we’re teaching multiple classes of varying age and ability levels everyday our lesson planning needs to be differentiated as well.

    You appreciate the work that goes into being a teacher rather quickly when you’re thrown in to the mix without any warning. I approached my first day of teaching without a knowledge of what speaking/reading/writing level any of the students were at, what my schedule would be, how many students I would have/what their names would be, where my school was or how I would get there. So, when day 1 rolled around I figured it all out the hard way. Here are the answers to all the questions that burned in my head leading up to the start of my work: I teach solo for 6 classrooms ranging in age from 7 to 15 (1^st to 6^th grade). Each class has around twenty students. I teach 2 to 3 of these classes each day (2 on Tue. and Thurs. because I study Thai at the University and miss the morning class block). Mondays are definitely the hardest because I teach grades 1, 2, and 3 all on the same day. The ability level varies from knowing basic conversations/directions/animals etc. to knowing close to no English (this includes letters and numbers). Telling these students what to do is nearly impossible. To get to work I take a twenty-five minute Uber each way every day. This is kind of a blessing in disguise because it gives me the opportunity to meet and have interesting 20 minute conversations with ten different people during my commute each week. I need to spend about 1-2 hours a night working on lesson plans, materials, or doing research of some kind to help improve the classroom.

     These logistics don’t even come close to giving an accurate picture of what my day looks like, however. When you line up the responsibilities and stresses in a list you wonder why you would ever do a job like this, but the reality is something you couldn’t replace with the world. Although I spend the majority of my day hearing little kids (and teachers) spouting out Thai words, one on top of the other, that I simply don’t comprehend, I have met some of the most colorful personalities I have ever known in my short two weeks at the school. The teachers seem to be obsessed with having an American teacher as a ‘play-thing’ to test their English on and tell jokes around, and the kids treat me like we’ve been best friends since birth. Although I give the 1^st – 2^nd graders a lot of flack for being difficult classes that are uncontrollable, the kids have the hugest hearts and are too darn cute to not love. My favorite class is the fifth graders, however. They are such a smart group, and they are all incredibly dedicated to learning and growing together. I’ve never seen such a special group of kids who care so much about their education.

    Something that I realized on my first day on the job is that you can learn more about a culture by witnessing one full day of school than from spending three weeks taking classes at University. As I walked around the school yard and saw the way that the children learn, spend their free time, perform standard daily rituals, and react to their peers and teachers, I became so acutely aware of what that means for the society they live in as a whole. School is where so much of your childhood is spent. These are the years that form the foundation for the rest of your life, and over half of the waking hours of everyday are spent here, learning your values and your desires. That is why I think that teachers are some of the most important people in the world to shaping what children grow to become.

Teaching... With a Twist!

From the 2nd November to the 18th of December I taught English at the Wat Kuang Singh school in Chiang Mai. 

The biggest challenge was the communication with the kids, because most of them had only learned English for a short time and so they understood next to nothing of what I was trying to say. But with the help of tooth and nail, pictures, a Thai speaking teacher or google translate, everything was possible. 


I taught 3 different classes and discussed different topics in every class. With the youngest (6-7 years old) I talked about pets and the numbers until 20. We learned new words with pictures and played pantomime games. 

The middle ones are about 8-10 years old and we spoke about our families and the different rooms in a house. We drew our family trees and the ground plots of our homes. 

The oldest ones are about 10-12 years old and they were the biggest class with about 48 students. It was really hard to work with such different levels in one class. But they all had fun when we talked about weekend activities or the western Christmas. Furthermore we played a lot of hangman to learn and remember new words. 

The other teachers were really nice and from my first day on I was a part of the team. One day we made a school trip to Doi Suithep and to the Bhubing Palace. Because the guided tour was in Thai the teachers did everything to explain the whole tour to me. And at the temple a few girls took me with them and showed everything to me.



Furthermore I learned how to build a krathong, a traditional, boats like structure made from banana leaves and flowers as part of the Loy Krathong Festival. I was a bit helpless at the beginning but the teachers and also the students showed me how to fold banana leaves and how to fix them on the banana trunk. 

The father's day ceremony was also a great experience. Everybody wore a yellow shirt and girls of all ages performed traditional thai dances. They also sang the National Anthem and other Thai songs and every adult had to write greetings for the King in a book. After the ceremony every class made their own chilli paste and then sold them. 

I should also say something about the food because I've never had such delicious food at a school. I am really impressed that one person is able to cook such good food for so many people.

All in all I had a awesome time here and I am really upset that this time has ended so fast. But the time here showed me that I really want to become a teacher in the future and I'm thankful that I was able to have all these experiences.


Alina, Germany

Teaching English to Mums and Kids Alike!

Hey there,

My name is Alina and I'm from Stuttgart, Germany. I'm 19 years old and I finished High School this year. My volunteer programme will take three months to complete, from September to December 2015.

I decided to spend some time in Thailand because I am really interested in Asian cultures and I hope to get to know the Thai culture. I want to become at teacher later so the work at a School here will prepare me for my occupational future. I also think that it is really exciting to get to know how kids in other countries are taught and how their parents nurture them. In addition I hope that the time here will be a great and unforgettable life experience.

Because of the school holidays I spent the first 4 weeks of my volunteer programme at the Wild Flower Home. This is a home for single mothers who are either pregnant or have young children. During my time there I took care of the kids, helped in the garden or in the office and I helped to clean the Buddhist temple kitchen from where the foundation gets most of their food and drinks. In addition I taught English to some of the older kids and to a few of the mothers.

Since November I have been working at the Wat Kuang Singh school. These children are essentially refugees from Myanmar and kids from the hilltribe villages in Thailand attending the school. I teach 3 lessons a week in 3 different classes. The most difficult part is the size of the classes (up to 48 kids) and the communication barrier, especially with the little kids. But I have a Thai teacher by my side and I realize that it is getting easier from lesson to lesson.

I'm looking forward to the following weeks and every experience I will get there.

Alina

A Day in the Life of Volunteer Teaching in Thailand

Hello,

My name is Tang and I am from the University of Kansas. My major is Global and International Studies along with a minor in Anthropology. 

I am currently volunteering as an English teacher at Wat Khuang Singha School in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The Thai students that I teach English to range from ages 6 to 12 years old. Almost every day I assist the Thai teachers with teaching English and one day a week I teach on my own, which has become a wonderful experience.

To be honest, I am loving this volunteer work! The Thai teachers and students are very polite and respectful towards everyone and I felt very welcomed when I first arrived at the school. There are so many things that I enjoy about this school, such as everyone singing the Thai national anthem every morning, the food, and the people. I really enjoy teaching the Thai students because they love to participate which makes teaching much easier for me. 

I would recommend this volunteer work to anyone who loves kids and who loves to teach. You don’t even have to be highly experienced in teaching because the volunteer work itself assists and provides you with the necessary skills. It’s not difficult, nor is it easy, but once you get the hang of it you will enjoy teaching as much as I am, especially with these wonderful Thai students.

Until next time, 

Tang

IT’S NOT A GOODBYE, IT’S A “SEE YOU LATER”

I don’t even know how to start telling how wonderful this experience was for me. As I said before, everyone was just so kind and welcoming! But aside from that, I definitely need to say how Chiang Mai was beyond any of my expectations. I just love how the city is surrounded by rivers, how street food is the best and the cheapest, and how you feel so safe walking at night. That being said, I do have to point out my favorite places / attractions:  The Elephant Nature Park , Zoe’s, Bus Bar, Tiddin, Sunday Walking Street Market, Doi Suthep and the Night Bazaar.

As for my teaching project, it was wonderful! As the kids got to know me, they were asking for my autograph (it was crazy, I loved it!) and kept telling me they loved me and were making “I Love You” hand-signs. It was too sweet. On my last day of teaching, everyone seemed pretty upset I was leaving. During the morning one of the teachers I was closer to gave me a scarf and said she was going to miss me! 

At lunch time they asked me to go up to the stage in the cafeteria and make a farewell announcement. I just didn’t know what to say, it was very unexpected, so I just thanked all of them, said it was wonderful, and that I was really going to miss everything and everyone. After that, a couple of kids gave me a teddy bear with “Thank You Teacher” written on a piece of paper and some Thai treats! I just didn’t know what to say, it was a lovely gesture! 

Finally in my last class, the kids made me Goodbye Cards and asked for my Facebook profile! Soooo sweet. I truly did learn a lot from these kids and teachers, they are very different, not only for being Thai, but because they truly respect one another and try their hardest to make you feel welcome and special!

Other than work, I had a nice time with the other volunteers and the Cultural Canvas staff. On my last night, we all joined in for a night out at Zoe’s.  It was a fun way to say goodbye.  Everyone at Cultural Canvas is just awesome! And I really love how they have family dinner every Wednesday, it’s such a nice way to have a fun night, get to know everyone a bit better and have plenty of laughs. I just wished I had more time to get to know everyone better, although I already feel like everyone is just so kind, wonderful, and funny.  So thanks everyone for making me feel welcome.

I’m always going to remember this experience. It was a nice way to get to know an NGO and another country while helping others at the same time. I would definitely recommend this to everyone. I know I only stayed for 3 weeks, but in that short period of time I got to experience and see things from a different perspective and appreciate the Thai culture. That being said, I definitely want to come back to visit, or volunteer again. So this is definitely not a goodbye, but a “See you later”. Thank you Cultural Canvas and Thank you everyone at the school and the other volunteers! You all rock!

Change is Afoot at CCT

Cultural Canvas Thailand and Art Relief International recently bid a sad farewell to its Art Director (ARI) of the last two years, Sarah Lovett. Sarah has been a much loved member of the CCT team and has brought lots of passion, enthusiasm and creativity to the ARI program, not to mention structure and strategy. CCT has been lucky to have her, and we wish her well in her return home to the USA to continue work on her own arts outreach NGO, Paint The World (www.paint-the-world.org). We'll miss you Sarah!

But with sad endings comes new beginnings, and CCT is very excited to introduce its two newest members of the team, Emma and Dan, in the respective roles of Art Director (ARI) and Assistant Director (CCT). Here's a little bit more about them...

Dan Hales

Hi! I'm Dan, from Adelaide, Australia.

I originally completed a Bachelor of Social Work in 2004, before undertaking roles in community development and counselling, predominantly with young people, the LGBTQ community and within HIV Prevention.

Having completed a Graduate Certificate in Tourism (Festival and Event Design and Management) in 2009, I have more recently been working as a Project Coordinator within the arts, festival and community cultural sector.

I am also a qualified Yoga Teacher and a trained dancer.

I volunteered for three months with Art Relief International in 2014, after falling in love with Chiang Mai during previous visits. I enjoyed my time so much I couldn't help but apply for this position when I saw it advertised.

I am extremely passionate about social justice and human rights, and I plan to continue to forge a career in community cultural development and theatre outreach. I also love travelling, the beach and macadamia ice cream!

Emma Gabriel   

Hello, my name is Emma Gabriel and I am the new Art Director for Cultural Canvas Thailand's Art Relief program. I come from Newfoundland, a small island in Eastern Canada, and am happy to call Chiang Mai my new home.

Making the decision to move here has been exciting, as I love to travel and adapt to new settings, learn new cultures, and meet new people!

I have a background in languages and visual art, focusing on an array of media throughout my studies, though my favourite being stained glass and pen and ink drawing. I also love experimenting with new media and have a current fascination with street art, stencils and spray paint.

The other aspect of this position that I love is the ability to help people in using art as therapy. It feels so amazing to create a sense of inclusion and community and to empower, inspire, and educate through art. I couldn't be happier to be a part of this team!

A Brazilian in Chiang Mai

 Hello there! 

My name is Jessica, I am 19 years old and I’m from Brazil. I arrived in Chiang Mai on January 10th and right from the start, the wonderful staff from Cultural Canvas and the other volunteers made me feel very welcome. 

I am staying at a guest-house 10 mins away from the volunteer home-base, but I just spend most of my time at the house along with the rest of the girls.  My day usually starts at 7am when I go to the volunteer home-base to eat breakfast and get picked up at 8am. I get to the Wat Kuang Singha School, where I teach English, usually about 8:30am.  At 9 am the classes start and I usually have to teach three 1h classes per day, so from 9 to 3:45 I spend my time teaching, planning my future classes, and just talking to the other teachers at the school. 

Everyone in the school is so wonderful, they are always asking me about my life in Brazil and are very interested to know my future plans even though they don’t speak English very well. Aside from the teachers at the school, the kids are also amazing and VERY special.  Whenever I get to a class, the students stand up and say altogether “Good Morning teacher” and whenever I’m leaving a class they stand up and say “Thank you teacher, goodbye” and always do the “wai” for me whenever they see me. 

I teach 4, 5, 7, 8, 9 and 10 year-olds, so I definitely need a different lesson plan for all these classes. The 4 and 5 year-olds are a bit crazy, they just want to play the whole time and they definitely need something in their hands all the time. As they get older they really learn to appreciate their teacher and my classes with the 10 year olds are always so mature and insightful. They don’t always understand what I say, but try their hardest to figure it out. It’s really hard teaching kids a completely different language when you don’t even know how to speak Thai to explain what each word means, so I do a lot of pointing, drawing, dancing and singing (thank god for Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes). 

On the weekends I just visit the city and hang out with the rest of the volunteers. Doi Suthep is definitely a “must see”, and the Sunday Walking Street Market is also a good place to visit.  





It’s incredible how the Thai culture is so different from most of Western cultures. Simple things like touching someone’s head is seen as a “bad” gesture, or the different types of Wai they do for the different types of people. Even the transportation here is different; we usually take Red Trucks to get around, it’s very cheap (20 baht), or the tuk-tuk which is a type of taxi. The food is also so different, since I got here I haven’t eaten pizza, fries, red meat or basically any western food, I just eat a lot of curry, pad thai, and spring rolls. It’s so delicious. 

I’ve only been here for 2 weeks, but I really love it! The Thai culture is wonderful, along with its food, extremely kind people, amazing views and temples, and its cheap prices. Being here really made me appreciate simple things from home, like hot showers, my comfy bed, and even the food. Seeing how the Thai people live a simple life and are just so happy, makes me appreciate everything. I’m loving this experience, you learn so much from it and from the people you spend time with, it’s crazy.

Thanks for reading xx

Saying goodbye (Rita Boyle)

Hi there - Well after three truly wonderful weeks my journey at CCT has come to an end.   My last week was a busy one with mixed emotions as I said goodbye to my students and fellow students.  They were all so nice to me and I couldn't have asked for a nicer school.  Teacher May presented myself and another volunteer teacher with a lovely bag each and I had photo shoot with P5 and P6 (my students)  Teacher May also took us to her house for a wonderful dinner.   The friendship and warmth of the Thai people is something that I will never forget and will always be grateful for.

As the teachers were at a seminar last Thursday and Friday I got to close out the “Dress Code” Guidelines when volunteering with CCT that I was working on with Wad.  I also got to attend two of the Art Workshops which was a wonderful experience, it was truly inspirational to see how the children brought a blank piece of canvas to live with their imagination and talent.  The team are going to have a tough job trying to choose which pictures will make it into the Exhibition in October, let's just say rather them than me! 

 

On Friday afternoon, it was time for another photo shoot, this time with the CCT staff and fellow volunteers, well I couldn't go back to Ireland without a photo of the people that made this experience possible and who were there to support me every step of the way during my journey.

On Saturday, I went to the Elephant Retirement Park. Here I got to see the elephants roam free, no elephant rides, just feeding and bathing them in mud before giving them a nice shower, mind you I think by the end of the day I ended up with more mud on me than on the elephants..... - but well worth the trip.

 

Well that’s about it from me. On a closing note I would just like to say, if you are considering volunteering, speaking from experience you couldn't pick a more genuine organization than CCT, they do amazing work and the team are one of the best I have ever had the pleasure of working with.  So just go for it, you won't regret it, but remember you’ll get out of it as much as you put in to it. Keep an open mind and if you are willing to be flexible and embrace the experience you will end up with memories and friends for life.

 

I don’t really believe in goodbyes so until me meet again take care.

 

All the best

 

Rita

 

The journey continues (Rita Boyle)

Hello Everyone,

It's hard to believe another week is over, my time here in Thailand is going way too quickly.  I am glad to report though that I am really enjoying the experience and getting see and do lots of different things both at the school, with my fellow volunteers that I share the house with and I have also done a bit of exploring on my own.  

After last two school outings last week it was back to full time lessons for the students this week.  P6 are learning all about the weather and the different seasons.  I talked a bit about the weather in Ireland and the students were very interested to learn more about "snow". It made me realize that living in Ireland I take for granted that I get to experience many different weather types even if it does rain far more than I like it to!!  The students are very good and their main Teacher May has a great teacher : student relationship which is really great to see.  Last Thursday I got to participate in a workshop that my fellow volunteers run every week at the school I am teaching in.  This was great fun and it was lovely both to both get an opportunity to  work with my colleagues and to experience first hand another one of the many excellent projects that CCT manage.

As I mentioned last week, I am only teaching 1 - 2 hours a day so I spend the rest of the day in the CCT office.  Last week I worked on preparing a "Quick Reference Guide on Thai Culture and Volunteering with CCT" .  It is just in a table, A4 size that calls out the key points to remember while in Thailand. I know from my own experience that when you sign up for volunteering you receive a lot of reading material and a "Quick Reference Guide"  would have been really useful to have to hand to refresh my memory.    So hopefully this is something that future volunteers will find beneficial.  

So on the social side of things what have I been up to.... On Wednesday, I had my second  "Family Dinner" with all the volunteers and staff at CCT.  The food as always was great, who doesn't like Spring Rolls....  On Friday, Steph was leaving the house to return home to Scotland, so we all went out for drinks.  I can't remember the name of the bar, not because I had too much to drink but because the name totally slips my mind.....but anyway it was great, we started out on the rooftop but due to rain we went one floor down to inside bar which was equally as nice.  From there we headed over to another bar for one more before heading back to Riverside.  Me being the oldest of the volunteers bailed out at this point, I can't party like I used to:-)  

On Saturday, I went on a Thai Cooking Class.  It was excellent.  I was picked up at 9:00 a.m. and then we went to the local Market.  Here we saw how coconut milk is extracted from coconuts, Sammy (Chef) went through the local ingredients with us and we then had some time to look around the market before we continued on our journey to Sammy's Organic Farm.  Once inside we got to taste some freshly baked rice cakes and then we put on our aprons and got cooking!!    First I cooked Thai Green Curry followed by Chicken Stir Fry and Cashew Nuts, both turned out really well considering that I do not do much cooking at home, in fact my reputation for cooking in Ireland is so bad,  my friends bought me a mug as a present a few years about that read "I only have a kitchen because it came with the house"!!!  Of course I had to take some photos as evidence that I actually managed to cook a decent dish"😊  After we demolished our dishes we then had an hour to relax in one of the lovely hammocks, this was so relaxing and a real  treat.   Once we recharged our batteries it was back to the kitchen to prepare our final two dishes, Spring Rolls and Sticky Rice and Mango, both of which were delicious.  Everyone got a cookbook to takeaway so I guess I don't have any more excuses for not cooking a nice Thai meal when I get back home from my travels.

                                                                                                                   

On Sunday, I went into Chiang Mai and walked around the city, the weather was beautiful and it was really nice strolling around and exploring the many streets and visiting the temples.  In the evening I went to the SundayMarket and bought some gifts for my family.  I then met up with Nicola and we went for some food and a catch up before walking home.  Before I knew where I was the weekend was over and I found myself getting ready for my last week at Wat Muen Nyeun Gong School.

Well that's about it for now, catch up again later.

Rita