From Canada with love

Hello! My name is Stacey Braun and I am from Altona, Manitoba Canada. Before arriving in Thailand I completed my BSc in Biology from the University of Manitoba. So with that fact in mind - why did I chose to volunteer at a placement completely unrelated to science? The answer is simple.

Over 30 months ago I began work at an organization in my hometown called Blue Sky Opportunities. This organization is involved in maximizing the independence of adults with intellectual disabilities. As I commenced in my employment those many months ago, my work morphed from being a way to generate an income to a passion. A passion to serve this under serviced and vulnerable sector. In turn, it is through this found zeal that I selected Cultural Canvas Thailand's Cerebral Palsy Assistance program.

As according to the definition provided by the Mayo clinic, "Cerebral Palsy (CP) is a disorder of movement, muscle gone or posture that is caused by an insult to the developing brain". Notably, CP is one of the most common congenital disorders of childhood. Therefore, it is logical to surmise that multiple children in Thailand are affected by this disorder. Which is the exact conjecture by which Hope Home was founded in 2007.

As stated on the Hope Home website, "Hope Home provides residential accommodation for children with a disability who are orphaned or abandoned, until they are fostered long-term or adopted with a loving family". And it is at this lovely home I will be assisting

In closing, stay tuned each week for an update of my journey here in Chiang Mai and my doings at Hope Home. Though I am not a fervent photographer by any stretch, I will attempt each week to provide some pictorial supplement to my writing.

Thanks for reading!
Stacey

“Without new experiences, something inside of us sleeps. The sleeper must awaken.” – Frank Herbert

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

 

2nd week at Wifdflower Home.

Hello again!

My first full week in Wildflower Home is over and I want to tell you

something about my work there.

First, Wildflower is an organization for pregnant women and single

mothers, which offers them not only a safe place to stay, but also the

opportunity to educate themselves.

My current job is basically running the day-care for the older children (1

to 2 ½ years). Of course I haven´t done it on my own. Anyone who has ever

dealt with children of that age knows, you need at least six pairs of eyes

and ten hands to look after them. Right now, there are five toddlers in

the daycare, that´s 2 to 3 children per adult. Sounds like an easy job?

Actually it is challenging, running after them, playing, smiling if

they´re crying, being creative when they´re bored, making sure that no one

climbs over the fence or gets lost. I have never worked with children that

age before and to be honest, it´s still hard to figure out what they need,

when they start crying. – Hungry? Hurt? New pampers? Miss mum? Need

attention? My respect for nursery nurse rises with every minute, they must

be somewhere in between Superman and Mother Teresa.

Don’t get me wrong, I love to work there! The kids are adorable and it´s

amazing to see how fast they learn. The feeling is indescribable, when

they get used to you, start to trust you. And a bright smile in a child´s

faces excuses for everything.

If I need a break from playing with the kids, there is plenty other work

to do. Today I washed all dishes for the monks in the temple nearby, I

moved a mountain of mud into a hole and pulled a pick- up out of the mud –

well, I helped a little bit. In fact, my hands told me after ten minutes

of mud shipping, that their tool is a pen and not a shovel. But it´s good

to see the result of your work and it´s a lot of fun, too. Joking with the

mothers and the other volunteers about how useless and weak the foreigners

are. To be honest, it will take at least two more months to catch up with

the mothers, they´re so much stronger and faster in everything they do.

Not that I´ve expected anything else, but I can´t wait for the day, I´m

not only the nice German girl playing with the shovel, but a real help.

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

One week so far! Rita Boyle

Hi there

Rita is here, well I’m back to fill you in on my first full week here in Chiang Mai which has been jam packed and literally flew by in a heartbeat....

 The last time we caught up I was on day one at Wat Muen Nyeun Gong School.  I assisted the main Teacher with two English classes, the format being, I read the lesson in English while the students repeat after me, then Teacher May, who is the main teacher explains what this is all about in Thai...This is where I get a bit lost -but having said that what better motivation to ramp up in some basic Thai language phrases.... then the students are given an exercise to test their knowledge to see if they really understand......Ah brings me back to my own school days...... As the students are working, I go around checking their work and helping if they need it.  Each class is an hour long. Lunch is from 11:30 -12:30 and is provided to all children and teachers in the school.  I am struggling a bit with the food as it is a bit too spicy for me but don't want to offend anyone so I am trying to adjust as quickly as I can.... Teacher May is constantly producing food for me to eat so I am sure it won't take me too long at all and at this rate after 3-weeks I’ll have to move into the gym when I get back to Dublin!  Food is a huge part of the Thai culture, so much so “how are you?” in Thai translates to “have you eaten yet?”.  Everyone in Thailand talks about food, where as in Ireland everyone talks about the weather, but having said that the Irish also like their food

As I will only have a max of two English classes a day, I spoke with Wad about helping CCT out with some back office work, so Wad is lining up another project at CCT office starting next week - you have to tune in next week to find out what it is

Just in case I had to prepare lesson plans and run a class on my own, I brought over some basic teaching resources, some flash cards and books, including on one on Ireland.  As I won't be needing these I went to give them to Teacher May for the school, but she wanted me to present them to them to the Headmistress in front of all the students after roll call the next day and that is exactly what happened.  The school made me feel very important, a bit like an Irish government minster visiting another country, they even took photos of me presenting the books, I don’t have any to share but will see if the can send me a copy....

On Wednesday, the school had an in school Science Day. They kicked this off with some talks from the teachers with a few experiments and then the children took turn to visit each of the five different demonstration stands, so well organized.  There was only one English class in the afternoon and this was on”The Weather”.  As part of the lesson I explained what the weather was like in Ireland and showed them where I came from on the world map.

On Thursday, the school went to an annual Science Exhibition that is sponsored by the Thai Government.  About 10 “Red Trucks” were waiting for us after roll call and once everyone had collected their packed lunch I have never seen so many children in one truck...... was a bit nervous for them but this is Thai culture and they are used to this so I went with the flow.  I had a great day at the Exhibition and feel very lucky to have had the opportunity to experience the biggest annual Science event in Thailand.

 On Friday the school had another day out - it is the exception not the norm to have two events in the same semester never mind week, so now I feel totally privileged to be there for both events.  Friday was all about the Temple.  First we went to the temple beside the school and the children prayed and listened to the “Holy Man”a Buddhist Monk.  Following this the “Red Trucks” were waiting to take us to Wat Umong Thera Jan (Chiang Mai).  This is a beautiful oasis just outside Chiang Mai, a mediation centre and beautiful Temple set in the middle of a forest with a beautiful lake.  A really lovely day with the school who have really made feel part of their family even down to including me in their school photo.  Next week it is back to normal routine.

 Over the weekend I did a bit of pampering with pedicure, manicure and Thai massage all very good.  I went to cabaret show with girls in volunteer house on Saturday night and that was great fun.  On Sunday we all went out for lunch and afterwards Alexis, Hannah and I went to Wat Doi Suthep and got to experience the monks chanting and meditating.  As it was Alexis’s last night we all went for something to eat at “The Gallery” and then it was time to start getting ready for school the next day........

That’s it for now - catch up again next week!

Rita

Meet Nicola!

Hello, my name is Nicola, I´m 21 years old and I come from Germany. Four

days after finishing my B.Sc. in physic at TU Dortmund University, I

caught a the plane to Thailand. That is already fourteen days ago and

right now I´m sitting in the living room of your volunteer house and life

in Germany seems to be very far away. The most important thing you need to

know about me is, that through Cultural Canvas Program, I am the new volunteer at Wildflower Home, an

organization for Single Mothers in Chiang Mai.

Here I am, Thailand, Chiang Mai, 32°C and 49 % humidity according to

google. Maybe not the best circumstances for a body used to 18°C and light

rain. So what brought me here? It is the idea of learning from a different

culture and maintaining an intercultural dialogue on eye-level. I see the

six month in Thailand as a great chance to understand at least a bit of

its rich culture. And I hope to contribute with my ideas and talents, or

just a helping hand, my fair share to Wildflower Home.

Although I am a scientist and my heart beats for expressing nature in

handy equations, I always believed that there is nothing more enriching

than learning from different people. That’s why social work is an

important part of my life. It gives me the opportunity to help people and,

at the same time, to learn from their stories.

Furthermore I love to travel, whenever university allows it and my

voluntary service seems to be a good opportunity to see more of this

beautiful part of the world.

What have I done so far in Chiang Mai? The first week was basically a

short orientation in Thai culture and language and detailed overview over

my tasks at Wildflower Home. Of course we did a lot of sightseeing, too.

Wat Phra That Doi Suthep was only one of the impressing temples, we

visited. I cannot remember that I have ever seen so much gold. But my

highlight was definitely the walk through the evergreen forest. The

biodiversity this forest has is inconceivable and fascinated me very much.

Call me a fool, but did you know that the nice rattan chairs in the café

around the corner used to have spikes?

For some unlikely circumstances I worked at Wildflower Home only for two

and a half days so far. That´s why I won’t write about the work there, it

is simply not enough time to get into it, but maybe next time, so stay tune to my next blog!

So six month of learning ahead and I can´t wait to try out more delicious

food, explore the city and, most important start (again) with my work at

Wildflower Home.

Dia Duit!

Hi there,

My name is Rita and I come from Ireland.  I grew up in a small village called Cloughjordan in Co. Tipperary but I now live and work in Dublin. 

When I was growing up I wanted to be a teacher but somehow I ended up in the corporate world. However..... I soon discovered that teaching and training are part and parcel of every job so I have had lots of opportunities to put my training skills to the test -  IT systems training, presentations, and supporting new team members are just a few examples.

In my spare time I like to go to the cinema, reading - although lately it has been more “Hello” Magazines than a good novel or autobiography but must sort that out... I like to travel and I try to get to the gym two to three times a week to counteract my very sweet tooth!  I also like to get involved in volunteer work.  Past projects include, trekking in Peru to raise funds for Multiple Sclerosis, running a 10k mini marathon to raise funds for Diabetic Association and my favourite to date involved visiting six Nursing Homes in Dublin, with some colleagues, where we sat with the residents to collect their memories from which we created a keepsake booklet and then held a “Tea Party” where we presented them with two copies each for them to share with their family and friends.  It was a really great project where we learnt a lot from the senior members of our community while at the same time giving something back to them.

As I mentioned above I like to travel and have been very fortunate to have had the opportunity to visit many countries both with work and on personal time, but there is still a long list of places to visit that are on the “to do” list - so my 2014 New Years resolution was to combine travel with some volunteer work.  I did some research on the internet...how did we ever survive before the internet......and under www.volunteerabroad.ie I came across EIL Intercultural Learning, l liked what I saw on their website so I gave them a call for an informal chat.  Cliona, the Volunteer Abroad Co-ordination, who I spoke with could not have been more helpful and so I took the next step and formally applied for a 3-week placement.  After a 45 min interview I was delighted to be accepted to be a volunteer with EIL,  the next step was to find a suitable role.  When a 3-week placement teaching English to children in Thailand came up it really grabbed my attention and so Cliona sent my CV off to Wad Rattanakit at Cultural Canvas Team (CCT) who partner with EIL and share the same values.  After an anxious week of waiting to hear back, I got finally got confirmation that I had been accepted and I was on my way.... well nearly, there was still some paperwork to complete and a two day pre departure workshop to attend. 

The pre departure workshop was great and covered everything from fears and expectations, checklists on what to bring with you, the do’s and don’ts while on placement right through to bringing your experience back to Ireland.  They even arranged for us to meet with past volunteers so that we could hear first hand what challenges they faced and how they dealt with them.  The key takeaways for me were to be open minded, respectful of the in country culture and embrace the experience.

So on Saturday 16th August the months, weeks and days of planning were over as I boarded a flight form Dublin to Heathrow to catch a flight to Bangkok, from Bangkok I caught an internal flight up north and after 19 hours of travelling I arrived at Chiang Mai airport where Wad was waiting for me with a big smile and he was very welcoming which put me at was straight away.  He took me to the volunteer house that I will be sharing with seven other girls from different parts of the world.  I briefly met two of the girls before I crashed for the night - jet lag really hit me but after a good nights sleep and I was all set for my orientation with Wad.  I really found this orientation useful as it went a level deeper into the Thai culture, the day was closed with a 1:1 lesson on Thai language -not sure how much I have retained but will find out over the next few days as I try to put it into practice......

On Tuesday I went to WatMuenNyeun Gong school where I am assisting the English teacher with P5 (9 - 10) and P6 (11-12).  I was introduced as “Teacher Rita” and will be mainly helping out with pronunciation, reading and writing.

Well that's about it for now....tune in next week to hear about how the rest of my first week in Chiang Mai went.

Talk to you later

 Rita