Joint intercultural learning

Hello, we are Kim and Ines from Germany.

We are 19 years old and finished High-school in 2017. After finishing school, we spent on year as volunteers at Volunt2thai in Thailand. We have been part of a program from the German state: Entwicklungspolitischer Freiwilligendienst weltwärts which is a program of the German Federal Ministry, for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The program enables young people to go abroad to do development policy work. Our from the “BMZ” supported volunteer organisation is called “worldwide volunteers”. They held seminars to prepare us to go abroad and took good care of us.

Living in Volunt2thai:
We volunteer stayed in bungalows in the Volunt2Thai Campus. Inside you have everything you need, like a bed with bedsheets, mosquito net, a wardrobe and a fan, if it’s getting to hot. The four sleeping bungalows are connected by a roofed over dining area and a modern kitchen. In the kitchen you can find a lot of modern kitchen tools which will make your life easier at Volunt2Thai. For example, a gas cooker, a refrigerator, a toaster, a rice cooker, a mixer, a water heater and more. Cooking together with the other volunteers always was a pleasure and a great opportunity to improve your Thai cooking skills.

The volunt2Thai campus also provides two toilets and two showers, so you can be sure that there is no rush in morning time. In your free time you can hang out in the “language coffee”, relax on the couch, play instruments and games, spent some time in the library, filled with English, German and Thai books, games and school material for the kids or explore the beautiful area with bikes. Living in the Volunt2thai campus really is an extraordinary experience. Here you can enjoy fresh air, beautiful nature 24/7 but also experience the true Thai Lifestyle.

Our work:
The main focus of Volunt2thai is to help the kids in the area by educating them, especially in English.
Our daily routine started with eating Breakfast in the Volunt2Thai Camp. After that we headed to school around 8. There we joined the traditional morning meditation and ceremony. After that we teach two hours of English in the morning. For our lessons we used the provided English books, material from the V2T library but also included a lot of creative learning methods. The kids really enjoy singing English songs, playing vocabulary games or doing artwork.

Sometimes we helped the school chef to prepare the food for 100 students, 30 kindergarten children and 9 teachers. After having lunch together, we helped with the midday meditation and did a listening exercise. We read an english short story for the kids which they had to understand, summarize and tell again in Thai. In the afternoon we had another English lesson and could help with the P.E classes. After going back to the village around 2/3 o’clock there are a lot of other things to do like construction, painting, gardening or the maintenance of the village. Therefore, it never gets boring and there is always something to do. When school finished at 4 some children came to the campus and we helped them with homework, played games or practiced reading.

During holidays we did “Temple School” with the children in the nearby villages. We met everyday at 9 o’clock at the temple because it is the center of the village and a place for learning and education. There we did several stations with reading English books, artwork, soccer, gymnastics and a lot of other games.
Sometimes we visited up to three temple and villages.

Conclusion:
Our year in V2T was an experience we will never forget and always be grateful for. We got to know a completely new culture and could broaden our horizons with all the interesting people we met with V2T. The positive attitude and the compassions of the Thai people became a role model for our lifes and we try to bring these attributes back to our home. Especially the love from the children and the welcoming arms from the villagers always made us feel at home. The kids were very keen on learning and made teaching them a very fulfilling task.

We learned a lot about teaching, education and development policy which is a great impact for our future and University plans. The responsibilities made us grow more mature and realize how lucky we are to grow up in Germany with all the opportunities.

-----
Joint intercultural learning

The project offers volunteers the opportunity to experience the real Thai lifestyle. Teaching at the nearby village school is a very fulfilling activity where one can experience the students' progress live. Unfortunately, there are not enough English teachers in the area, so local schools need the Volunt2Thai project for support. Children grow up here often without parents due to the rural exodus, so it lacks of role models where the children can orient themselves. Because of this, one can not only make a difference as an English teacher, but also already, in which one has an open ear for the students being a reference person for them. Even the holiday care of the children in the school holidays would not be possible without Volunt2Thai.

Volunt2Thai receives volunteers through "Mercy for Thailand" which is a partner organization of "Worldwide Volunteers" from Germany. The volunteers are sent via the Entwicklungspolitischer Freiwilligendienst weltwärts program of the German Federal Ministry, for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)