Creative English teaching and activities with kids)
DaLaa MLTV project – code: 1702

Periods available: All year round (except March, April and October)
at least 2 months

Expected number of volunteers: 2 to 4

SHORT DESCRIPTION

Volunteers will join a small Muslim community of South Thailand on the banks of Songkhla Lake. They will organize activities for children of the local school and share the life of the villagers.

HISTORY and REASONS OF THE PROJECT

Ko Nang Kham is a small village situated in Pattalung province, close to the middle part of Songkhla Lake which is Thailand’s biggest lake. The community area is a small island inside the lake so the main career of the villagers is fisheries. Some work on rubber and palm plantation, fruit orchards or shrimp farm. During free time, some villagers gain some extra income from making and selling local desserts and fruit preservation, for instance. You may find more information about Songkhla lake on this following website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songkhla_Lake. The villagers of Koh Nang Kham are Muslim.

The School

Ban Ko Nang Kham School was founded in 1928. It’s a local governmental, educational opportunity-expanded school offering classes from kindergarten to grade 9. There are around 189 pupils and 16 teachers. In the village, there’s a mosque where it is centred to bring all Muslims in the community to join in religious activities such as Friday prayer. The long-lasting folk wisdom passing on from one generation to another still gives them a career in the fishery industry and food process. Around the Songkhla Lake, the overwhelming ecosystem of natural resources, aquatic animals, fruits of the palm trees and many other things that people there can make use of, they are still greatly abundant in the present day. This teeming treasure behind this richness still gives them every day’s earnings and it has laid great benefit in preservation from generation to generation.

Mr. Somhit Chobngam (Crue Chem), the project initiator, positioned currently in Ban Ko Nang Kham Nuea School together with his co-mate, Miss Aree Leesom positioned presently in Ban Ko Nang Kham School. Both schools are in the same neighbourhood. Crue Chem contacted DaLaa first in 2015 to discuss the possibility of hosting international volunteers as he saw the importance of improving learning methods for the students. He hopes that children can learn about language and cultures naturally by doing activities with volunteers.

In 2015, we organized the first short-term work camp in Ban Ko Nang Kham Nuea School. Other work camps held yearly after that and we had the first team of middle-term volunteers in 2017 for 2 months. The results were very positive and it drew a lot of intention for kids and their families.

In small communities in Thailand, local people hardly have contacts with foreigners, while students are getting pressured from the current educational system to study English but they never have a chance to meet any foreigners. Therefore, this will give them the chance to gain motivation to learn and explore cultural diversity by doing creative activities with international volunteers.

Having international volunteers to learn about local fisherman’s lifestyle, it will help the fishermen to feel more motivated to preserve their local knowledge and wisdom. Apart from that, volunteers can also become the link between children and villagers to take part in this community learning activities.

                            

AIMS of the PROJECT

•           To support in all school’s activities

•           Children and adults can learn English with volunteers

•            2-way learning process between local children/ villagers and volunteers

•            Better understanding of local culture

•            To build a good relationship between volunteers and local people

WORK AND ACTIVITIES

Volunteers will be arranging creative activities with students. They will be supervised by the teachers. Depending on the volunteers’ skills, they will be proposed to organize activities with each class from Grade 1 to Grade 9 twice a week (1-hour session). The idea is that 1 session is more about the English language while the other one is free to decide.  Outside the school, a few villagers are willing to invite volunteers to learn about the local fisherman lifestyle on Songkhla Lake and organize other common activities.

REQUIREMENTS

• Volunteers who apply for this project should be over 20 years of age and/or have a Bachelor’s Degree. This is specifically required by the school.

• Volunteers should be ready to stay in a remote area, to adapt to the local conditions with basic facilities and with very few people able to speak in English.

• Volunteers should be able to handle the spontaneous working environment and constant changes in the plans. The mentality and way of thinking are very different from the western world.  There will have often activities with the children.

• To have creativity in providing learning activities for kids and join in activities related to school’s matters

• Be open-minded, be positive-thinking and be ready to get involved in community’s matters

• Last but not least, love being around with kids J

FOOD and ACCOMMODATION

Volunteers will stay in a local house situated in the village center. There are a kitchen and bathroom in the house. Volunteers can go on foot to the project school which is not far. There will be a simple mat, pillow and mosquito net. You may need to bring your own sleeping bag and other sleeping gear for your comfort. Lunch will be offered at school. There are some small grocery shops in the village and a lot of fish from the fishermen.  Local people eat rice (or noodles) 3 times a day with side dishes like curries, omelettes, local leaves and vegetables. Remember there are no pork products provided in the village. Be reminded of not bringing non-halal food or alcohol drink to your house or school. This may sound serious when you first hear it. It is not as that strict as you may imagine. Just the food (pork products and alcohol) that it is not appreciated in the Muslim community.

Creative English teaching and activities with kids
Project number: DaLaa 1901MLTV
Volunteers type: Middle and Long Term (2 months minimum)
Max Number of Volunteers: 2
Available application period: all year round except March, April and October

SHORT DESCRIPTION

Wat Pho Thawad is a very small school in Baan Kokpho, a Buddhist village of about 450 people in Phatthalung province, Southern Thailand. The school director (P. Pin) and local people would like to welcome volunteers again after the good feedback of the two work camps (2 weeks each) that took place in 2018 and 2019. This time we would like volunteers for a longer period that can help to organize English lessons or other fun activities with the 49 students from kindergarten to Grade 6 (5-12 years old). The English skills of the students are very poor. They are not familiar with foreigners. You can experience the local way of life, exchange with other volunteers, villagers and support the children education.

HISTORY and REASONS OF THE PROJECT

The school is situated in the local temple (like in most villages) and was founded 50 years ago by the former head monk. There are nowadays 49 students and 4 teachers from the government, plus the principal, and two more teachers are financially supported by the temple. In Thailand, the school year starts in May and finishes in March. Most of the villagers are farmers (rubber plantation, rice, fruits …). The school principal learned about DaLaa through one of our project hosts and shares our values (International Voluntary Service) and believes in our actions. We organized already two workcamps in 2018 and 2019 which were a great success. The local kids have very few chances for interaction with foreigners and the English language is more and more needed for their future. After a visit with DaLaa team last August we decided to start with MTV project there to improve the quality of the action.

AIMS of the PROJECT

– To support Wat Pho Thawad school

– To be part of the community of Baan Kokpho village

– To let children be familiar with volunteers and learn in an international/multi-culture atmosphere

– To support the organization of the February workcamp

WORK AND ACTIVITIES

Volunteers will be arranging creative activities with students. They will be supervised by the teachers and especially, P Pin, the school director. Depending on the volunteers’ skills, they will be proposed to organize activities with each class from Grade 1 to Grade 6. Outside the school, few villagers are willing to invite volunteers to learn about the local lifestyle in the village and organize other common activities.

REQUIREMENTS

The volunteers should be ready to stay in a remote area, to adapt to the local conditions with basic facilities and with very few people able to speak in English. Volunteers should be able to handle a spontaneous working environment and constant changes in the plans. The mentality and way of thinking are very different from the western world.  There will have often activities with the children. To have responsibility for yourself, the kids and full involvement in community matters is a must.

**For ones who plan to travel in Thailand/Asia besides this voluntary work, having it done before or after the project would be advisable. We hope that volunteers will fully spend their stay in the project without asking for a long holiday break amid the project period. This would cause uncertainty in running activities.

FOOD and ACCOMMODATION

Volunteers will have their own house, a few kilometres from the school. There is a simple mat, pillow and mosquito net. You will need to bring a sleeping bag. Volunteers will eat at the school for lunch and can cook by themselves for dinner. There are some small grocery shops in the village.  Local people eat rice (or noodles) 3 times a day with side dishes like curries, omelettes, local leaves and vegetables.

Forest preservation, active community, join the local school, activities with kids, foreign language and culture exchange, remote area…

Cha Uat district, Nakorn Sri Tammarat province, South Thailand
DaLaa MTV project – code: 1704
Periods available: all year round (except school holidays: October, March and April)
Expected number of volunteers: 2 to 4

SHORT DESCRIPTION

Lang Ai Mee community, from the remote and mountainous area of South Thailand, is seeking volunteers to support their action of preserving harmonious relationships within the community, with the environment and the world. Their position in the watershed of Cha Uat river gives them the responsibility to preserve the forest so clean water can flow continuously through the valley. Their fights against the government who declared the place as a national park and tried to evacuate them in the past make their group strong and determined. Nowadays, they show actively that they are able to take care of their environment. The new learning center started by the police border patrol and the sister of the Thai new king is now taking care of the education of the local children and volunteers would be greatly appreciated to support with foreign language and activities exchange.

HISTORY and REASONS OF THE PROJECT

Lang Ai Mee is a mountainous village of Nakorn Sri Tammarat province, Cha Uat district, part of Bantad Range Mountain. It is the watershed area giving birth to Cha Uat river flowing through the town of the same name and until the Chinese sea in Pak Panang district.

The first people came to live in this area in 1963. It’s a good area to plant rubber and fruit plantations. One of them was named Mee and gave his name to the village. In 1972, The government declared this area a national park and since then tries to forbid the villagers to live there and to use the natural resources, arguing that villagers are destroying nature. (The same government who allowed before some companies concessions to cut all the forest-rich trees species to sell abroad.)

Since that time, the villagers, about 60 families at that time, gather to fight against this decision and to prove they can live in harmony with the forest, nature and can take care of it. Many volunteers’ activities have been going on in the village and now the community is very strong and responsible.

In 2002, they create a group “Ton Rak Paa Ton Nam” which could be translated by “Love forest and watershed” to gather now 157 families and 463 people. They made agreements together to preserve the forest, animals, water, trees, and organize activities together.

In 2014, the police border patrol helped to start a local school so children can have education all the year along.  In 2015 and 2016, DaLaa volunteers situated in Roywan Phan Pba project close to the place joined often activities with the school and the villagers. The princess and donators made it possible to create a new and beautiful learning center for the local children in the village (called the school).

After Roywan project was stopped in 2016, an active member from Lang Ai Mee, P Com and an active teacher close to the villagers, Crue Prakan, contacted us to request more volunteers to join their activities.

AIMS of the PROJECT

– Exchange and learn language and culture with the local community.

– Support the local group: Love forest and watershed.

– Support the learning center on the foreign language aspect.

 – Help to give responsibility and harmony to local people in preserving their culture and way of life.

WORK AND ACTIVITIES

– Learning center (=school): exchange language, activities with kids. The school will adapt to each volunteers skills.

– Join and exchange activities about the local culture, occupation (fruit and rubber farming, using local material to make crafts like brooms…)

– Take care of the forest and watershed: plant trees close to the river, look around for seeds species, tree nursery, and small dams to keep humidity…

– Join with the women group to make processed food from the forest: chilli sauce, kind of palm fruit to boiling…

FOOD and ACCOMMODATION

Volunteers have their own house with a small kitchen. There will be a simple mat, pillow and mosquito net. You will need to bring a sleeping bag – more bedding materials could be an option in case you are not used to sleeping on the hard floor.   The volunteer will be taken care of by the neighbour family who will take care of them for daily matters including buying food, security and transport.  During activities at school (most school days), the lunch will be offered there. There are 4 or 5 families who are willing to welcome the volunteers at their house. Local people eat rice (or noodles) 3 times a day with side dishes like curries, omelettes, local leaves and vegetables. They agree to adapt to volunteers needs and tastes using the ingredients available there.

OTHER PRACTICAL INFORMATION

Laundry: expect to hand-wash your clothes

Water supply and electricity: available

Internet/phone access: At the school, and mostly only at the school, there is a connection for DTAC and True move phone companies’ network. You can use the internet with a Thai Sim card and your mobile phone.

The closest big village, Tung Chumpon is at 7km with a health center, ATM, market twice a week and temple.

Mai Seap is a bigger village at 16 km. It is the place to take the bus to and from the project.

Pa Payom, is a town at 18km, where there is a hospital.

Hat Yai, the main city of South Thailand (close to DaLaa office) is 2 hours by bus/minibus from Mai Seap.

It usually rains stronger from November to January and the fruit season is in August to October.

Clothes worn in the village: You will be living in an area with elderly people and children around so it is appropriate that you dress modestly, for example, no short skirts or shorts too far above the knees. Also, women should wear tops that cover your shoulders. Bikini is not appropriate to swim. Please wear shorts and a top instead. You will learn more about Thai culture in the introduction day so please don’t worry too much. You will quickly learn when it best to dress more informally and when it is important to cover-up

Language: only very few people in the village can speak good English (Crue Prakan, the teacher is one of them). We strongly advise the volunteers to learn at least basic Thai language before or during the start of your project. Non-verbal communication will be as well essential.

Few things not to forget: Flashlight, mosquito repellent (nature-friendly if possible), light long sleeves clothes, closed shoes and flip flops,  rain jacket, hat, something to show your culture, food, pictures…, games, music, your motivation and beautiful smiles.

REQUIREMENTS

The volunteers should be ready to stay in a remote area (in the middle of the forest), to adapt to the local conditions with only basic facilities and with very few people able to speak in English. Volunteers should be able to handle a spontaneous working environment and constant changes in the plans. The mentality and way of thinking are very different from the western world.  There will have often activities with the children. To have responsibility for yourself, the kids and full involvement in community matters is a must.

**For ones who plan to travel in Thailand/Asia besides this voluntary work, having it done before or after the project would be advisable. We hope that volunteers will fully spend their stay in the project without asking for a long holiday break amid the project period. This would cause uncertainty in running activities.