Author: DaLaa

Ayano, volunteered in Koh Sukorn

August 13, 2019 DaLaa Leave a comment Volunteer stories

I am Ayano Minoura, 21  years old, from Japan. I volunteererd for 3 months in Koh Sukorn.

The main activity there was agriculture, especially we did gardening (organic vegetables), harvesting rice, fishing. Besides that we also visited the kindergarten and organised activities for the children. But for me I can say that the biggest task was to learn Thai language actually.

Through my volunteering, I saw a totally different lifestyle from the Japansese one, and it was a really good opportunity for me to rethink about how to live, about my future life. And the biggest thing that I realized was actually that I am a person who prefers to live surrounded by nature, than to live in the city! And now I know how to live more happily!

One of the biggest challenges for me was to learn the Thai language. Since there was no English speaker on that island, I had no choice but to speak Thai! I managed this difficulty thanks to other volunteers’ help. I don’t have a tough mind enough to overcome this by myself.

My best memories – working, learning, living and eating together with the local people, and with other international volunteers. It was so simple life there but at the same time, it was the most happiest time in my life. I surely would recommend anyone to be a volunteer.

Sofia, volunteered in Withee Tai

August 8, 2019 DaLaa Leave a comment Volunteer stories

My name is Sofia, I’m 21 and I’m from Portugal.

I volunteered for 2 months in the South of Thailand, in the province of Nakhon Si Thammarat. I was living with a self-sustained Buddhist community and helping in the daily-life activities, learning how to cook and plant and a new way of teaching and learning by doing.

In my volunteering I learned that my Occidental lifestyle and way of thinking is way different than Thailand’s, for example. Life is very simple, and there are no extra worries. Thai people are very nice, funny and uncomplicated. I tend to think a lot about a lot of things, for a very long period of time, and I am very impatient. I learned that about myself while living there: because I didn’t really have much to do, I had to reinvent it by myself, without any stimuli. That’s when I realized that when you’re closer to nature and yourself, you tend to be more and more creative, and be curious and handy. Some things I found unpleasing on other people, such as their calmness or slow way of doing things; it only made me realize how I was a rushed person, both physically and mentally. It was a wonderful exercise to get to know myself and my surroundings.

Regarding my challenges, I have a swelling chronic condition that became worse in Thailand, because of the heat and humidity. It was a little bit hard to handle, which sometimes led to tears and frustration. But I tried to pull myself up every single day because I knew I was living a once-in-a-lifetime experience and even after all those ups and downs, I realized a lot of things internally that I want to see changing.

One of my brightest memories was from one day when I was very bored and decided to take off a neighbours’ bicycle for a 3-hour ride around the village. I walked through places with beautiful and nice people working and resting, kids playing with what the nature gives them, dogs, huge spiders on their nets on the lightning points… Until I reached a pathway near a river by our house with plants all over from different species. And I felt so free that day, so enchanted, so… alive! That I just thanked every living being, and whoever created it, for being so perfect. This volunteering was very different from what I was expecting, but it was so raw, so natural… It was the best decision I ever made.

Lung Jaeng garden

July 18, 2019 DaLaa Leave a comment MLTV

Project number: DaLaa 1301MLTV
Volunteers type: Medium and Long Term (two months minimum)
Max Number of Volunteers: 3-4
Available application period: all year round

Gardening and DaLaa members activities

SHORT DESCRIPTION

Lung Jaeng is the kind host of our association office and Voluntary Service Community. He is a great life activist who also welcomes volunteers since 2013 through DaLaa to support his social and non-chemical garden 3 km away from the office.  Volunteers will mainly join agricultural work and daily life with Lung Jaeng. They have the possibility to join our member activities.

 

HISTORY and REASONS OF THE PROJECT

Mr. Suthep Suwankrajang known as Lung Jaeng, the host of the project has a strong social network and he is involved in voluntary work, social activism and forest conservation for many years.  Since 2013, he has been starting a big garden, 3km from his home with DaLaa volunteers and friends and build there a new house. He grows non chemical vegetables and fruits. It’s like a social garden which is also used for tea meetings, universities camps or just having a meal together with friends. Everyone is welcome at this learning space to grow healthy food and to exchange ideas.

Since 2015, DaLaa office was built on his home land and nowadays we became a community sharing everyday life. We called this place Voluntary Service Community  (VSC) and we organize quite some activities like introduction and gathering for our middle and long term volunteers, mini workcamps with our members. family and children camps.

AIMS of the PROJECT

1- Start a new kind of community based on love, responsibility, harmony and freedom.

2- Our members grow in wisdom and our garden produces healthy food.

3- We can gather members and children more and more around meaningful volunteer activities.

 

 

WORK AND ACTIVITIES

Regular work involves nurturing vegetables plants and fruit trees, take care or chicken, compost making, collecting vegetables for our own consumption, growing seeds or nursing young plants, lots of weeding and watering too. The work may be physically hard or repetitive but there is no pressure and you will have a lot of time to relax.

You will be proposed to join our VSC members’ activities on regular basis. The activities may be very various from construction to kids’ activities around DaLaa office or to our partners places.

The daily tasks like cleaning and cooking are shared by everyone. It takes some time and energy to have an healthy food and environment. When done with free will and dedication for the community, we can learn a lot from this too.

Volunteers should feel responsible for the community. It means they will become the hosts when visitors are coming, take part in new volunteer introduction and other activities organized through the Voluntary Service Community. We organize mini workcamps where Kok Riang volunteers are included.

FOOD and ACCOMODATION

Volunteers will live with Lung Jaeng and at the garden. Small huts are provided for volunteers. there is the new house of Lung Jaeng and woof fire kitchen. Regards to the hut for volunteers, there is a thin mattress and mosquito net provided. You may need to bring your own soft mattress if you’re prone to backache or wouldn’t be able to sleep on hard surface. The bathroom and toilet are separated . For shower, there’s no hot water and the restroom is local squatting style. The living condition will be very simple and you may find it completely different from your own country. Local people eat rice (or noodles) 3 times a day with side dishes like curries, omelets, local leaves and vegetables. We get some food from the garden and shop other at the local markets

OTHER PRACTICAL INFORMATION

Kok Riang is a village 20 km from Hatyai city but it is really country side. The atmosphere is quite relax. The garden area is 2 km from the closest shop.

The most rain season is usually from October to December. There are quite some mosquitoes especially after the rain.

There are a lot of chicken around to wake you up early morning 🙂

Laundry: expect to hand-wash your clothes

Water supply and electricity: Well with pump and solar pannel

Internet/phone access: You can buy a Thai SIM card at the garden. There is WIFI at VSC/DaLaa office)

Hat Yai, the main city of South Thailand is 30 minutes by car from Kok Riang.

REQUIREMENTS

The volunteers should be ready to stay in a community and to take responsibilities and initiatives to adapt to the local conditions with basic facilities and non English speaking people. Volunteers should be able to handle spontaneous working environment and constant changes in the plans. The mentality and way of thinking is very different from the western world.

**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.

Koh Nang Kham

July 18, 2019 DaLaa Leave a comment MLTV

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.