For the first day we didnt really communicate with them, let alone teach them much. Second day was better, but we were screwed for not presenting the image that we were doing enough teaching. Seriously, the trip was a little too short to do anything really impactful, but i think on the third day we managed to pull together and produced some really unexpected results. I am proud of that.
After that, with the load of teaching taken off, the whole trip became a fun and exciting one. Not to say teaching wasnt fun and interesting, but if u had the same experience as us you wouldnt want to repeat it too often. I know how teachers feel =D We went waterfall trekking, and visited the villages some of the children lived in. The children put up great performances for the campfire, and we tried our best to return the favor but we only had 2 days to prepare, so we didnt shine so much. Foam. Mr. Sim surprised us with a nice fireworks display after that, and we got to light our own fireworks! Yup yup one of the high highlights. The lantern releasing was very special too, in a different way. These kids... they didnt have such a fortunate life as we did, and to speak realistically, their futures would probably be much less bright too. In the letter on the lantern, I hoped that they continued their passion for learning, and never give up. I just didnt know what to say... they were all special in their own way.
Cue the sad and long-dragging farewell. I thought that with all the other groups coming and going like we were going to, the kids would be less emotionally attached, but I was glad to see that we had left an impact on them. Their gifts to us, friendship bands, short letters, were worth more than those we gave them. Some of them cried. Some of us did. I loved my time there with them. Never forget you people!
Teaching was from day 2 - 4. Day 5 was the campfire, Day 6 was the adventure aspect! We went canoeing and on an elephant trek! Much more sitting around than adventure than I expected, but i had a great time. I sat on the neck of the elephant! Feels like the toothbrush bristles lol. Canoeing I shared a boat with zj, we basically sang songs and talked cock while we went down the river. Collected loads of chestnutsy thingies (dotz)
Day 7 was another emotional day. We went around our area to the tsunami affected areas. There we saw many amazing, sad things, that truly demostrated to us the power of the tsunami. The Angel ship, the demon ship comes to mind. The angel ship was named such because the loose ropes hanging from it saved a lot of people, and it even stopped just before hitting a house! The demon ship... you can guessed what happened. Both were very very deep inland. The cemetary we visited after lunch was sad too. Walking through its gates, seeing the neat rows of tombstones decorated with sunflowers, the sculptures of people stuck in the mud, the statue of three waves, depicting the three waves of the tsunami and the 39 flags of the countries who suffered huge losses... Life is fragile. I can imagine what it would be like if it was one of my family or close friends who were unlucky enough to be at that place, a few years ago, when the tsunami struck. Just three waves of water destroyed many lives and buildings. The cemetary was peaceful, and i said a quick prayer for them. We also visited a survivor of the tsunami, who almost lost his brother as he did not warn him. It was that close. Luckily his brother survived.
Some pictures
a group picture outside the demonship
playing soccer. chu yong's a great keeper!
Planning next day's activities
Norris' depiction of marcus' cast. 'rough'. lol
A student, Tan's depiction of me. See my muscles!
My class' picture
Me and Om, during the waterfall trek
Collage of pictures
Me with Tay and Om
hehe Anurak great performance!
Lantern release. very touching.
Fireworks!
Another class picture. They love pictures =)
Elephant trek!
Marcus with a group of girls. He's very popular. lol
Sometimes, sitting in your room in Singapore, we dont realise the situation outside of our comfortable little nation. People dying everyday, living in poverty, in despair. What can we do to help them, you might say. Even going on this short thailand trip, you can't do much. Its true, I agree. But it doesnt mean we can't try. All it takes is a lot of this tiny tiny effort to pile up, and before we know it, the world's changed. No one can save the world. Not alone. But we can start things off, trigger events to happen, teachers to go for overseas study, students to go on scholarships, inspired by another's passion for learning. We can share with others what we truly feel, we can bring joy to their lives, to convince the principal to continue accepting visits from Singaporean students, to be a part of something larger, put ourselves behind and work in the right direction, now that we know what is out there.
Guess what?
I think we've already started it.
