Introduction
In the second quarter of 2018, we faced an interesting time in the community team. In the first month of the quarter, all of the schools were on their summer breaks, including the kindergarten. Therefore we had to find alternative ways to get involved with the community. Once school started again, we were able to work with all of our regular partners, the Community Development Center (CDC), the BNK Thai school, Ban Tham Namchai kindergarten and The Camillian Social Center, working towards SDGs 3 and 4 through English, Healthcare and Life-skills education.
GVI Trust Thailand Update….
During the entire month of April we hosted English lessons for both advanced and beginner EFL adult students at our partner, the GoSoNo Non-Formal Education Center in Takua Pa, four evenings a week. Teaching volunteers put together a curriculum and taught lessons to 10 students, improving students’ abilities to introduce themselves, to order food and to negotiate prices among other skills. This targeted SDGs 4, 5 and 8, since many of the students were women, and all could go on to productively use their English education in their employment.
We hosted 3 summer camps in April. The first of these was with the children of the Naval Officers at the Thai Royal Navy Base in Khao Lak, a partner to the conservation project. The students were taught yoga and participated in workshops on healthy eating and dental hygiene, football and volleyball tournaments, as well as an athletic sporting competition. Community and conservation volunteers also paired up to give workshops on marine conservation to the students and together the students and volunteers completed a massive beach clean, working towards SDGs 11, 13 and 14. The second summer camp was with our partner the CDC. The students took part in a sports day on the beach, and participated in hygiene and healthy eating workshops, SDG 3. The final summer camp was with our partner, Ban Tham Namchai kindergarten, during which the students learnt different English songs and games, and played with different sensory craft activities.
In the week before the beginning of the school year, the CDC requested that we provide translation and comprehension lessons for the students for 4 mornings, working towards SDGs 4 ad 8 by providing the students with a stronger English foundation for finding future employment. Around 18 students attended the classes, which were taught by community volunteers who chose activities that would test and improve the students’ speaking and listening skills specifically.
As classes began again, we restarted the school garden at the CDC, introducing the students to crop rotation, and improved the infrastructure of the garden during a Friday project to protect the crops from the rainy season. Several new plants are being grown, and the school will be able to benefit from a fruitful garden in a few months, working towards SDGs 2 and 12. The students at the CDC have also been receiving weekly healthcare lessons as part of their education, working towards SDG 3. At the BNK Thai school we discussed with the school the benefits of working with fewer of their students on a more frequent basis, and now work with the youngest three grades 3 days a week, which will vastly improve their English level compared to last year’s 1 hour per week, working towards SDG 4.
We have continued to support the Camillian Social Center on a weekly basis. Their coordinator who was in charge of the center left at the beginning of the quarter and left the center in confusion, and so it is more important than ever that GVI provides structure and service to the center. We have increased our time working at the center from 2 afternoons a week to 3 afternoons a week. We also continually try to introduce the students to new experiences with new games, sensory activities and outdoor experiences, improving their wellbeing in accordance with SDG 3. We hosted the third annual fun run in Ban Nam Khem to raise funds for the center to buy new physiotherapy equipment and to improve the center’s farm. 56 people participated in the fun run, including 26 local people, and we had runners for both a 10k and a 5k. The students came to the fun run and took part in a 1k walk around the village with the volunteers.
Summary
In short, students had an active break while learning about healthy life styles and conservation and practicing their English skills. Everyone is back at school now, taking English classes 3 to 4 times a week. CDC students are learning anatomy in their healthcare class and planting things in their garden. Camillian is planning how best to spend money from the fun run.
In the coming months, students will compete in a spelling-bee run by our TEFL intern, and continue classes until the end of the term in early October. Our main focus will to be improving our young beginner curriculum through the use of the Jolly Phonics system. We’ll begin collecting the necessary multi-media resources to give our 4-8 year olds the best education possible.
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