After 1 month in Phuket, it was time to leave and I was ready. Phuket was too crowded and too touristy for me. You couldn’t walk anywhere without people hassling you asking if you want a taxi or massage or a new tailor-made suit or dress every few meters! After a month though, I did discover a few nice local restaurants and nice beaches. Here are a few pictures:
I hope he has the right cable!
Thai language classes have been really interesting. I have learnt a fair bit already although it is kinda information overload! They try and cram a lot of information into a couple of weeks. To start off with, we learnt greetings, a lot of the useful verbs, and basic sentence structure. It does seem to be quite simple in that they don’t use as many words as we do in English which is good! So for example, they would say ‘I go shop’ where we would say ‘I am going to the shop’. That’s like half the number of words!
As we progressed, we learnt how to talk about ourself versus other people, how to say I want and I would like, I can and I cannot, and how to ask questions. They have a word in Thai – mai which has to be said in a rising tone because it can also mean no or new, but said with the correct tone, adding the word to the end of a sentence is how you ask a question. So using the same example, ‘I go shop’ with the word mai at the end means ‘should I go to the shop?’!
The order of the words in the sentences are quite different as well! When describing something, you add the adjectives after the noun so ‘house big white’ instead of ‘big white house’! That actually makes more sense to me. It’s easier to picture what is being described if you have the noun before the adjectives. And then the words can and cannot go after the verb so you would say ‘I go shop cannot’ instead of ‘I cannot go to the shop’. It’s quite different and difficult trying to think in this way instead of just trying to translate the English directly.
The other interesting thing is that it seems that there isn’t a word for yes! You just give a positive response by repeating the verb back if you agree! So ‘do you understand?’ would be answered ‘understand’. ‘Should we eat?’ is answered ‘eat’! ‘Do you want to go to the beach?’ is answered ‘want’, ‘go’, or ‘want go’. All are acceptable in this case. It means you really have to listen to what is being said! Very different to English where we just answer yes or no sometimes without really having listened to the question!
It’s funny how learning someone else’s language changes your perspective. I think we frequently think well they should all just learn English! Like it is easy! I think for us native English speakers, we don’t really realise just how hard our language is to learn! I saw this recently which made me laugh!
After the month at home, I was sad to leave, but ready at the same time. My parents drove me to the airport and it was hard saying goodbye to them, but nowhere near as intense as the 1st time! The 1st time was such a big deal for me, but this time almost felt normal! I’ve been reading a book recently which was actually written by my dad a few years ago. He talks about how when taking a big leap of faith, it can seem so intimidating! But then it just becomes normal for you and you can just do it without thinking. Every time we overcome a challenge or do something we were scared of, we are elevating to a new and higher level of normality. I loved that thought! When I think of all the other things in life that intimidate me, it’s pretty cool to think that one day they could almost just become a normal thing that I do without thinking.
I flew from Heathrow to Bangkok and Bangkok to Phuket, and then took a taxi to my guesthouse in Phuket. I have booked accommodation here for a month for now, and I will just figure out the next step after that. It’s funny I used to be the kind of person that had to have everything planned out! Well at least the next few years anyway! I liked to feel like I was in control and hated uncertainty but now I’m doing the opposite of that – just pretty much going with the flow and waiting to see how things pan out. I plan to do a 2 week foundation course at a Thai language school here. I really want to be able to help the last orphanage I was at here more. But it is difficult at the moment because we can’t even communicate. It looks like a very difficult language though. To be honest, just looking at the letters scares me but I’m going to give it a real go!
So today is my last day at the orphanage here! I leave tomorrow morning. That also means it is my last day of volunteering! After 5 months! It does feel kinda strange knowing it is over now. Reflecting over the last 5 months, I have seen and experienced so much! I still remember my 1st day at the slums in Goa, feeling a bit overwhelmed and wondering what I had let myself in for! It has been an amazing time though. Every child I have met has left such an impression on me! From the girls in the slums and the orphanage in India to the children in the slums of Cambodia, so happy to be able to go to school, to the girls in Thailand, survivors of human trafficking, and now the children here who have either been orphaned or abandoned. It has been a lot to take in. Back home in London, I would hear the stories about all the injustice in the world, all the people suffering and living in horrendous conditions. I would think gosh that’s horrible! And then think well I can’t really change any of that, give a bit of money to at least feel like I’m doing something, and then go back to living my life and hope that maybe one day it will be different or I will be in a position to do more about it. But there is something about being here and getting to know the people that changes things. I feel a new found determination to help them. To try and make their lives better. Even if it is just for the few that I have met. So although this is the end, it isn’t really. It is just the beginning.
I have spent the last couple of days finishing off the work I am doing here. The Christmas cards are now available for sale at the following link:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/BaanSanFan
In addition to the cards, I have also designed some 2014 calendars which are available for sale at the same link so please take a look and purchase some! They will be available for sale until Monday evening to allow time to package and send them out in time for Christmas. As well as working on the cards and calendars, I spent yesterday evening emailing 80 hotels! All of the hotels in Khao Lak which is the tourist area nearby to see if they are interested in buying some of the products produced at the orphanage. I have had a few positive responses today, asking about prices and asking if they can come and take a look at the orphanage and the farm here so I am happy about that. I will continue to follow up on those leads even after I leave here tomorrow. I also worked on designing a new sign for the front of the orphanage so that people driving past can be aware of it. I hope I can continue to help the orphanage even after I have gone because they really need the help.
Here are a few pictures of the calendar and Christmas cards:
My time here has gone so quickly! I only have a few days left now. I will be leaving here on Thursday and will spend a few days in Khao Lak before flying to Sydney on the 18th. I have been enjoying my time here. I have had to get used to rural life again though. As Sam who owns the orphanage says, we are in the jungle! So I have had to get used to cold showers again, being eaten by mosquitoes constantly, and the lizards that live in our house. I have resolved to start embracing them a little as they keep the insects away, although seeing one jump out of my bag of cookies earlier was a little much for me! Similarly, the other volunteer opened the kettle a few days ago, and a lizard jumped out of it! It Aside from this though, it is great being here. It feels a bit like a retreat, it is very peaceful. Here are a few pictures:
Below is a picture of the children here entertaining themselves with a game which involved flicking a marble!
In terms of the work I am doing here, we do jobs around the orphanage, helping with the washing up which is a bigger task than I am used to with all the children here, helping around the garden, sweeping up leaves etc, and helping with the packaging of the products they sell. We recently had an order for 200 mini soaps, so it was all hands on deck to prepare the order. We had a little production line going with wrapping the soap with film, then with paper which had to be perfectly folded, then sticking the labels onto the paper. Most of what I have been doing though has been trying to increase the awareness of the orphanage and help to find ways for them to raise funds. I have been working on producing Christmas cards which they can sell, which hopefully should be available in the next day or 2. And then I have been contacting local businesses to ask if they are interested in selling the products made here. I am also working on improving the donation options they offer by promoting monthly giving instead of one-off donations to give them more regular income. Fundraising is very important for them here due to their lack of outside support. The land which the orphanage is built on was purchased by a Swiss doctor and missionary. However, he was unable to provide financial support for more than a few years, and for the last 7 years, they have had no outside support. Gai told me about how for the next 2 years, she cried constantly and prayed asking how she would be able to take care of the children here with no money. Slowly, they started getting ideas of ways to make some money from their farm here by selling some of the organic produce that they were making. Gai told me that since then, a lot of the orphanages in the area also lost their outside supporters and were forced to close down. She told me that the Thai government like to paint a rosy picture and say that Thailand is a great country and there are no problems so supporters move on to support poorer countries like Laos and Myanmar, but so much help is still needed here.
Sam and Gai try to take us for trips to the local sights when they get time. We recently went on a trip to the Tsunami memorial park. The orphanage is in an area called Phang-Nga which was devastated by the Tsunami with the death toll here crossing 4,000 people.
Other outings have included a trip to the waterfall:
And then a stop at the beach to watch the sunset:
I flew from Bali to Singapore and then Singapore to Phuket. I will be spending the next 3 weeks here at Baan San Fan orphanage (http://www.baansanfan.org). I was picked up at Phuket airport by Sam who runs the orphanage with his wife Gai, and the 2 other volunteers who are here. One is from Australia and only has 2 days left here and the other is from Germany and will be here for 6 months! It was a 2.5 hour drive from the airport to the orphanage! By the time we got there, it was 11pm so I was taken to my room. The volunteer house is nicer than I expected. After sharing a room with 7 others in the last place, I was surprised to have my own room here! There are 4 bedrooms in the volunteer house with 2 beds in each room so because there are currently only 3 volunteers, we have a room each. Here is a picture of my room here:
I was told that we have to be up at 7am the next morning (so early!!!) for breakfast so we headed to bed very soon after. The next morning, we got up and ready and went for breakfast where I met the children here. There are currently 12 children, and then Gai and Sam have 3 of their own children. One is at university in Bangkok and the other 2 live with the children here. Breakfast was nice – toast with eggs and a mango. We helped clear up and wash up afterwards, and then I was given a tour of the orphanage. The orphanage receive no outside funding so they struggle to get by financially. They do what they can to make themselves self-sustainable so that they are not always relying on donations. They have a chicken coup here with 500 chickens! 300 for meat and 200 for eggs. Gai travels 10 hours each way on the bus to Bangkok every week with 700 eggs to sell! I don’t know how she manages it. But there is more of a market for organic eggs in Bangkok so she can sell them for higher there. They also have a fish farm here, they make their own coconut oil, make their own soap, and their own honey. It’s a lot of work for the 2 of them. They sell their products online at http://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/BaanSanFan#. They also collect all of the food waste here in a big container where it is left to decompose. As it decomposes, it produces methane gas which they use to run the cooker here! I was very impressed with how creative they are in thinking up ways to make and save money. After my tour, we spent some time playing with the children.
That afternoon, a group came to visit from Wicked Diving – a dive centre in Khao Lak – 45mins from the orphanage. They support the orphanage by buying the organic products produced here. They spent the afternoon doing arts and crafts with the children and teaching them how to make bracelets which they want to sell in their diving shop to raise money for the orphanage. I’m enjoying it here so far. The children here are happy and it is very relaxed here, like a big family. In addition, the food they cook here is great! Here is one example!
My last few days came up pretty quick! I went away to a place called Pai for my last weekend. It’s up in the mountains, 3 hours drive from Chiang Mai. The drive was pretty crazy, but we made it there. It’s a very chilled out little village. You can walk around the whole village in an hour! There are lots of cafes, restaurants, shops, beauty salons and markets around so it was the perfect place to relax for a couple of days, get a massage, manicure, and eat lots of food! Here are a few pictures:
I got back on the Tuesday evening and was due to leave early on Thursday morning. I spent Wednesday packing, finishing off things and then had my last adult English class in the evening. It was really fun but sad saying bye to them all! I then went to say goodbye to the girls as they would be asleep when I left the next morning. I cried saying bye to them. They are just such lovely girls! I wish I didn’t have to leave them! I really hope I’ll be able to stay in touch with them somehow.
Its been quite busy here at the shelter. There have been more visiting schools, so we have been busy helping to organise fun activities for them to do with the girls there. We have had activities such as competitions eating a donut hanging from the ceiling on a piece of string without touching it while racing against other teams, and also getting all 12 members of each team to cross from 1 side of the patio to the other without touching the ground and only using a selection of materials which included a bin bag, a piece of cardboard, a leaf, a brick, and a piece of rope. It was quite funny watching the elaborate methods the girls came up with initially, before one team realised that all they had to do was rip up the bin bag into small pieces big enough to step on, and they could all just get across by stepping on the pieces!
We also recently had a group from Sydney who organised an afternoon of t-shirt designing and painting with the girls which was a lot of fun for them.
Weekend English classes are going well, I’m teaching the youngest class so its hard work! They get bored and distracted very easily so I have to try and make the lessons very fun and incorporate lots of games and activities. I’m really enjoying the adult classes that I teach during the week. The class are really fun and they are so keen to learn which makes it really enjoyable to teach them. We do more of practising conversation and role playing.
During our days off, the volunteers go into the city and indulge in massages and manicures, as well as lots of shopping and eating! Last weekend, I did a 5 hour bike tour through the countryside which was really cool.
I have less than one week left here, and then I have 10 days off before my last volunteering stint. During my 10 day break, I’ll be going to Penang in Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, and then the Gili Islands and Bali so I’m pretty excited. My friend Sabina has decided to fly over from Sydney and join me for the 10 days so I’m even more excited about it! I haven’t seen her 10 months so it will be pretty amazing to see her again!
We had a couple of days off this week so a few of us headed into the city. We left here on Wednesday night and got the songthaew to the city. A songthaew is one of the common modes of transportation here. They are essentially covered pick-up trucks with benches in the back. They have no fixed route, you just flag one down, and tell the driver where you want to go and if he is heading in that direction, then he will take you. Each one can accommodate around 10 people inside, with a couple more people hanging off the back! They are pretty cheap, it was a 45 minute drive from here to the city and it cost us 16 baht each, around 32 pence.
We got to our guest house, and then headed out to the night market. I did a bit of shopping there, and then we got some dinner there followed with these yummy banana and nutella pancakes!
The next morning, I had to be up early as I had to go to the immigration office. I had been given a 30-day entry stamp when I arrived instead of 60 days as per my visa so I had to go and get that corrected. I got to the office and followed the crowd to a room where they were all queueing. A few men kept coming in and pushing in front of me which was pretty frustrating. After around 30 mins, an official came round and asked me what I was there for and I told him it was for a visa issue. He told me that I was waiting in the wrong place and I should be in the next office. He then announced to the room that I had been waiting in the wrong place and they all laughed!
I headed to the correct room, and it seemed so much more organised! We were given numbered tickets on arrival and just waited for our numbers to be called. It took almost 2 hours in total, but I got it sorted! I then headed back towards the guest house, went to get a manicure and pedicure, and then went for breakfast. There was an international restaurant opposite our guest house and they served a traditional English breakfast which I was pretty excited about!
Later that evening, we headed to a Khantoke show, which is a dinner with a performance of traditional Thai dancing. It was really fun! Here are some pictures of the show:
The next day, I went to a cooking class which was really fun! We were taking to a market where they explained the various ingredients used commonly in Thai cooking. We bought the ingredients we needed for the cooking. We then cooked a variety of dishes. I cooked Khao Soi (Chiang Mai Noodles) which is one of my favourite meals here, and then made a Penang Curry paste by combining the ingredients and then grinding them, and then made the Penang Curry using the paste. I then made some Pad Thai. I had actually missed cooking since leaving London! So I loved it! And everything tasted so good! Here are some pictures:
So I am now at the halfway point! It’s been 3 months since I left London, and I have 3 months left! It feels kinda strange. I do feel like so much has happened since I left. I’ve seen so much and experienced so much! It feels like a lot longer than 3 months! But also, I’m really not ready to start thinking about going back! Back to reality, getting a job, and getting back into the swing of things. 3 months is still quite a while though I guess!
The area we’re in here is such a nice, quiet, relaxing environment. We’re surrounded by green, and can see mountains in the distance! It’s beautiful! When we have had to go to the local shops or restaurant, we have been able to take the bikes out. They have a few bikes here for the girls, but we are free to use them while the girls are at school and my shortness makes them the perfect size for me! It was so weird the 1st time! I hadn’t ridden a bike in so long, probably not since I was 15/16 but they do say you never forget how to ride a bike which proved to be true! It brought back some memories though, I felt like I was 15 again! And with the roads being so quiet here, with the mountains in the distance, it felt pretty amazing!
Last week was pretty busy, we had a group of around 20 visiting students from a school in Australia who came for a few days, so we had to prepare activities for them to do with the girls. We have the same again this coming week with a different school.
I feel like I’m enjoying it here more and more every day as I get to know the girls more. They are so great! Some are just super sweet, others are loud, funny, and even sarcastic! And then there are some who are very quiet and it takes a while before they start talking to you. One of these is a girl called Ann. For the 1st couple of weeks I was here, she didn’t really say anything to me but she has become more chatty the last few days. We seem to have bonded over sharing the same name! And she asked me a few days ago if I can be her older sister! Sooo cute! I’m glad I’m here for a while, because it does seem to take a few weeks just to get to know the girls and for them to get to know you. These days, some of the girls will come to me for a hug, or the younger ones will want to sit on my knee or want me to give them a piggy back but it has taken a few weeks to get to that stage. Here are a few pictures of some of the girls. The 2nd and 3rd picture are of the girls singing an ‘Australian’ song to some of the visiting students from Australia!
