English camp on Ko Yao Noi

This weekend GVI teachers participated in an English Camp organized by Ao Luk’s Non-Formal Education Center. Early Saturday morning a group of nine staff and expedition members headed to Koh Yao, a beautiful island in the Andaman Sea off the coast of Phang-Nga. At the pier, they were whisked away by songthaew to a beautiful seaside community center where 52 students of the Non-Formal Education Center were awaiting their arrival. The students were put into three teams and spent the morning practicing questions and answers on personal information. Then the teams gathered together to decide their team names, create signs, and write their own cheers. In the afternoon, teams visited different stations doing activities about clothing, ordering food in a restaurant, and prepositions of place, all the while enjoying a gorgeous view of Phang-Nga Bay.

After they’d finished the afternoon activities, the teachers took a quick sojourn into town, followed by a stop at their cozy accommodations to rest and freshen up before the evening festivities. The teachers returned to the community center around six and enjoyed a wonderful meal and entertainment provided by the teachers of the Non-Formal Education Center. Throughout the evening, the three teams: Pink Butterfly, Shake Banana, and Tiger took turns performing their cheers. Team Shake Banana proved to be the winners. The long day of activities finished with a concert performed by Jack on guitar and vocals and Krit on drums.

The second day of English Camp began with an alphabet scavenger hunt, scouring the surrounding area for items starting with letters A-Z. Some students were clever enough to pop off to the market to get items and one team even brought back a live cat! The group was then divided in two with half the group playing ping-pong spelling and the other learning about directions and playing pin-the-tail on the donkey. For the final activity of the weekend all the students gathered together and played Words-in-a-Song, closing the weekend with a less-than-perfect rendition of John Denver’s “Take Me Home Country Roads”. After the closing ceremony, the group packed into songthaews and headed to the pier to catch the boat home.

Students and teachers stayed in home stays provided by Koh Yao’s community-based tourism network. The accommodations were lovely and throughout the weekend the group was treated to delicious food provided by the women of Koh Yao Home stays.

English camp on Ko Yao Noi