GVI Ao Luk – A Second Time Around

We were quite fortunate this expedition to have a GVI alumnus join us as an intern. Emma initially joined GVI as a volunteer in June 2008 and spent six months teaching in our lovely community. This expedition she gave Ao Luk a second go round – and we were so happy she did! Here is Emma’s take on her second term of duty:

 

‘When I reluctantly left Ao Luk in December 2008, it was tinged with sadness that I wouldn't be coming back to a beautiful part of Thailand and somewhere that had been "home" for 6 months of that year. However, I couldn't stay away for too long, and I had the opportunity to spend the last 10 weeks here and have thoroughly enjoyed my time teaching and helping out a great team as an intern.

 

During my first 5 weeks, I immersed myself in teaching two higher level classes a day to the local community, followed by a further two weeks of teaching a lower level class which has been very rewarding and enabled me to increase my confidence as a teacher of different levels and abilities.  The past few weeks, I involved myself in various administrative and office duties as required - one of the main tasks has been collating and inputting student and class information in a database to log the hundreds of students who have come through the GVI English teaching programme.  This will hopefully be of benefit to future teachers and assist in planning the programme for the future.  I have also had opportunity to coordinate many village projects, be involved in the transformation of the classrooms during the "construction project" weeks and assist the staff with base duties and the running of the GVI house.

 

This time, I have no future plans to return, but Ao Luk will always be in my heart. The local people are lovely, warm and friendly. Morning walks around the local park are a joy as you meet the school children on their way to school, happily waving and shouting "hello" as well as the many adult students that you meet as they go about their everyday jobs - be it as a taxi driver, market stall owner, policeman or housewife.

 

The teaching is a delight and always a positive experience.  The weekends spent at local seaside resorts in beautiful settings and living in a community with like-minded individuals who are all eager and motivated to make a difference teaching in the community during their time here, makes the whole combined experience one to remember for a long time.’

GVI Ao Luk – A Second Time Around