GVI Thailand's first Healthcare Project

Here follows a blog from Julia, one our first four volunteers to take part in the setting up of the healthcare project. From July 2012.

Today marks the second day of the implementation of the new Healthcare Project in Ao Luk. As a new project, it is open to a lot of interpretation, which is great in the way of flexibility, experimentation and maximising the use of any creativity anybody possesses. Of course, being brand new also does have a few downsides; this project is like a baby, so initially is feeling very high maintenance. We are spending most of our evenings working quite late on drawing, colouring and laminating posters; creating new games; updating lesson plans as we progress; and working on ways to minimise our English to effectively convey the health message. The healthcare team have been told not to feel like guinea pigs - "We are not prodding things at you and we're not making you do things you don't want to do!" - all of this is true. We have been labelled as pioneers of the new project. This is a much more comforting thought than the idea of guinea pigs!

The first day was a lot like a warm-up and we felt under prepared. However, we have been told it went better than we believe and we are just being our own worst critics. It gave us a much better idea of how the classes run and what sorts of things we would need to do. That first class played a huge role in helping us shape the second day. As a result, the second day ran much more smoothly, which gave a lot more confidence to the healthcare team, and a lot of laughter from staff and the students of the class.

A strong highlight in the day would be the practical component of the dental hygiene education. We took the children outside with brand new toothbrushes and some toothpaste, to apply the skills they had learnt in the classroom and show us how well they could brush their teeth. The healthcare team were also helping the children to brush their teeth, and sometimes brushing their teeth for them!

Julia McGennisken, Healthcare Volunteer, Thailand

GVI Thailand's first Healthcare Project