Teaching and Community Development projects in Thailand

Surviving the first week of Teaching Children!

2012-01-23T22:42:00.000-08:00

Kim teaching Thai students

Survived the first week of teaching! What an amazing week. Experiencing a new school nearly every day is both exciting and hard. We have taught all age groups and abilities. The children are beautiful, adorable and just love us 'farang' (foreigners). They are so appreciative of us being there and look at us like we are celebrities! It is tough sometimes not being able to properly communicate with them, but you soon learn ways to use body language to help understand each other. It is so rewarding when the children start to understand the words and sentences you are teaching them, especially as Thai children are dedicated workers. The staff treat you so well too, as they are so grateful of you being there. You get some amazing, if not slightly crazy lunches there!

After a very long first week, it was then weekend time! This weekend was kayaking, and staying in the tourist town of Ao Nang. Kayaking was incredible with the most breathtaking scenery possible, with some added comedy of me and Ro limboing under a tree because Liv and Caitlyn accidentally pushed us into low trees! Great fun :-) Ao Nang involved: sunbathing, Thai massage and pedicures; what a successful, immense first week.

Kim Shinedling,Teaching Children in Thailand, 4 week Volunteer

Thailand's 'English Speaking Year 2012'

2012-01-23T06:15:00.000-08:00

Did you know that 2012 has been designated 'English Speaking Year by the Thai government?

There was an interesting article in Sunday's Bangkok Post about the need for a non-traditional approach, new techniques and a break away from learning-by-rote, all things which we whole-heartedly support!

New year, new volunteer(s)! Arriving in Ao Luk

2012-01-18T01:59:00.000-08:00

The day that I finally arrive on the project in Ao Luk had been looming for some time now. I was completely beside myself with excitement as I boarded the plane. After a horror of a journey, an empty stomach and minimal sleep I was greeted, in typical GVI fashion, with enthusiasm and warmth.

I was anxious to meet the rest of the interns, volunteers and staff and when I finally did I realised that, as to be expected, they are all lovely. Slightly mad, with excitement over health and safety briefings, hilariously bad attempts at an English/Aussie accent, a very competitive and random ‘English pub styled’ quiz and hard-core aerobics lessons under the heat of the Thai sun. But lovely nonetheless!

Having already been a volunteer for GVI in South Africa and India, I had an extra insight into how it all works and the overall passion that is felt throughout each project. All of this only added to the enthusiasm that I felt and how eager I am to start working. I have a feeling that this is going to be a very unique and eventful time and I could not be more thrilled about it. So bring on the next 6 months and all it has in store…

Liv Walker, Teaching English Intern for 6 months in GVI in Ao Luk, Krabi

A new challenge for the interns after holiday madness

2012-01-11T20:45:00.000-08:00

After 10 weeks on base, completing their TEFL course, getting in some teaching practice and learning a few smooth Thai dancing moves, our interns spent their Christmas and New Year break exploring Thailand and the rest of South East Asia.

Some spent their time relaxing, taking it easy and seeing the sights; others ran a half marathon in Chiang Mai! Jon, Phil & Lana spent their Christmas day running to raise money for our Elephant Conservation project in Chiang Mai. The aim was to raise funds to rescue and elephant from working in tourism, where they are often badly treated, and return them to the forest. The funds raised will also contribute to covering the loss of earnings of the elephant's owner. You can still donate now! Visit Jon or Lana's fund raising pages to make a contribution.

After relaxing, or running, over their break, the interns are now all settled in their placements around the Krabi and Phang Nga provinces for the next 3 months. It's been a fairly eventful week for them all as they get used to their new surroundings; Lana's blog gives a great summation of her first few days in Koh Lanta and how she has embraced her new life!

Jon & Nathan, who are starting their placements on base in Ao Luk, are working hard to help prepare base for our new arrivals this Saturday 14th Jan. Thank you boys for all your hard work, particularly Jon who must still be hurting after his run :-)

Good luck to all our interns; we hope you enjoy your placements as much as we enjoyed having you around on base!

Dancing for the King's Birthday!

2011-12-07T06:59:00.000-08:00

Thai dancing for the King’s birthday (a huge celebration every 5th December here in Thailand - they love the King!) is probably the most exciting thing I have done since living in Ao Luk. When we were first shown our dance we were all quite worried... we had to perform this up on stage at the 3 day long Rak Ao Luk (Love Ao Luk) cultural festival on the opening night! Over the next two weeks somehow we all managed to find time to learn our individual dances, as well as the group dance at the end.

All Thai'd up

Finally, the day arrived and we all went down to the salon together to be dressed up, Thai style. It was busy, but the 4 stylists were absolutely amazing - the hairstylist must have completed each of us in less than 5 minutes! I was done up with a huge hair piece and a golden tiara - I felt and looked like a Thai Princess.

Lana and Phil wow the crowd

As we walked into the festival grounds we were greeted by many of our students, completely amazed by our transformations from plain school teachers to glamorous Thai-style dancers! We were all a bit nervous, but that obviously that did not stop us from putting on an awesome performance which ended in a huge applause from the crowd; on stage we were given a present from the festival and were all able to introduce ourselves.

The finale

Afterwards we set out to explore all that the festival had to offer. We are all pretty used to being the only farang (foreigners) around our town, but the reaction from everyone seeing us dressed in traditional Thai clothes was amazing - we felt like complete celebrities! I like to think of we were "tourist attractions"... we are tourists and we were an attraction. Everybody we ran into wanted to take pictures of us; it really made us feel accepted by the locals that we were willing to enjoy and participate in such a huge part of their culture.

Applause!

It was definitely an experience that I am glad I was given the opportunity to have, and one I will never forget.

Lana de Bastiani

Radio Days

2011-12-02T05:11:00.000-08:00

When opportunity knocks, you have to open the door and let him in. One of the first conversations you have here at GVI Thailand is if you get asked to do something by a student or staff member you should generally say ‘Yes!’. Last week I was asked if I could go and help teach some tour guides with TEFL Trainer Rachael, so I said ‘yes’ and we were picked up at 7:30 a.m. on Thursday 1^st December by Pierin, and taken to Khao Phanom.

Khao Phanom suffered a terrible mud slide in March this year which effected many businesses and families in the area. GVI helped digging out some of the buildings, among other things.

On arrival we were met by some of Pierin’s colleagues who initially gave us barbequed sticky rice with coconut, but once they discovered pom chob pet (I like spice), we were given noodles with curry sauce and a boiled egg.

Jon & Rachael with the hospitality students

Teaching the hospitality students was great fun; they were all really keen to learn about the common mistakes Thai people make when taking to farang (foreigners). After the lesson we were treated like rock stars, we must have had our photo taken at least 100 times - little did we know we were about to become stars of a radio show!!!!

Pierin, Rachael and Jon

We said our goodbyes and it was onto Pierin’s office to script our radio appearance. The normal questions to start the show: name, nationality and where we lived. A quick search of google gave me some interesting facts about Halesowen where I lived in the UK, the most important one being that Robert Plant went to my school.

Happy to be at Happy Radio!

Rachael gave a brief explanation about what GVI does in the community in Thailand and I got to field the questions on football. The main piece of the interview centered around our combined love of Thai food.

Radio stars!

Finally, in our 45 minute claim to fame we had to tell them our favourite Thai song. A big thumbs up from the DJ, Chai, when I responded with Job2Do and proceeded to sing the first line of the song – ‘Do do do do ter tam…’ It’s a huge hit here in Southern Thailand and with the GVI team at the moment.

Fame at last! Just waiting for my MTV awards invite for next year!

Jon Majumder

Teaching the Teacher

2011-11-28T05:11:00.000-08:00

GVI Ao Luk aims to provide regular Teacher Training workshops, funded by donations to the GVI Charitable Trust and providing local teachers with new tools and techniques, in an effort to improve the standard of English language teaching in local schools by. Here, our Teaching Children Co-ordinator, Apple, talks about the most recent workshop.

On 24^th November 2011, me, TEFL trainer Rachael and 8 volunteers (5 Teaching Children and 3 TEFLers) arrived the Rai Preda homestay and prepared for the start of our ‘Teaching the Teacher’ camp.

Teachers playing a game

24 local teachers from 18 different schools around Ao-Luk district came to join our camp. We started with finding out the things that they hoped to get from the camp; most of them wanted to learned more about games, songs, activities and techniques that they can use for their class, followed by information about GVI Thailand and our Teaching Children Project in Ao-Luk.

Body parts demo lesson

In the afternoon we put them in 4 groups and gave them training (‘inputs’)about drilling, lesson planning, games and activities and resources by working through 4 topics (body parts, everyday objects, classroom objects, clothing). After all inputs we let them make their own lesson plan for demo lesson.

Planning a lesson

On 25^thNovember, Lead TEFL trainer Steve and another 5 TEFLers came to join us for the demo lesson, started by one of our TEFLers, Phil, giving the demo lesson for the teachers, then the teachers did their demo lesson.

Giving a demo lesson

After each teacher had given their demo lessons they received feedback from the English speakers and gave their own feedback on the weekend in itself.

Teachers and volunteers all enjoyed themselves hugely, and we're looking forward to giving more English Teaching workshops in the future. To make a donation to contribute to the long-term sustainability of our work in Ao Luk, please visit the GVI Charitable Trust website.

Teachers and volunteers

Helping flood victims in Bangkok

2011-11-21T22:01:00.000-08:00

21^st November 2011

A month ago we sent care parcels to flood victims, using generous donations made through the GVI Charitable Trust. Last weekend, taking a more hands-on approach, eleven of us took a truck of supplies on the 14 hour journey north.

In Central Bangkok, with our load of over 3000litres of drinking water, rice, toiletries, basic medical supplies and pet food, we met up with a group of volunteers from the Ministry for Social Development and a group of university graduate friends volunteering their services.

They added another 1500 litres of water, fruit, vegetables, cooking oil, pre-cooked meals, 200 care parcels and a box of toys to our hoard, also bought with Charitable Trust donations. With their local knowledge our truck, piled high with supplies and now 25 volunteers, took the slow journey out to Phuttamonthon in the western outskirts of Bangkok.

Signs of the flooding quickly surrounded us; lines of cars parked along raised bridges, houses and businesses inundated and abandoned, makeshift shelters in the middle of the highway, boats being towed along high streets. The size of the clean-up operation that will be needed when the water finally subsides became clear.

Where buses could slowly get through they were packed with people trying to get on with their daily lives. In worse affected areas people clung to any vehicle able to pass through the waters, trying to collect supplies to take back to their still water-logged homes.

Moving further west, the waters crept ever higher and buses were quickly replaced by the taxi boats of entrepreneurial locals, until even our own intrepid truck driver said he couldn’t take us any further. Wading through the water, we transferred supplies to makeshift boats and piled in after them.

We delivered goods to a wat, or temple, that distributes much needed provisions to people still struggling to live in the local community, their homes waist deep in water with no access to basic supplies, clean water, fuel or electricity.

Word of our arrival quickly spread and boats surrounded the temple (along with rafts made of plastic bottles, washing tubs, polystyrene and anything else that would float!), as the head monk accepted

our offerings and gave each of us an amulet. Even the multiple cats and dogs living in the temple were grateful to see us, scratching at the pet food sacks until they were opened for them!

Afterwards we drove around the flooded streets giving out supplies as we went. Some locals hitching a ride told us that transportation is so difficult that very little support has been sent their way, with some areas receiving no help at all, and any stores that are open are all but empty.

Some had made the long journey through the stinking stagnant water to the main road, only to be rewarded with less than a litre of clean drinking water. They were all grateful that fact we were there and smiling faces greeted us all the way along our journey.

As the severity of the floods and the enormity of the clean-up task became apparent, one thing struck each of us: the incredible resilience, warm-heartedness, positivity and ingenuity of the Thai people. Their seemingly never-ending capacity to keep smiling is incredible and infectious, and has made a lasting impression on each one of us.

Further projects are planned to help with the massive job of cleaning up after the waters subside; to donate to this fund please visit our Just Giving site to donate in pounds, or our Global Giving site to donate in US dollars

Police academy

2011-11-16T21:10:00.000-08:00

16th November 2011

Monday saw the new term of TEFL classes starting in Ao Luk and an opportunity for our newly qualified teachers to take on their own classes. As tends to be the way of things here in Thailand, there were a few surprises in store, as TEFL teacher Jon Majumder explains....

First day of class for this new term was already causing me some feelings of trepidation, mainly because I had not taught at the centre for two weeks, following our 5 day break after finishing the TEFL course and a week of renovation work to the GVI base. We also taught a couple of the local schools; an experience that made me realise I needed to work on classroom management!

John teaching classes in a local school

So, first day of school arrives and it is a quiet start; only three students to begin with. The lesson’s going well and I can take my time. Then three new teenagers arrive – OK, so I’m not that far into the lesson and I start again. However, as soon as I start a boy walks out of class, followed by another. In the words of Mr T, it’s time to “Get some nuts!”. I challenge the two boys, do they want to be in the class or not? In the class or not? They come in and sit down. Result! The problem mushrooms and I end up with about 21 teenage boys who are taking part in Ao Luk Police’s ‘second change’ programme! After a few stern words from Apple (our native Thai speaker and a TEFL teacher) the lesson continues…

Roll onto the next morning and I find out that I am being allowed to teach them at the Police Station. Lots of preconceived ideas and prejudices come to mind, plus I find out that a few of them are gang members! Various thoughts run through my head – had I caused offence or made them ‘lose face’ (maintaining face being very important to Thais)? This could be potentially hazardous to my health!!

Practicing vocabulary with the new students

My lesson is planned and re-planned because I don’t want to play a slap game. A slap game is where you put up pictures of various objects, split students into teams and give the first student in each team a fly swatter; you call out the name of an object in one of the pictures and the first student to ‘slap’ the right picture wins a point. This is an extremely physical game with young children; with gang members – it could end badly!!!

Young offenders learn alongside the wives and children of police officers

The lesson begins and I am joined by not only the rehab students but some police officers' wives and children - in total 29 students. All my fears and prejudices amount to nothing and the class goes really well! I can’t explain it; it was just amazing and the buzz afterwards, EPIC!

Tonight – the slap game! Hold onto your hats!

Loykratong and a special opportunity

2011-11-15T18:06:00.000-08:00

On 10^th November GVI had the opportunity to participate in Ao Luk’s local festivities for one of Thailand’s biggest holidays – Loykratong!

Making our kratongs at the local library

Loykratong is a celebration of the end of the rainy season, where locals express their appreciation for the rain by making intricate and beautiful ‘kratongs’, or floats, made from the trunk of banana trees, banana leaves, flowers, incense and candles. A group of us went to Ao Luk library where local women showed us how to make our very own kratongs.

The finished kratongs!

As a GVI volunteer I had the privilege of participating in the annual competition for the title of ‘Miss Loykratong’. My preparations for the competition began early in the day, when Apple and Rachael (GVI staff and my unofficial translators), accompanied me to a local salon to have my hair and make up done in traditional Thai-style.

Taylor (far left) and the other Miss Loykratong contestants

That night, along with twelve other exquisitely beautiful ‘suuwai’ (Thai women), I walked onto the stage and performed multiple ‘wais’ (a sign of respect made by placing palms together at the chest and bowing the head). The six judges and hundreds of local Thai people all wore mixed expressions of fascination and appreciation that a ‘farang’ (foreigner) would make the effort to understand Thai culture and practices.

Taylor waiing the crowd

Despite the many approving shouts for “Number eight!!” (me) I unfortunately did not go through to the next round. However, I was extremely grateful for the experience and that support that the local community gives to the teachers and volunteers of GVI.

Setting kratongs afloat

After the competition we all joined together at the river, lit candles and incense and silently and respectfully placed our kratongs in the river, making wishes for a new beginning. We all then walked into the vast open field, lit large paper lanterns and lifted them into the dark and allusive night.

Paper lanterns

Taylor Moyes

Shortage of English teachers in Thailand

2011-11-14T18:58:00.000-08:00

An interesting article about the shortage of trained English teachers in Thailand, particularly Phuket. To ease the shortage, the Thai governement have begun to relax visa requirements for trained foreigners applying to come to Thailand to teach English.

Read more here:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/512242-phuket-schools-relax-rules-for-hiring-english-teachers/

The first day of school...

2011-11-04T10:18:00.000-07:00

2nd November 2011

Today was the first day of school for my team; we were a team of three and headed to the school Ban Klong Hin. When we arrived there we were all really nervous; it brought back memories of the first day of school as a child. The children at the school were all very happy, excited, and eager to get started learning English. The first class that we taught went as expected - we went over names and numbers with them. The second class was more advanced and presented a challenge for our team. Overall, I was really impressed with the level of English and felt that GVI was really making a difference in the school. Thankfully we were in a team of three and with the help of my team we were able to review and teach the advanced children new games and new English words.

Erika, Virginie & Richard with some happy students!

As our day continued the levels of the children went up and down in skill level. My team was made up of Virginie, Richard, and myself . We each took turns being creative and coming up with new ideas and games to play according to each classes skill level. At the end of the day we were exhausted and all of the children were happily repeating to us the new words that they had learned over the course of the day. It was very rewarding to see all of the kids so happy and wanting pictures with their new teachers. I think my whole team would agree that day one was a success!

Erika Kilgore

'Teaching Children' volunteers arrive in Ao Luk!

2011-11-03T10:02:00.000-07:00

30th October 2011

In the lobby hall of the Thai hotel the new ‘Teaching Children’ volunteers finally got to meet each other for the first time; with us all making our way from different countries and experiences we had a lot to talk about. Our ‘Teaching Children’ leader, Apple, was there to meet us for the ride to our base in Ao Luk which we would be calling home for the next 2 to 6 weeks. Upon arrival on base the TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) guys were just leaving for their long weekend in Phuket, returning to base in 5 days (just enough time for us to settle into base camp life!). We met our project manager, Jax, who gave us a tour of the base whilst understanding that we were tired, jet lagged and a bit nervous at first.

Isabelle, Virginie, Elise, Erika, Taylor, John, Apple, Richard and Laura

The first meal we had on base was just a taste of things to come; home cooked Thai food was on the menu, yummy! We found our bed in the dorm and took some time to unpack the basics, then we headed off to the national park which was just a 5 minute walk down the road. There we were surrounded by a picturesque network of waterfalls and some of us had the bottle to jump in and take a refreshing dip. On our return to base we took some time to get to know our group members and enjoyed another wonderful Thai feast. For some of us it was early to bed to get some well earned rest, though a couple found their way to the local karaoke bar accompanied by a stray TEFL intern who had stayed at base.

Laura Bishop

Parting words from a GVI TEFL graduate..

2011-11-02T07:22:00.000-07:00

28th October 2011

Thanks to Sarah Cooper a.k.a. 'Seeerah!' for these lovely words - we'll miss you! Big thanks and fond farewells to Sarah, Steff & Coen for all their hard work...

Sawadee Kah!

Well, it is coming to the end of my last week, and the last week of class for the term, so I thought I would share a few parting thoughts.

Last night was the final TEFL class for this term. All of our students received their attendance certificates, as the teachers looked on proudly. We were all so impressed by the progress of our students over the term, and in celebrating their achievements felt honoured by the fact that we were able to help them in a way that meant so much to them. Not to mention the paparazzi! I am pretty sure I experienced momentary epilepsy!

For anyone considering joining a program such as this, I would say “just go for it!” My four weeks with GVI Thailand has been one of the greatest experiences and steepest learning curves in my life.

I came to the program thinking “How am I going to teach these people when I can not speak a word of Thai?!”. I now leave with a bag full of tricks - skills, activities, games, strategies and ideas for teaching English as a foreign language.

This program is so amazing because you get to see both sides of Thailand. Living in Ao Luk affords you the privilege of being the only group of foreigners living in the town. As a result of this you experience “real” Thailand. You get a taste of the Thai way of life, you can try some delicious Thai cuisine, you have the opportunity to attend events you normally would not get the chance to see (Thai wedding celebrations, Buddhist prayer ceremonies), and most importantly, you get to meet, communicate and form friendships with many of the Thai locals.

Over my four weeks I have developed a great respect and a bit of a soft spot for the Ao Luk locals. I have found them to be friendly, generous, and very supportive of GVI’s mission.

On the flip side, you also get to experience the beauty and wonderment that is Thailand. I have visited many tourist locations such as Ao Nang, Railay and Koh Phi Phi. It has been great to have that balance.

I would like to congratulate the team on achieving their TEFL qualifications - yey! We did it! I am sure everyone would agree when I say we could not have done it without the help and support from our trainers Steve and Rachael. Thanks guys! Thank you also to the rest of the staff on base, without our staff team this place would turn into a circus (well, more of a circus).

As my last day draws closer I feel excited and sad. Excited at the thought of regaining the luxuries of life – air conditioning, running hot showers (with pressure!), a microwave, cheese and milk! Sad that I have to leave my new home, new friends, and my lovely students.

Bye everyone! Come and visit me down under!

The Aussie

P.s - Steve, it is put another prawn on the barbie!

If you'd like to donate to our fund to support victims of the floods across Thailand visit here to donate pounds or here to donate in US dollars - watch this space for updates, coming soon!

If you like what you read click on the button on the left panel to become a fan and receive regular updates

Supporting victims of the floods in Thailand - an incredible response!

2011-10-31T06:18:00.000-07:00

31st October 2011

Last week the team here at Ao Luk started putting to good use the generous donations so far received to help victims of the floods across Thailand. Whilst buying supplies for care parcels to send to vicitms of the floods Apple & Jax were met with further kind-heartedness, as the local shop owners in Krabi Town piled in extra supplies for free and huge gave us discounts, enabling us to put even more of the donations towards helping those in need.

Jax & Apple with the generous shop owners in Krabi Town

We packed parcels for babies, children, men and women, including vital supplies - such as uinderwear, blankets, and sanitary products - to send to one of the many temporary shelters housing evacuees north of Bangkok.

Parcels were separated to provide supplies needed to children, babies, men and women

The parcels were sent to give valuable and immediate assistance to people living in a state of limbo, as some come to terms with losing everything and others wait to see if they have been lucky enough to escape the worst of the damage.

Parcels packed and ready to go

When our original plan for transporting the parcels north fell through we were devastated to think all the donations & work might have been for nothing. Once again, the kindness and generosity of the Thai people shone through, as a local man who had heard what we were doing offered his help and delivered the parcels on our behalf.

The volunteers at GVI in Ao Luk with the prepared parcels awaiting delivery

At the time we were organising these parcels, less than a week ago, we had raised somewhere around the region of US$1500, which we were very pleased with.

As I write the current amount raised now stands at a truly incredible US$25,373, and is still rising. This is utterly astonishing and we would like to thank everyone who has donated.

Current reports are that - despite the high tides - central Bangkok has managed to escape the worst of the flooding, but many areas in the north & west of Bangkok are still suffering badly. Outside of the capital and further away from the media spotlight, many areas have already been suffering for weeks or months already.

As the flood waters finally - hopefully - begin to subside there will be a huge amount of work to do to rebuild homes and infrastructure and to begin restoring a sense of normality to thousands of people across Thailand. We will be working tirelessly over the following weeks and months to ensure that the generous donations received get to those who need it most, and help them to rebuild their lives.

To make a donation please visit our UK site or our US site

Once again, a huge thank you to everyone who has donated so far!

Taking a dip in the Emerald Pool

2011-10-31T00:46:00.000-07:00

22nd October 2011

Last Saturday six long term interns went on the side trip to the Emerald Pool and the hot springs, both located in the Klong Thom district of Krabi, a mere 1.5 hour drive from Ao Luk.

After being half-unknowingly snapped by the Emerald Pool photographer, we embarked on a 15 minute stroll through the national park, down a path with tall trees. Emerald coloured water then appeared on either side of the wooden walkway, and soon we were faced by the clear pool of, yes you guessed it, emerald water, located deep in a native forest.

The pool was beautiful and crystal clear, with big, delicate butterflies swooping through the trees. Everyone enjoyed the tranquil atmosphere, and after a long dip we walked back to the entrance where we collected plaques with our surprised faces on them, and had some tasty snacks; bananas and sweet potatoes fried in sesame seed batter, as well as an assortment of meatballs with sweet chilli sauce.

The Hot Springs were just a short drive away, and after another stroll we reached the wooden plaque at the springs, and I quote,

‘Bang Kram of Krabi houses the last lower plain land that provides water source and wildlife’s habitation. Its ecology system maintains natural fertility. The hot spring also available in the area that flows along the mountain line cascading through the land like a waterfall. The temperature of the hot spring is around 40-42 degrees Celcius that is good for health.’

We climbed into one of the numerous pools nestled in the trees and it felt much like sitting in a naturally formed hot tub. The water bubbled down into a cool river at the bottom; perfect for a refreshing (if not a little murky) dip!

Making a difference: A student's perspective

2011-10-19T23:45:00.000-07:00

Peeraya Chaiwiset began studying with GVI in 2008. Now 20 years old, she was recently awarded a full scholarship to university and studies English education at Rajabhat University. Only 12 people are awarded this scholarship a year; Peeraya came second in the interviews to obtain this honour.

I wanted to speak English fluently because I want to be an English teacher. In school, English was my favourite subject and I wanted to be able to have friends from all over the world. When I heard about GVI I thought it would be a good way to learn how to speak but it also helped me make friends from all over the world.

The classes were very fun and enjoyable. Most Thai people worry about grammar as we don’t know how to use all the English grammar. GVI classes had some grammar but were mostly focused on letting us speak which made them fun and good practice.

The GVI classes helped me with my speaking and writing skills. I can speak English because GVI taught me and gave me the confidence to talk to foreigners. The teaching style is different to how my school taught me and it helped me see a new way of teaching for the future.

I hope to be an English teacher in Thailand and to go to the north to teach children. I want to do this because children in the north do not have the money to attend English classes themselves. I dream big because GVI helped me speak and helped me a lot.

An awesome story, I think you'll agree!

Don't forget to visit, and post links to, our page to raise funds to send supplies to flood victims in central Thailand. Flood waters are expected to continue to rise over the coming week, forcing more people from their homes.

Business as usual (well, as usual as it gets :-)

2011-10-18T03:46:00.000-07:00

Hello all! A quick message to let you all know that GVI Ao Luk is still very much up and running as we have been lucky enough to have so far avoided the recent flooding in Thailand.

For anyone heading out to us in the near future, you may need to factor in a bit more time for travel, though most tourist locations have been spared so you may not even see signs of the flooding.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand is keeping their site up to date with flood information here: http://www.thailandtourismupdate.com/Home

This map shows the areas most affected: http://www.thailandtourismupdate.com/LocationAlertsDetail/55/194/Flood-Situation

Although we have escaped the floods many others have not been so fortunate; we are aiming to help victims of the flood by providing vital support and supplies to them. Please help us to do so by visiting our website and giving whatever you can so we can help people get back on their feet.

Cleaning up in Ao Nam!

2011-10-16T17:42:00.001-07:00

16th October 2011

Last Friday we all took part in our weekly village project, where we go and help out a local community; this week it we headed to nearby Ao Nam.

The drive there took about 20 minutes and when we arrived we were met by the most beautiful scenery - a white sandy beach with glistening blue water. To one end were some small wooden fishing boats and some trees growing into the water, to the other end great nig limestone cliffs towered over the beach.

However, as we walked closer to the beach we saw litter sprawled across the sand, especially under the coconut trees. This is the reson we were here, to help clean up the beach.

It was hard work filling up bin bags in the mid-morning heat, but we managed to fill at least 20! There were many strange items we came across, such as half a flip flop, bags filled with sand, lots of bottles - both glass and plastic - and a huge amount of polystyrene (styrofoam for you guys Stateside).

After we had collected all we could, we had a picnic and some of us dived into the crystal water to cool off, before we headed back to Ao Luk.

Meghan Palopoli

Don't forget! We're raising fund to buy urgently needed supplies to victims of the recent floods across Thailand - please give generously and share this link www.justgiving.com/thailand-floods
Thank you :-)

Sawatdee Ka-yak

2011-10-12T00:13:00.000-07:00

9th October 2011

Last weekend we had our first group side trip - kayaking! Side trips usually take place on Saturday morning, giving us plenty of time to make the most of the rest of the weekend – it’s also the coolest part of the day.

Merlin & Sarah get their kayak on

We took a song thaew to Bor Thor, stopping along the way for a quick breakfast of fresh waffles! When we arrived we were surrounded by limestone mountains, as you are anywhere you go in Ao Luk. The highlight of this trip was not just kayaking through the mangroves - the guides took us in and out of caverns in the limestone.

Kayaking through the limestone caverns

At some points we were led into dark caves with stalagmites and low ceilings that opened into the most magnificent lagoons enclosed by jungle covered limestone cliffs – probably the most beautiful sights I’ve ever seen.

The lagoon in Thanbok Koranee

We were guided through 3 separate caves, and at the last cave we tied up our kayaks and ascended on foot into the infamous Tham Phi Hua To - ‘Big Headed Ghost’ or ‘Big Skull Devil’ Cave. This is Ao Luk’s claim to fame; it is thought to have been an ancient burial site, due to the several abnormally large human skulls (hence the name) which were found here. On the walls of the cave over 100 ancient cave paintings were found – one of which has become the mascot of Ao Luk, depicted in statues and pictures throughout the town. We wandered through the cave taking pictures and by the time we arrived back at the kayaking drop spot we had worked up a huge appetite.

The Big Headed Ghost of Ao Luk

A seafood lunch (with accommodations made for vegetarians) was served in a floating restaurant on the dock; it was some of the best food we’ve had in Thailand thus far – a perfect way to satisfy our appetites!

Limestone mountain at Bor Thor

We all loaded back into the song thaew and headed back to base, where we prepared to head out again and spend our first Saturday night in nearby Ao Nang…but that’s another story…

Katie Daly

Also this week in Ao Luk we've started a new project for GVI's Charitable Trust. As you may have heard, there have been devastating floods across huge areas of Thailand, affecting millions of people. We are raising funds to help support people in a temporary shelter in Pathum Thani, north of Bangkok. Please visit our website to find out more and help us provide urgently needed supplies - thank you.

Donate to help flood victims in Thailand

2011-10-11T05:59:00.000-07:00

Earlier this year we ran a campaign raising funds to help victims of floods which devastated our very own Krabi province. Through your donations we were able to provide real help to people affected by the floods and help them get back on their feet.

Now, after more than two months of heavy rain across Thailand, an estimated 8.2 million people are being affected by the worse flooding the country has seen for fifty years. Flooding and mudslides are affecting 60 out of 77 provinces, half of which are completely inundated. Bangkok itself, only 2 metres above sea level, is under threat as heavy rain continues, run-off from flooding in the north pours down country and high tide levels approach. With fears rising that the worst is yet to come, we're asking for your help again.

In Pathum Thani province, north of Bangkok, Thammasat University is being used as a temporary shelter for people who have lost or been evacuated from their homes. As of 11th October there are 1600 evacuees being housed there, although the maximum capacity of 2000 people is expected to be reached within a day or two as evacuation continues.

Many arriving at the university have lost, or been forced to abandon, all their belongings and are in urgent need of basic essential items, such as bedding, clothing and sanitary products.

We aim to support flood victims and help them to get back on their feet. Through your donations we can provide essential items and give some comfort to people in their time of need, helping maintain some sense of normality as they look to rebuild their lives.

Please donate whatever you can here, whether it's five pounds, fifty dollars, five hundred euro or five thousand baht, whatever you can spare, every little helps - and spread the word by sharing this blog.

Thank you for your support and watch this space for updates

Oh look, we're in Ao Luk!

2011-10-09T06:42:00.001-07:00

9th October 2011

We were pleasantly greeted on time by the GVI staff on the first day of the project (even with the chaos of vegetarian festival currently taking place) and they were even kind enough to wait for the few volunteers whose alarms did not wake them up.

Celebrations at the Vegetarian Festival

I was surprised at the amount of volunteers - 13 of us total! The staff answered every question we had and after one introduction they immediately knew who we were and were able to recall information that was submitted before arrival. They expressed empathy for each volunteers’ various situations (we have volunteers from almost every continent) and listened to our opinions and first impressions of the country. Once we were all ready we loaded the luggage into a song thaew, a vehicle commonly used in Thailand; it can best described as a pickup truck with an enclosed bed with two benches on either side. We loaded into the vans and made our way to Ao Luk, where the GVI base is located, about 35 minutes from Krabi Town.

Buddhist temple, Ao Luk

Along the way to the base the staff gave us more information about Thai culture and geography. Staff member Rachael pointed out landmarks along the way, told us the term in Thai and give us a bit of history. She also told us that it had been continuously raining for the past several days in Ao Luk, which should be expected as it is still the rainy season. When we were picked up in Krabi Town the sun was shining and the skies were clear, but as soon as we further from the city it really started to come down…

National Park

Ao Luk is a small but rapidly growing region. One of the town’s future hopes is to increase farang (foreign) tourism to the area. I’d like to think of Ao Luk as a little hidden gem; it looks rough from the outside but once you become familiar with the area you can see it’s true but unrecognized beauty. There are several national parks (walking distance from base) which have the most amazing foliage and forestry I have ever experienced - it really is picturesque. Another nice quality about Ao Luk is its location; it’s only a short ride from Krabi, which is a major jump off point to many of Thailand’s infamous and lesser known destinations, such as Phuket, Railay and Phi Phi, where the film The Beach was shot.

Although I have only been in Thailand for a week I can already anticipate the amazing experiences that will be had and the lifelong friendships to be made.

Our lovely group!

Katie Daly

2011-09-07T02:07:00.000-07:00

Nicola Lawler is one of our 10week TEFL volunteers. After completing her TEFL with GVI in July Nicola stayed on to help with construction and then teach her own Level 5 class.

"After qualifying as a TEFL teacher I was told I was going to be teaching the level 5 students. This was quite daunting for me as my only experience was in teaching level 1s.

Planning for the level 5 class was a complete contrast to the level 1's. When teaching the lower levels you tend to use a lot of visual resources and speak in simple sentences. Teaching level 5 is much less visually orientated and focuses more on in depth conversation.

My level 5's like me to teach them about everyday life. I like to teach them subjects that are relevant to everyday conversation that may develop their understanding of current affairs, taboos and popular social topics.

I tend to plan my classes in two different formats. I sometimes give them a formal lesson on particular subjects like Food and Drink From Around the World, Drugs and Alcohol, Mental Health, Physical Health and The Earth and the Solar System. These lessons require a lot of research on my part. In this instance, students will tend to take in a lot of technical vocabulary.

The other kind of lesson I teach is where I pick out a few popular debate subjects such as human cloning and hunting and just get the students to discuss these subjects freely. Anytime a word comes up that they are unfamiliar with, I put it up and the board. In this instance, they get a chance to really push their conversation skills.

This class really enjoy games. Games adults can really enjoy such as Pictionary, Quiz's, 20 Questions and Who Wants to be a Millionaire?. It's a great way to test what they have learnt and get them revved up for the class ahead.

I really loved teaching my level 5's. At this level the personalities of the students really shine through and you get to have a bit of banter and a real laugh. They are a funny bunch and I have had such a good time teaching them."

Megan's Story

2011-09-01T05:53:00.000-07:00

18year old Megan is one of our newest Teaching Children Volunteer. After travelling for the last 2 months Megan decided to stop off in Thailand on her way back to Perth, Australia. Here is her story....

"I'm into my third week at base out of four and I am starting to really get used to living at base and in Thailand(I'm even starting to get used to cold showers!!). "
"So far I have really enjoyed my experience here, in the week teaching is full on and exhausting but it is so worth it. The kids are so cute and friendly and just excited all the time. It's been awesome to be able to see a bit of the Thai culture- How they live and what their schools are like."
"The weekends have been amazing aswell. The first weekend a group of us headed to Phi Phi- we were all really lucky to have beautiful beach weather - crystal clear blue skies! However the cocktails on Phi Phi were lethal so travellers beware!!!"
"The second weekend we went to Ao Nang where it was down-pouring non stop but we made the best of it and had a good laugh. We all went snorkelling and elephant trekking. The snorkelling was amazing!!"
"Another highlight of this trip has been the Pancakes (or roti as they call it here in Thailand) especially with Sarah. This weekends trip is yet to be decided but it will be good no matter what we do."
"Can't believe there are only 6days left of teaching over here. The whole month has gone so fast!!"

Well done Megan on being a fantastic volunteer this past month!!!

A typical day @G.V.I Thailand

2011-08-23T06:42:00.000-07:00

8:00AM and as per usual you're awoken to a disembodied voice screaming "BREAKFAST!!". Roll out of bed and you start your day.

After grabbing some food prepared by whoever was on cooking that morning, it's time to do a quick morning base clean. Bathroom and Bins get cleaned out, Resource Lounge is swept of dirt, Previous nights lessons plans are filed away (Hopefully to their correct place...) and then it's time for the Teaching Children volunteers to hit the road.

The T.C's are out in the local schools from 9-3.30. A normal day for most T.C'S involves playing an assortment of games, being drawn on and being forced to write their names and signatures for EVERY student that surrounds them- Oh yeah and maybe doing some english lessons in between.

While all this is happening to the T.C's, T.E.F.L volunteers are sitting down in the input area. Their day consists of training, listening to teaching experiences from both staff and their trainers, feedback on the previous nights lessons, both highlights and pitfalls and more lesson planning for the upcoming nights lesson. Resources are gathered, plans are made /scrapped /edited and acted out with their fellow T.E.F.L volunteers.

If you're lucky there's a chance to cool off and relax with a dip in one of Than Bok Khorani's, the local national park, numerous swimming holes.

T.C'S arrive back with stories of their school day usually looking exhausted but exhilarated. Quick catch up and this time it's the TEFL'ers that ahve to hit the road for their own evening classes.

By 9pm everyone is safely back on base and it's time for some well deserved rest and relaxation. Games, movies, general chit-chat or a quick drink all brings the day to a casual end- Quick sleep and then it's time to do it all over again!!!!

Construction Project in Ban Klang!

2011-08-15T22:17:00.000-07:00

A group of about 15 of us arrived at Prakothaban school. Before we began our work the director gave us a tour of the whole school.

In this school there is approximately 150-200 girls and about 100 boys who all reside on the school grounds. The girls dormitory was the first area that we were shown. The girls stay in a very small room with broken fans and sleep on wooden floors with very limited to no padding. The boys also have dormitories with slightly better conditions, but share one Thai bath that has no covering to keep it clear of the outside elements.

Many of the classrooms had walls covered in filth and several of the desks were no longer in a working condition. In a 2 week period the construction team at GVI was able to fix fans, paint classrooms, repair desks, tile floors, repair walls of dorms, build a cover for the boys bath, build a roof over the boys bathrooms, repair some of plumbing, repair the areas for the children to sit at, and involve the students for a major rubbish clean up.

I unfortunately was not a part of the construction project throughout the entire process due to teaching responsibilities, but I found it absolutely amazing to see the hard work and dedication that this team of volunteers had. It is a great feeling to be able to provide these students with an improved learning environment and to see a group of people come together for the common good of a culture so vastly different than their own.

Written by: Sarah Beck

Kayaking in Bor Thor Side Trip

2011-08-10T21:25:00.000-07:00

On Saturday the GVI Thailand Construction Crew got their first chance to explore Ao Luk. On a beautifully clear day we loaded up Noi's Songthaew and headed off to Bor Thor for some Kayaking and a sea-food lunch.

The Aussies immediately took the lead attempting to crown themselves as the new Steve Irwin's of Thailand. The boys fumbled ahead with Michael seeming to do the most out of them and Eddie directing them into river banks and overhanging Mangroves to look at mudskippers and whatever other creepy crawlies caught his attention!!

Team TC were also having some issues with their stroke synchronisation with Sarah definitely looking the more exhausted of the two at the end- Although as Caroline pointed out it was pretty HOT to be doing extreme exercise.

We went into two Beautiful caves and saw the mermaid rock formation and pre-historic paintings of Ao Luk's Big Headed Ghost. Up to the wonderful viewpoint which gives you a panoramic view of the mangrove plantations all around Laem Sak and Bor Thor and then it was on to the Lagoon.

A beautiful relaxing pool of water surrounded by limestone Karsts was the perfect end to this wonderful day. but once our tour guide gave the cue to lunch it was one last sprint to the restaurant

A delicious lunch of battered, deep fried prawns, fish and pineapple curry, cashew chicken and fried rice, was wolfed down with gusto. Feeling thoroughly satisfied, we headed home.

Emerald Pool and Hot Springs Side Trip

2011-08-10T20:52:00.000-07:00

Hosting such a large number of volunteers can get a bit stressful so this weekend we all decided to take a break by hitting up the spectacular sights of the Emerald Pool and Hot Springs. We set off pretty early for the hour and a bit drive to our first destination of the day, splitting the group in two vans- one dealing with TC co-ordinator Apple and one with new staff member Rachael and her poor choice of music!

After suffering through 2runs of Taylor Swift music we finally arrived at our first destination Emerald Pool. A short stroll through a beautiful woodland scenery and listening to tales of swedish Johns shooting experience we came upon the Emerald Pool.

We all hurried to change out of our clothes and into our swim gear and dive into the crystal clear water that numerous locals were enjoying. Some quick splashes and we quickly had a full on water fight happening. Shoulder wars and attempted backflips led to some bruises and alot of Bellyflops and laughs.

But pretty soon the hunger pangs started setting in so it was on to our next destination for a quick lunch and then relaxing at the hot springs. The lunch was an experience. With many of our volunteers hoping to try authentic Thai dishes the food ranged from the usual spice to Hiccough inducing sweat food! Poor Australian Tom had to take a couple minutes to regroup.

As a little rain started pouring down upon us(It is Rainy Season after all!!) we quickly ran for the Hot springs. Formed into cavernous baths crashing down a waterfall the hot springs really do live up to their names. The water was hotter than expected and took a quick few minutes to really relax into-Hey we're used to cold showers nowadays! But once we settled in it was pure RELAXATION...

All in all exactly what was called for after a long week at GVI Thailand!

Construction Project in Ban Klang!

2011-08-02T18:44:00.000-07:00

This week six new volunteers arrived specifically to help with a construction project. Combined with the longer-term TEFL volunteers and a few Teaching Children volunteers about 15 people have been travelling 20 minutes to a Muslim school in Ban Klang which does not receive government funding. Copious jobs include everything from painting, desk-fixing, tiling, cleaning, plumbing and more. Luckily, the construction volunteers arrived with a variety of useful skills- plumbering, construction management, architecture, and previous experience building and fixing things in general.
Here is a photo of the construction project that took place last year at this time at a different nearby Muslim school.

Check back soon for photos of our progress on this project!

A Day in the Life of a Teaching Children/BTEC Volunteer in Thailand

2011-07-24T18:31:00.000-07:00

It’s either the buzz of someone else’s alarm or the banging of pots and pans in the kitchen that signifies it’s time to get up in the morning. Communal living comes at a cost: it means waiting for a bathroom to be open while getting dressed in appropriate teaching clothes for the day. For girls, this means long skirts or pants and a collared shirt; for boys, smart casual pants and a collared shirt as well. After eating breakfast and gathering up the teaching materials for the day, teachers get in the school cars and head off to school.

Depending on the school, classes are either taught in one hour periods or multiple grades are grouped together for a few hours each morning and afternoon. We teach in groups of 2 or 3 depending on schedules and this helps with preparation and sharing teaching ideas and feedback. The grades 1-3 always work on basic English concepts, such as the alphabet, colors, and simple conversations. Older children can usually grasp more difficult topics such as prepositions and many new vocabulary words such as those about kitchen objects. Almost all of the schools have fans, not AC, so the conservative dress code becomes uncomfortable as the sun reaches its zenith! Children often come up to the teachers during breaks to ask for high fives, handshakes, and signatures. While it can be a struggle to maintain control of unruly children who don’t always understand words like “sit down” or “listen”, often teaching is rewarding through the children’s obvious delight in teaching games such as variations of “duck duck goose” with new vocab words. Come lunch time, teachers either eat authentic Thai lunches in the teachers’ lounge or are taken out for lunch by the director of the school. Classes usually begin around 9:30am and end around 3:30 pm, by which time everyone is exhausted.

Coming back to base, chores are done (cleaning outside, the lounge, bathrooms/trash, or dinner prepared/cleaned up) and some brief rest is taken. At 5pm every day, teaching children volunteers have a meeting to talk about their experience at their schools and often try to puzzle out interesting Thai customs they’ve been exposed to (when to take off your shoes when entering a room as a teacher, etc). This time the teaching children volunteers people interact with the TEFL volunteers who leave shortly after dinner to teach their own classes that day. Next, there is a bit of downtime to relax or explore Ao Luk. When the TEFL volunteers return from their evening classes, the whole group organises an evening activity (often a movie night, a quiz or a big group conversation outside in the bamboo huts) before bed.

Up and Coming Projects!

2011-07-19T09:00:00.000-07:00

GVI Ao Luk is always busy! We have quite a number of exciting events and projects coming up in the next month. Firstly, our weekly village project this Friday will be held in Krabi Town at a primary school located near the pier. TEFL volunteers will take turns teaching children different topics such as directions, body parts and animals. Check back to our blog next week for photos and more on this soon-to-happen village project.

Next, we have approxomately 4 new volunteers arriving to help specifically with a construction project. The construction volunteers, with the aid of our longer-term TEFL volunteers, will travel to a Muslim school in order to spruce up their classrooms and dorms. Check out some photos of the construction project from last year which also occured at a Muslim school.

Visit us again here for more details from this past week!

New Term Coming Up

2011-06-24T00:44:00.000-07:00

GVI Ao Luk is getting ready to welcome new volunteers for the start of July. We will be welcoming volunteers on 2 different projects:

1 - Teaching Children in local schools around Ao Luk

2 - TEFL training and teaching at the adult education centre

Please visit us soon to see how they get on in their first weeks.

June Graduation at the Non-Formal Education Centre

2011-06-10T21:31:00.000-07:00

On Thursday 9th June, 29 students received certificates for their hard work this term. Adults and children of Ao Luk community have been studying for the last 4 weeks and those who have attended over 20 hours of the 24 hour course were rewarded with a GVI certificate of merit.

GVI runs 5 different levels from beginner to intermediate and has been impressed by the standard of teaching this term - a huge thank you to volunteers Katherine, Jamie, John, Ben and Rachael for all their hard work!

And of course it would have been possible to teach this term without our wonderful TEFL trainer Leila :)

Great job all round guys!

Tiger Temple Side Trip

2011-06-06T02:07:00.000-07:00

Tiger Temple. 1237 steps. It doesn’t sound like a lot unless you’ve been dancing til the wee hours of the morning just 120 minutes prior for a Glaswegian volunteer’s birthday party. After arriving at the temple at 6 a.m (I know right), me and about 10 other GVI’ers began the ascent and set about destroying our calf muscles. After taking breaks every 20 steps for the hour long climb, we finally reached the top and were given a warm welcome by a family of monkeys. When I say ‘warm welcome’, I do of course actually mean that they proceeded to scream at us, scratch at our ankles, I believe Charlie actually got bitch-slapped and a friend of Georgia’s from back home had his beer taxed by the behaviorally challenged host of primates. About 30 minutes after the monkeys had segregated us to a corner at the top of the temple, they suddenly took off altogether.

Totally unfazed and unquestioning as we were, we took the opportunity to have one last photo of the group together. It became clear very quickly why the monkeys had disappeared as the sky turned black… and the locust swarm struck!!! 5 minutes of mayhem ensued as we ran screaming all over the shop, screaming ‘Why!’ to the sky as we frantically pondered what we’d done to deserve a plague of such biblical proportions (it turned out some of us had left our shoes on when it clearly said to take them off. Sorry Buddha). When the sky was clear once more we headed down the steps we’d grown to hate so passionately, met the funkiest monk ever, bought some ice cream, crashed out on the floor and began our journey to meet the last Teaching Children volunteer, some Irish gypsy girl named Mary or Heather or something. All in all, a pretty cool day.

Written by the one and only 6 month intern John Boulton

Neil's Intern Story

2011-06-04T21:35:00.000-07:00

As I get ready to depart after nearly six months in Thailand I would like to take a moment to reflect on (really has it really been almost six months already) my time volunteering at GVI Thailand Ao Luk. I arrived on January the 6^th at Krabi airport to be met by Leila and no luggage (was I really a contestant on Big Brother Thailand and nobody told me). Over the last 6 months I’ve met in the region of 60 volunteers and GVI staff members some who I may well be friends with for a long time. Don’t let anyone kid you that communal living is easy, most volunteers come from parts of the world way different from what they will meet when arriving in Ao Luk and it takes some getting used to, but that doesn’t mean that its also not great fun (chores, dorm rooms, no privacy and the heat aside). I came to Thailand for a challenge and it was.

I learned how to teach (the TEFL way) I practiced that teaching and then I practiced it some more, but that was only a small part of the story. I have been immersed in Thai culture (none more than living on Koh Klang for my placement, a Muslim island on the river opposite Krabi Town). I have been on excursions river kayaking, climbed to a temple site on the top of a karst (limestone mountains particular to the south of Thailand) and sat in natural rock formations bathing in the warmth of hot springs. I’ve been caught in a flood caused by the most amount of rain in southern Thailand for 4 years and had about the same amount (I exaggerate a little) poured over my head during Songkran celebrations. I even painted a mural (with a little help from my friends) on the side of a school building. That was good, but it wasn’t big enough.

I would also like to identify Gree as my teaching inspiration (and so a big part of my story). If anyone considers me to be any good at TEFL teaching it’s because of a conversation I had with Gree as a 1-1 for my assignment. He told me he had 2 jobs (one day and one night), was married with children under 10 and still attended every class that I taught his level in my first term (mostly turning up early and leaving late to every class). When I asked him why he wanted to learn English he told me that English was fast becoming Thailand’s 2^nd language (if its not already) and he just wanted to be able to talk to people that didn’t speak Thai in his country, that’s dedication.

So I go home (via Australia) a happy man. I have achieved what I set out to, although I’m not sure what that was. If you are thinking of volunteering, the form takes a matter of seconds to fill out and you will be well on your way to doing something unlike anything you have done before. So to GVI I say “Thanks for the memories.”

Written by 6 month intern Neil Gent

Village Project in Khao Phanom

2011-05-29T10:11:00.000-07:00

6.45 and there are a few murmurings and rustlings as sleepy volunteers gradually emerge from their bunks to be ready for our day’s village project. 6.50 am and Noi has arrived in his trusty Songtheaw to transport us to Khao Phanom. By just gone 7 we are loaded up and ready to leave – usually a logistical nightmare but pretty smoothly done today.

After an hour and a half, semi-dozing, listening to i-pods and generally catching up on more sleep or still trying to wake up, we arrived at the outskirts of Khao Phanom. Immediately we were greeted by the site of the mountain ahead of us covered in scars left by the huge and numerous mudslides that have devastated the nearby village. More and more signs of the flooding and slides became apparent as we neared our destination. Debris, fallen trees and mud covered large tracts of land either side of what had once been a small river. Finally we saw what was left of the houses. Rooftops barely a metre above the mud, crumbled and completely decimated. It’s hard to imagine what it must have been like on the night it happened.

We arrived at the river where there was a pile of brightly coloured sunhats awaiting us. Once donned, into the river we went and immediately set to work with the community members filling sand bags and building a bank to one side of the river. Due to all the mud brought down in the slide, the river had become shallower and wider and was continually eroding the banks which provided necessary access to and from one part of the village. Despite the still visible signs of the devastation the atmosphere was one of laughter and community. The kids played in the river whilst teenagers to elderly mucked in and seemed to just know what needed doing where. Even though there was the language barrier between us we all worked together, everyone just doing whatever needed doing and even managing to have a laugh with each other without words needed.

Within 3-4 hours the bank was taking shape and we had made great progress. The heat was becoming more intense so it was decided that it was time to down tools and join everyone in the shade of the trees to have a picnic lunch.

After a rest, rehydration and refuelling we set off to see the new temporary village and to have a presentation. We climbed a dusty dirt track and there appeared the new aluminium houses on stilts, erected by the army. 35 families had been re-housed in these temporary homes until they could rebuild their own places again. A new community centre had been built where the villagers could attend meeting and classes. With some of the money raised by GVI “Just Giving” the villagers had bought doors and windows to go in the newly built community centre where meetings were held and classes given. GVI also provided whiteboards and stationery supplies. Presentation over, photos taken and refreshments consumed we headed back to base. We were exhausted but everyone really enjoyed themselves and the morning felt like it had been a great success.

Funds used:

- 13, 000 Baht towards doors, windows and large white boards for the community center

- 2,487 Baht- Sign and other various classroom materials

- 2,300 Baht on transportation to Khao Phanom

First Week of Teaching Children

2011-05-25T22:38:00.000-07:00

Georgia has been working very hard with GVI Ao Luk's teaching children project and here is what she has to say after a week of being in Thailand:

'You know a typical teaching day has begun when you are greeted by smiling, excited and energetic children shouting 'HELLO!' 'HOW ARE YOU!?' and desperately pushing their hands through the excited scrum to receive a handshake or a high five. The more timid children display a 'WAI' and then shuffle off shyly and so sweetly.

Well behaved children in class!

My first class this morning was lovely; we dedicated the entire lesson to teach the alphabet. As I wrote the letters on the black board, they were all, unprompted and in unison repeating the letters and anticipating what would follow. We then all sang the ABC song, which was more of an enthusiastic chant than a song! I then pointed to random letters and asked the children to tell me what they were. Their enthusiasm is so encouraging, whether it's screaming out the letters, or quietly and meticulously recording them in their books, rubbing out the tiniest error.

Learning colours

When the children play, the whole classroom erupts with laughter and excitement. It's surprisingly not chaotic since all the energy is harnessed into the aim of winning the game. Things do indeed get competitive! Teaching so far has been both exhausting yet extremely rewarding. I have taught at 4 different schools, and all the children have been equally friendly and eager to learn and play. The teachers' English varies, so sometimes the conversation is very basic, but the permanent smile communicates all.

Georgie and her students

During lunchtime we are provided with the tastiest variety of dishes. The thai culture embraces sharing, so we have lots of little dishes and try a bit of everything, it's as if we are presented with our own private, delicious banquet. The end of the day is similar to the start, a frantic scramble of children wanting you to sign your name in the books or even their hand. Last week, a little girl put a flower in my hair. Their kindness and enthusiasm is so uplifting, it's only when we return to base we realise how exhausted we actually are! After the first day of teaching, I awoke after a refreshing snooze in the resources lounge, surrounded by 4 other sleeping volunteers! We have a ' teaching children ' meeting everyday at 5pm in which we all proudly share our days experiences. The collective buzz again shakes us free from all fatigue and we discuss the new teaching resources we could make! Each teaching day presents us with new challenges, opportunites and memories I will certainly treasure forever.

Georgia :-D'

NB. Please notice the Georgia font ;)

Side Trip to the Caves

2011-05-19T21:28:00.000-07:00

Ao Luk's new teaching children arrivals have just completed their first week - and here is a look into what they did on Visakha Bucha Day:

'I and some of my other new volunteers took advantage of a school holiday this week (Big Buddha Day) to have a short holiday ourselves! A group of 7 of us did a weekend kayaking side trip trip on Wednesday morning, giving us a free weekend for potential scuba diving in addition to a short break from teaching and lesson planning.

Breathtaking views of limestone karsts, some ancient cave drawings, and general immersion into a world that looks like it came straight from Jurassic Park-- not a bad way to spend a Wednesday morning! After a short ride from base we met our friendly Thai guide who loaded us up in pairs and sent us on our way. Uneven numbering meant one lucky individual got to paddle (or not really paddle...) along with him as his "princess" -- I claimed the honor for myself.

Despite some early hesitation and jokes about crocodiles we all quickly learned our way around a kayak. We paddled and steered our way through mangrove forests, with the soaring cliff faces all around. A couple of times we even made our way into them through small tunnels and into caves hanging with stalactites and mites! The tour finished off with a full exploration of a cave featuring paintings from over four thousand years ago. I don't think even Sharpees are that permanent.

Just the first adventure from what looks like what might be a thousand more.

Over and Out from Thailand : )

-Mallory'

New volunteers arrivals in Ao Luk - Teaching children & TEFL course

2011-05-17T21:28:00.000-07:00

8 wonderful new volunteers arrived in Ao Luk at the GVI base on Saturday 14th May and have now had a few days to settle in. So far, they have undergone a health and safety briefing, teacher training and already been out teaching their new skills.

The teaching children volunteers are teaching in local schools and TEFL volunteers are studying during the day and teaching evening classes at the informal adult education centre a short walk from the GVI office and base.

A kayaking trip on Tuesday has already exposed some of the volunteers to the beautiful natural surroundings and the stunning Karsts of Krabi. Next up is emergency first aid response training on Friday for the TEFL volunteers and then a well deserved weekend - with a possible scuba diving trip to Railay Beach!

Then back to work next week teaching English to all our Thai students.

We wish them all the best during their stay in Thailand and hope they have a wonderful time!

A GVI Alumna Puts her TEFL to good use!

2011-05-17T08:18:00.000-07:00

Kate, far right, wearing a pink princess hat at one of GVI's many themed parties.

Kate Fraser, a former 10-week GVI volunteer, has written to update us on her current TEFL-related endeavors. She writes:

After leaving Thailand I came back to Washington, DC to continue working for the student travel organization I had been with prior. Last summer they decided to run a pilot program that brought Japanese high school students to Harvard University for two weeks to study English. While I was not connected to the the project, I was so passionate about teaching English from my time at GVI that my supervisors let me leave my job for those weeks to teach on the program!

Starting to lesson plan and teach again was such a great feeling, and I had no idea how much I missed it. Teaching English is a unique experience - always challenging and unpredictable - but most of all, rewarding. A day doesn't go by that I don't think of my time teaching in Thailand, and now I can say the same of teaching my Japanese students. The Japanese school I taught for has asked me to come back again and teach this summer, and I am really looking forward to it. So a HUGE thank you for all the great experiences in Thailand and all that you do! I am definitely hoping to have other chances to put my TEFL certificate to use soon.

Return Visit to Khao Phanom Landlslide Village

2011-05-13T20:36:00.000-07:00

Tongpoon's Som Tam Shop Underneath her Temporary Home

On Friday, we returned to Khao Phanom, where March's landslides destroyed villages and homes in Krabi. The surrounding communities were bustling and working hard to build houses. In "Knock Down" village, the temporary home for displaced families mostly women and children roamed around as it was a Friday workday and schools are still out for the summer. We revisited Tongpoon's home where she has set up her som tam (papaya salad) shop under her corrugated steel home. The little shop sold not only papaya salad, but also larp (spicy minced meat salad), rice, soup, and drinks. We enjoyed a tasty lunch as locals stopped by for food, drinks and a chat.

Lunch at Tongpoon's shop - Yum!

Spending some time in the community, we had a chance to chat with everyone about where the need is. As houses are currently being built, including a row of 14 small apartments, it is time for families to start staking their claim. Some families with young children are being provided with housing from the government. However, others, like Tongpoon aren't so luck and have to come up with the 30,000 baht (US$1,000) to put a down payment on permanent housing. Many of these rural families have no savings or assets to scrounge up the down payment. We hope that if GVI Thailand can raise more funds, we can help with this initiative as well. To make donations in pounds go to our Just Giving page here and for donations in dollars visit the Global Giving page here.

Every little bit counts! Thank you to all of you who have already donated!

GVI staff and volunteers will be going out to Khao Phanom at the end of the month for a work day so watch here for more updates and photos!

Krabi Magazine Features a GVI Intern!

2011-05-13T08:14:00.000-07:00

The Krabi Magazine's most recent issue features one of GVI's 6-month interns, Dave Armstrong, who spent ten weeks living and working as a teacher on the Muslim island of Koh Klang. Dave details his experiences in Koh Klang in the following article.

After being introduced to several hundred Thai students and receiving a dozen red roses at the morning assembly at Banklongkam School, located on the island of Koh Klang, opposite Krabi Town, I’m eager to begin my English teaching career. My first class is Grade 7; I stroll into the classroom and am instantly confronted with approximately 40 sets of eyes, some excited, some not so much. Previously I may have strolled straight back out of the classroom and crept away to a nice, quiet, and controlled location but thankfully on this occasion I’m prepared. With my lesson plan, which I enthusiastically scrawled down the previous night, close at hand (not actually on my hand this time...) I manage to keep the large group of energetic and mischievous teenage students engaged – or at least I think so.

I’ve been invited to teach at this local government school for a period of 10 weeks as part of a volunteer English teaching programme, run by a British company called GVI. After completing TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) training in nearby Ao Luk and obtaining accreditation, I’ve been posted at Koh Klang, one of several locations throughout Krabi province where GVI have established long-term volunteer English teaching placements. Given the islands proximity to Krabi Town, Koh Klang retains a natural beauty and charm which could cause you to dispute its close proximity to Krabi Town (5 minutes via long-tail boat).

I’ve been placed at one of the many ‘home-stays’ located on Koh Klang. My house, which is nestled in amongst the palm trees, although relatively basic, is more than comfortable. A local family manages my ‘homestay’ and has taken me under their wing so to speak. There are several other families living nearby and each day I bear witness to the simple yet intriguing everyday going’s on of this small, close nit, peaceful community. The surrounding environment is dominated by mangrove forests, with a smattering of rice paddies and an impressively engineered array of wetlands supporting an abundance of aquatic and bird life.

Teaching English to the students, as well as working with the Thai teachers, at Banklongkam School, has been an immensely satisfying experience. The students are genuinely excited to learn and always appreciative. I’ve developed a great appreciation and respect for the student and teachers ability to have fun no matter what the occasion and found their unique sense of humour, which might be considered somewhat indiscreet by Western standards, most enjoyable to witness and eventually participate in.

There exists a strong sense of community amongst the local people, who are among the most genuine and outgoing people I’ve met in Thailand. During my time here I feel like I’ve been adopted into the entire community and have experienced countless random acts of hospitality as a result. Much of this hospitality involves the consumption of a variety of incredibly delicious food. Fortunately, Koh Klang is only accessible via boat and as a result the only vehicles on Koh Klang are motorcycles. This fact, along with the well developed local road network and the predominately flat topography of the island, make bicycle riding incredibly easy and enjoyable and balances out the side effects that would otherwise result from this seemingly inescapable eating.

My time living within the Koh Klang community and teaching at Banklongkam School over the last 10 weeks has been truly amazing and I would encourage anyone with a desire to experience the ‘real’ Thailand to consider opportunities such as this as provided by GVI.

Article and photos credit of: Dave Armstrong

Laem Sak English Camp - 11-13th May

2011-05-11T06:57:00.000-07:00

GVI Ao Luk has just relaxed for a long weekend and we are now back out in the community at a local moslem school in Laem Sak running a 3 day English camp for 60 local school children to boost their English before the new term starts.

Wednesday's activities included a scavenger hunt and some serious fancy dress to learn clothes and body parts, and Thursday will be just as fun with a talent show and singing competition.

Friday will be more physical playing sports and doing an obstacle course.

Many thanks to interns Rachael, Ben and John for their enthusiasm and efforts during the camp!

First Thai National to get the GVI TEFL

2011-05-08T18:47:00.000-07:00

Apple, one of GVI's local staff members, took some time to join the GVI TEFL in order to provide her with some added training and skills. She is the first Thai national to participate in the TEFL training which brings international volunteers from as far as Australia, USA, Canada, the UK, South Africa and Europe to come and gain their 100 hour TEFL qualification. A number of Asian participants have joined over the years from Hong Kong, Singapore and the Philippines. We are really happy to have a Thai TEFL trainee join the training and to top it all off Apple is an Ao Luk native!

Through the training Apple taught a Level 2 class at the Ao Luk Non Formal Education Center. She used only English in her classroom, as the GVI TEFL requires. Apple enjoyed the challenge and the experience and she hopes that it inspires other Thais to attempt the TEFL challenge!

Flood Relief Update

2011-05-06T01:04:00.000-07:00

Although our fundraising goal hasn't yet met it's target GVI Thailand has already begun using the funds available to help

.
On Monday we donated some mattresses to locals affected. Janram, whose business and home was severely affected by the floods and mudslides, arrived on base with her family to collect clothing and mattresses that have been acquired through the GVI fund.

It was a wonderful chance to get to directly help locals affected. For our new teflers John and Ben it was a chance to really see how GVI can benefit the local community.

Apple even managed to bring a smile to Janram's son with this oversized Pokemon teddy.

As the GVI fund continues towards it's project all the staff and volunteers here at GVI Thailand look forward to more of these oppurtunities.
Thanks to everyone who has helped us. For further information on how the fund is doing check out our page on http://www.justgiving.com/Krabi-floods

Certificates for Students!

2011-05-05T23:59:00.000-07:00

On Thursday evening during the 5:00 and 7:00 classes, GVI's English students who attended 13 or more free classes received their certificates! In Level 2, students were tested in their abilities, while the other classes played English-language related games and activities. Here are some photographs of the event!

Make Donations in Dollars for Krabi Flood Victims!

2011-04-26T21:42:00.000-07:00

We have now added in a Global Giving page which allows donations to be made in dollars. If you prefer to donate in dollars rather than pounds take a trip to http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/ and help support the Krabi families that have suffered from the March floods and landslides. Thank you for your support! Every bit counts.

Visit to the Landslide Village in Khao Phanom

2011-04-25T19:36:00.000-07:00

This house was buried by the landslide last month in Khao Phanom, Krabi

Charin, the Director of the Khao Phanom NFE Center will help Tongpoon start up a som tam shop underneath her temporary housing. Help fund initiatives like these at www.justgiving.com/Krabi-floods

On Saturday, GVI representatives paid a visit to some of the villages that were hit by the deadly landslides in Khao Phanom, Krabi last month. Some of the damage was absolutely shocking. Hundreds of displaced people are currently living in temporary corrugated steel buildings provided by Thailand's volunteer rescue association. Families can live in these houses for up to 1 year before they have to find an alternative housing solution. Hopefully, all will find assistance to be able to rebuild their homes and their lives.

In the background you can see Phanom Bencha Mountain with scars where landslides started

Donations of food and household goods pour into the temporary village on a daily basis and basic needs are being met. However, families that lost their livelihoods along with their homes don't have much to do in their new temporary home. The Khao Phanom Non-Formal Education Center is working to solve this problem. They have set up a book center to provide a place for people to read in their free time. The NFE Center is also donating funds for one woman to set up a som tam (spicy papaya salad) shop underneath her steel home.

Temporary Corrugated Steel Houses-Displaced families can live here for up to 1 year

GVI Thailand would love to assist with these initiatives to help rebuild the lives of these displaced families and will be working with the Khao Phanom NFE Center to do so. You can help by donating funds to the Just Giving site here. We will use these funds to replace household goods and make repairs for flood victims as well as the landslide villages. The more money we can collect the further our assistance will reach so please help!

Displaced families hanging out under their temporary houses

Burmese Refugees: Why this New Project is so Important

2011-04-24T00:13:00.000-07:00

GVI Thailand operates a program out of Chiang Mai that helps the neglected illegal Burmese immigrants who flood into Thailand each year.

Each year thousands of Burmese Refugees smuggle themselves over the border into Thailand in hopes of a brighter future, fleeing from ethnic cleansing under a brutal military regime in Burma. But their story doesn't end there. These displaced people continue to endure hardship living without rights in their new home, in marginalised communities without access to health care or education and forced into labour camps or what's increasingly referred to as "modern slavery".

Click here to read more about this important issue that GVI volunteers are tackling on our new Burmese Refugee Project in Chiang Mai, Thailand: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12881982

Make a Donation to Help Krabi Flood Victims!

2011-04-20T23:35:00.000-07:00

Severe Flooding Affected Many Parts of Krabi

GVI Ao Luk staff and volunteers are raising funds to assist local families that have been affected by recent flooding and landslides in the Krabi province. Recently, Project Manager Charlie blogged about the horrific events here. Many people are still recovering from the damage. Donations can be made to help these families at the Krabi Flood Just Giving Page (also see the link on the right side of the blog). Any donations will be used to purchase furnishing and clothes for local families as well as repairs to damaged homes as a result of the floods and landslides in the province.

One lady in Ao Nang, a friend of GVI TEFL Trainer Leila, has written about the damage the flooding has caused to her home and business. This is one of many local people that GVI Ao Luk would like to provide assistance for:

"On the evening of 29th March 2011 a disastrous flood hit the province of Krabi in Southern Thailand and most of the rest of the Malay Peninsula. Mud slides devastated several areas north of the provincial capital and the Krabi River, as result of such burden, flooded a huge mass of mud and water that submerged an extensive area of the city.

Several hundred people, mainly from the surrounding countryside, are still missing. Janram Warndee, founder of the non-profit organization, The Krabi Enduro Team, and her family have suffered an unfortunate inundation that thanks god, without life casualties, has however left her house wrecked. The only family's financial support; Janram's Thailand Off-Road Adventures motorcycle and bicycle company has been struck by the same fate, and all the motorcycles and equipment have been buried thick in mud. This disaster has resulted in a deadly blow to Janram's hard earned attempt to establish an off-road activity that is unique in this part of the Malay Peninsula. Janram is kindly asking for help. Please do whatever you can do for her, and more than anything else, come to ride with us when she has the bikes up and running again.

I sincerely appreciate your concern.

-Janram Warndee"

Janram's Family's Home After the Flood Waters Subsided

On behalf of Janram and other Thai families that your donations assist, thank you for any donation you can afford to make! Once again here's the link- www.justgiving.com/Krabi-floods. No donation is too small!

Volunteers Sneakily Songkranned!

2011-04-18T22:34:00.000-07:00

Songkran is the celebration of Thai New Year and takes place across the whole of Thailand. It started as an astrological event where young Thais had the chance to wash their elder's hands and cleanse them with 'blessed' water. It has now become a country wide water fight that gets bigger and bigger each year. Thailand and parts of Laos close down, roads fill up and everyone heads to their home towns to spend time with family during what is possibly the most fun festival of them all! Songkran will blow your mind the first time you play, and you will never want to miss it again!

Here is how GVI Ao Luk's volunteers received their first Songkran on 13th April 2011.

Songkran Activity Nights!

2011-04-18T19:18:00.000-07:00

Songkran, or the Thai New Year is one of the biggest holidays in

Thailand

and so, last week, GVI Ao Luk decided to cancel classes and instead host students for activities and games on base. On Tuesday and Thursday evening, we invited students and friends to participate in two nights of fun and games in order to practice their English.

The first night’s theme was food, which is always a hit! We played Pictionary, had word searches, face painting, fruit feel boxes, and taste tests. The most popular station was a booth where students were able to make their own tuna and egg salad sandwiches which they then ate! A relay game involving apple bobbing and carrots on a string was also incredibly popular and fun and left all of its participants with wet t-shirts and faces!

The second evening’s activities were fashion themed. In addition to Pictionary, word searches and face painting we had a dressing-up relay where students raced to put on silly clothing from our dress-up box! Cross-dressing was also encouraged. Overall, our two activities evenings were a hit for all ages and a fun way to practice English outside of the classroom!

New Luang Prabang Project Staff arrive in Ao Luk, Thailand for GVI Training

2011-04-18T06:42:00.000-07:00

GVI Ao Luk welcomed Greg and Sam to the base last week. They’re Laos’ newest additions to the GVI Laos team, joining Tricia to coordinate the ever-expanding teaching projects in Luang Prabang but made a week-long pitstop in Krabi province’s Ao Luk to learn the ins and outs in the world according to GVI!

The Ao Luk team made the new recruits feel very welcome, as did the volunteers and interns in Thailand. Regional Director, Jill ‘Manow’ Walker, Project Manager Charlie Crowson, Emma, Leila, Steve and Apple all showed off Ao Luk during the Songkram Week! Of course this was a very serious week of training so in between visits to the markets, swimming in Than Bok Khorani National Park, kayaking amongst Krabi’s amazing mangroves and karsts and eating delicious Thai food, Greg and Sam learned all about volunteer management, keeping everyone safe and healthy – our practice dummy for Emergency First Response, Roy, was ever so grateful for the resuscitation! – and attended English classes and input sessions with the TEFL volunteers.

The weather has been terrific, albeit very hot and humid (a perfect antidote to Melbourne’s cold and wet pseudo-summer). The GVI staff on base are all knowledgeable, funny and each have fascinating stories to share, and the warm and friendly local community in Ao Luk have made the week a tremendous success. Now both Greg and Sam are super excited about heading up to Luang Prabang on Thursday and welcoming our own volunteers on Friday!

Written by Sam - GVI Laos latest recruit

Intern Case Study - Kate: Why do I teach?

2011-04-11T19:03:00.000-07:00

Kate began her 12 month Teaching Internship in Ao Luk, Thailand in October 2010. After 10 weeks of TEFL training and teaching her own intermediate conversation class in the Ao Luk community Kate received her teaching placement teaching English to Burmese refugees living in Chiang Mai as part of preparation for a new GVI project offering support for a number of Burmese NGOs. Here's what Kate has to say about her experience so far:

Kate's Intermediate Conversation Class students in Ao Luk

"I have frequently been asked, “why do I teach and why am I teaching predominately Burmese people in Thailand”? I hope this provides some answers to those questions.

My career has leaned towards people’s development and training in one form or another for nearly 15 years. I love teaching, because I love being with people. I love the connection through conversation, smiles, laughter and gaining at least some understanding of another’s life. Teaching for me, means that every day I get to listen to people, talk with people and share a common interest in their growth and development. Teaching allows me to realize and work towards one of my core beliefs, that everyone has a right to education . The opportunity of education and the attainment of knowledge allows us to explore and hopefully one day reach our full potential. Education allows us to make informed and wise choices and it gives us a conscience. Education shapes the very way we view the world and how we treat people.

I believe that every person has a right to be educated, has a right to free will (choice) and the right to express their views and opinions. Education is the first important step for free will to be used judiciously and wisely.

I see time and again when teaching the expression of understanding that passes over a student’s face and reaches far into their consciousness. I am thrilled when I see the look of understanding appearing on a students face. I see the relief of grasping a new concept or a difficult phrase. The nerves of learning have passed and the mind has been opened to take, test and ride the learning journey.

Mistakes, there are a few – that’s how we learn, laughter there is much, smiles of encouragement and warmth, a connection of understanding that hopefully I can teach each student just a bit. I am blessed to learn more from the students than they will ever know. How fortunate I am to be on this journey with you! Thank you for allowing me to be your teacher.

There is a gentleness in the nature of the Burmese people I have met and teach. A warm acceptance, always a smile to brighten up my day. A generosity of spirit and a sense of humor that I have come to so appreciate. I am fortunate that I am where I am, doing what I am doing and I wouldn’t change a thing. I hope to continue teaching and working with the Burmese community for many years."

Written by Kate

Graduation Party for 1st Term of English Lessons for Burmese Refugees

2011-04-11T18:45:00.000-07:00

On Friday 25 March GVI was very proud to host our first ever graduation ceremony for our Burmese Refugee English program. Held at the Resource Centre for Burmese groups in Chiang Mai City, we hope this marks the first of many successful terms of English lessons that GVI volunteers and interns can offer.

GVI’s English teaching intern, Kate from Australia, addressed an excited crowd of her students and awarded certificates for successfully completing their first term of studies. The students are split into 3 levels based on their abilities and some will now have the chance to progress to higher classes. Certificates were signed both by senior GVI field staff and the Resource Centre’s manager. All of the students gave sincere thanks to Kate and expressed their gratitude for the lessons we provide, with a few speeches made and fond moments shared. Then of course at the end of it all, there was cake.

Written by - Jeff Smith, GVI S E Asia Projects Director

Ao Luk Flooding - March 2011

2011-04-05T22:27:00.001-07:00

Heavy rains in the south of Thailand have finally calmed down and the sun is back out doing its job. However, GVI Thailand would like to raise awareness of the extreme damage caused by these rains and the flooding over the past 2 weeks. The aerial picture taken from a plane (above) shows how wet the area got around the flood plains of Krabi.

GVI Ao Luk broke up for a well deserved holiday on 19th March when the weather was wonderful. On return to the GVI base, the office had flooded mildly and the electricity was down :( Leaks around the house and damp in all the bedrooms were the least of our worries as we were called on by the community to initiate flood damage control with the Ao Luk municipality volunteer fire brigade.

The low lands near the river had flooded to knee level and our job was to provide sand bags so that waterproof dams could be built outside front doors to avoid houses from flooding further. Brandishing nothing but a rain mac and a fancy matching umbrella-ella-ella, we made our way to the affected area and jumped on the back of the fire truck to start filling rice bags with sand along with the other volunteer fire brigade members. Emma (GVI Ao Luk's base manager) showed the men what to do and Nong (GVI's very own rockstar) led the way by interpreting and distributing the portable dams.

Watching people's houses flood is a horrible feeling and most people were helplessly onlooking as the fire truck made its way slowly around the village trying to help as many people as it could as quickly as possible. The children still managed to make light of the flooding by splashing and frollicking, such is the Thai way of enjoying what you have!

The floods have led to devastating landslides in Khao Phanom and have killed 53, left 40,000 in temporary housing and affected up to 2 million people in 10 provinces in the south of Thailand since the last week of March. Please help raise awareness and post this on Facebook or email through to friends and family. If anyone would like to donate for flood relief, please email thailandbase(at)gvi.co.uk for further directions.

Written by Charlie - Project Manager

New Arrivals!

2011-04-02T13:00:00.000-07:00

On Saturday six new volunteers joined our Ao Luk, Thailand GVI base in order to gain a TEFL certificate. Despite one late arrival due to flooding delays (see following post for details and photos!), everyone was filled with excitement about the coming few weeks of TEFL training, teaching, cooking, learning Thai language and culture and most importantly celebrating Songkran. Good luck to all with in their new adventures!

Welcome Charlie!

2011-03-31T19:09:00.000-07:00

GVI Ao Luk would like to give a big welcome to our new Project Manager, Charlie Crowson. Charlie has several years of experience teaching, both in Thailand and the UK and previous experience managing volunteer teaching and building projects throughout Thailand. He can speak Thai and loves opportunities to explore and learn more about Thai culture and community. We are very pleased to have him aboard!

Day Trip to Emerald Pool and Hot Spring Waterfalls

2011-03-29T00:32:00.000-07:00

We set off at 7.30am with a fairly big drive ahead of us. DJ Neil (50 Cent) Gent helped to pass the time with a Spice Girls and Britney Spears medley played through his ipod speakers.

We finally arrived at our destination around 9am and decided to stop for a quick ‘pick me up’ as energy levels were low. Charlie (girl)’s particular recipe was 3 coffees; an order which the café owner found very amusing – “Ting Tong” I believe were her exact words.

Once we all had our swimming costumes on we set off to find the Emerald Pool. There was some beautiful scenery on the way and the final part of the walk consisted of wooden boards across streams which was rather quaint.

Our journey was more than rewarded with a glorious natural pool which we all dived into and enjoyed immensely. It was the clearest water imaginable and the rocks and scenery around made the setting a fantastic place to spend the day! Some people slid down the natural rock formations into the pool and others just generally frolicked.

Later that day we went onto the Hot Spring Waterfalls which was also an amazing place! The water was even hotter than expected but once we acclimatized it was marvelous. The afternoon consisted of relaxing on the waterfalls and swimming in the tranquil stream below.

All in all, a day to remember!

Written by Dennis, a teaching children volunteer

GVI Ao Luk wins a National Award!

2011-03-21T11:12:00.000-07:00

GVI Ao Luk, Thailand recently one a national award for our partnership with the Ao Luk Non-Formal Education Center!

Thailand's Non-Formal Education Centers are part of Thailand's Ministry of Education offering educational opportunities for students who drop out of school but decide to go back and complete their primary and secondary education by studying a half day per week at a satellite center in their own community and working through project based work at home. Many students are non-traditional students and Thailand's NFE Centers focus on assisting rural communities and minority populations.

GVI has been partnered with the Ao Luk Non-Formal Education Center since June 2007. Since that time GVI has taught 30 terms of free English classes for the Ao Luk community at the nearby NFE Center office, awarded 1,717 certificates of attendance for students completing these classes and have taught 6,188 hours of classes here to date. GVI Ao Luk volunteers and staff have also assisted with literacy days, English camps, summer camps, library events and grand opening events for the NFE satellite centers throughout Ao Luk. GVI construction projects and teaching volunteers have contributed close to $6,000 of direct funding as well as man (and woman!) power to improvements and renovations to the NFE Center's educational facilities in Ao Luk.

In March 2011, GVI Ao Luk was awarded for their contributions to the NFE Center. Jill Walker, GVI Regional Director and Charlie Crowson, Project Manager, traveled to Bangkok to recieve the award. GVI placed in at the #1 private organization partner in the Southern region of Thailand. Alongside other partner organization such as local libraries, museums and prisons, GVI was the only international organization represented ranking GVI as the #1 international partner for Thailand's NFE Centers! This is a huge honor as Thailand's NFE Centers have thousands of partnerships throughout the country. GVI Ao Luk is proud to be recognized for the work we have done.

A big thanks to all the volunteers, interns and staff that have helped to achieve this recognition and contributed to the achievements of the last 4 years. Thanks also to the Ao Luk NFE Center directors, teachers and students, as well as all our students and friends in the Ao Luk community for supporting GVI's efforts and making Ao Luk such a welcoming place to work!

End of Expedition

2011-03-19T02:00:00.000-07:00

January, February and March have been busy for GVI in Ao Luk, Thailand. We have had TEFL Training Volunteers, Teaching Children Volunteers and Construction Volunteers working very hard and providing lots of help to the community. We'd like to thank everyone for all their efforts and for making the projects possible.

GVI Thailand's achievements so far in 2011:

• 240 hours teaching children at 10 local schools

• 384 hours teaching 7 English classes at the Non-Formal Education Centre

• 2 week construction project at the Non-Formal Education Centre

• 2 day school painting project on Koh Yao Noi

• 9 hours of teaching at rural schools on Friday village projects

• 64 hours of English for tourism in Laem Sak taught by intern James

• 250 hours of classes in Koh Klong taught by intern David

• 300 hours of classes in Koh Yao Noi taught by long serving intern Dan

End of Term Party! Happy Saint Patty's Day!

2011-03-18T02:18:00.000-07:00

Friday night was another GVI Ao Luk base party celebrating the end of the 30th term of English classes for the community at the Ao Luk Non-Formal Education Center, the end of the 15th GVI expedition in Ao Luk and Saint Patrick's Day. More than 50 students and community members came out to celebrate the event with GVI volunteers, interns and staff.

GVI's 100 hour TEFL certificates were awarded to 8 newly trained TEFL teachers and certificates of completion were awarded to the 5 Teaching Children Volunteers who have been working hard to teach English to the students at local primary schools.

Highlights of the night were a lovely spread of food and drinks, traditional GVI karaoke tunes and special performances by some talented museums both amongst GVI's volunteers and the local community! Fun was had by all.

Last day of classes for Term 20!

2011-03-17T01:16:00.000-07:00

Thursday was the last day of the 30th term of free English classes for the Ao Luk community taught by GVI TEFL volunteers and interns at the Ao Luk Non-Formal Education Center. Levels 1 and 2 evaluated their students progress through 1 to 1 oral tests. Other classes took part in games and fun activities. Intermediate Conversation class at 7pm even had the opportunity to enjoy Spanish treats like calamari, Spanish omelet, prawns with garlic and meatballs prepared by their teacher, Sonia, a 10 week TEFL volunteer.

At the end of the class all students and teachers got together for an award ceremony and photos. All students attending 85% or more of classes received a certificate of completion. 40 certificates were awarded!

Four Island Tour!

2011-03-12T20:11:00.001-08:00

Our 6 month volunteer, Neil Gent, has updated his blog with a story and amazing photos from his weekend tour of some of the gorgeous islands located in the nearby Andaman Sea.

http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/neil.gent/2/1299541303/tpod.html

James in Laem Sak

2011-03-10T21:47:00.000-08:00

James is one of GVI's 6 month English Teaching Interns. James started as a volunteer in October 2010 gaining his 100 hour TEFL qualification with GVI and teaching free English classes for the Ao Luk community at the Non-Formal Education Center.

For James 3 month teaching placement he has been based in Laem Sak, a coastal fishing community in the south of Ao Luk. During the day James teaches English at Pratheep Tham Foundation School a new Muslim school which GVI has assisted with teaching support and facility improvements since their opening in May 2010.

In the evenings James teaches free evening English classes for the community at his accommodation. Around 6-8 community members come by in the evenings to learn English and practice their speaking and listening skills.

James has had a great time so far in Laem Sak. He's had the opportunity to visit a number of other schools and villages in the region. James has been embraced by the local communities and has had a unique experience.

Painting a School on Koh Yao Noi

2011-03-10T00:07:00.000-08:00

"Getting a group of 25 people operating on "Thai Time" to leave at 7:00 in the morning is not an easy feat, but somehow we achieved it and after a short market stop were off on our journey to the picturesque Koh Yao Noi. A longtail ride across flat water and past magnificent karsts certainly set us up for an amazing weekend, and the island is unbelievably stunning- all marshes and country roads. Relaxing start, huh?

We thought so too... until we saw the school that we had less than a day and a half to paint, inside and out. We set to work, albeit with initially more time spent painting each other than the walls and soon we were making cracking progress. By the end of the day we had entirely painted the school...many hand make light (well, hard) work!

The school treated us amazingly...unlimited supplies of incredible Thai food, a trip to the beach for a swim to cool off and a walk up to a viewpoint where the view can only be described as majestic. However, by bed time we were completely exhausted and anticipating a good night's sleep...until we discovered that we were sleeping in tents on the concrete floor! Easy to imagine how that went down; think its possibly the only night I've been desperate for it to be time to get up!

But the next morning we finished up our work with the typical GVI spirits, despite the fact that we had to clean off the windows we had accidentally painted over! By mid-morning the school was painted, complete with a mural to leave our GVI stamp. Incessant hard work, fabulous food, tons of fun and our work at Koh Yao Noi was done."

Blog written by TEFL volunteer Charlie

Featured Staff: Meet Leila!

2011-03-07T23:30:00.000-08:00

Leila is GVI Thailand's newest TEFL Trainer, joining the team in November 2010. Leila comes from a long background of teaching and traveling around the world. Leila has experience teaching at international schools in Spain, teaching ESL and working with challenging children in the UK and has traveled around Europe, Central America and parts of Asia. Leila enjoyed past experiences in Thailand and was keen to return the land of smiles to try her hand at TEFL training with GVI. We are really glad to have Leila on board!

Teaching Children in Ao Luk

2011-03-07T18:26:00.000-08:00

"Every morning I am greeted with shouts of "hello teacher" from every corner of the playground. Children run full pelts across the football field to shake my hand, hug me or ask for autographs. I feel like a celebrity and cannot think of a better start to the day. Walking into the classroom, I am welcomed with cheers of excitement and smiling faces eager to learn.

I have so far taught children aged 3 to 12 years old at several different schools. I enjoy the differences between the schools and the variety this brings to my week. The children learn English through drilling, actions, pictures, games and songs amongst other activities. Some acting out is required, making me feel I am performing a pantomime. Its a fantastic excuse to let go, have fun and act silly! The GVI staff, whilst supportive give a lot of free reign with teaching styles allowing individuality and creativity to flow.

I have been teaching in Ao Luk for 2 weeks now and already see improvements in the children's English. Its a magical feeling to know I have contributed to this.

The Thai lunches provided by the schools are delicious and I have been kindly taken out for lunch by the teachers whom are also keen to practice their English and in turn teach me Thai.

Living on base is fun, fun, fun! There is always a friend around for a chat, someone to share a beer with, movie night, sing songs on the palapas or quiet spaces to read a book. They are pretty laid back here at GVI Thailand!

I believe Ao Luk to be the most welcoming place on Earth. The community are so grateful to share their beautiful home with GVI. I have 2 weeks left and will be more than sad to say goodbye to the adorable children. good friends and stunning surroundings. I will be back!"

Blog written by teaching children volunteer Helen

Kayaking to the Cave of the Big Headed Ghost

2011-02-27T18:23:00.000-08:00

The day got off to a good start, with us leaving pretty much on time, everyone covered from head to toe in sun block and insect repellent. We got to the kayak ‘spot’ in good spirits and ready to roll…yes, I mean….ready to row…okay, I mean paddle. Right, so forming the letters GVI in kayaks with a bunch of amateur paddlers at hand is not as easy as we thought – and after about 5 minutes of formation attempts, most of us resorted to water fighting. Apple had the unfortunate predisposition of being the main target for most of the day, but as usual, Apple kept smiling….

The trip up the river fringed with mangrove forest, was spectacularly beautiful and our first stop was the 'Cave of the Big Headed Ghost' (AKA Skull Cave') where the 3000-5000year old rock paintings, and rocks in the shapes of old men, dragons and prison cells had us all in awe.

After a brief river swim, we were ready to set off again. We still had one cave and the lagoon to go. Tom and Dylan kept up the lead, and the pace, which by now had picked up somewhat due to everyone’s rumbling tummies. We had visions of our seafood lunch spurring us on.

The tunnel caves were stunning, and it was the cherry on top when one of them led into a small lagoon surrounded by (steep mountain thingies). This was officially nap time and we took some time out laying back and absorbing the scenery, before starting the official homeward bound. We had some half hearted attempts at ‘row row row your boat’, but the focus was mainly on getting back to the restaurant as fast as possible, so much so that certain people resorted to drastic measures, with drastic consequences….all we need to say is that at one point there was a kayak with no one in it, and two very wet people.

A delicious lunch of battered, deep fried prawns, fish and pineapple curry, cashew chicken and fried rice, was wolfed down with gusto. Feeling thoroughly satisfied, we headed home, some for some peace and quiet, and some for the beaches of Ao Nang. Just a perfect day……drink sangria in the park……la la la la.

Written by Ilze

First Day of Classes for Term 30!

2011-02-21T20:15:00.000-08:00

Today began the 30th term of free English classes for the Ao Luk community, taught by GVI TEFL volunteers and interns in partnership with the Ao Luk Non-Formal Education Center. Lots of students came out from the local community to attend Levels 1, 2, 3 and elementary and intermediate conversation classes. 8 new TEFL trainees observed their trainers teach demonstration lessons before delving into their own lessons on Tuesdays. Interns had the opportunity to teach their very own class.

TEFL Trainer, Steve Daily teaches Level 1 students about countries and nationalities

Leila Williams, GVI TEFL Trainer, teaches furniture to Level 2 students

New Volunteers Arrive!

2011-02-20T18:02:00.000-08:00

On February 19th, 8 new TEFL-seeking volunteers and 3 new Teaching Children volunteers joined GVI in Ao Luk, Thailand. The new volunteers hail from the UK, Ireland, Australia, America, and Canada. The volunteers will enjoy a first week full of teaching inputs, actual teaching, cooking, Thai language lessons and generally becoming immersed into the culture of Thailand. We wish them luck on their exciting new adventures with GVI and in Thailand!

Village Tour to Ban Tham Seua

2011-02-19T21:59:00.000-08:00

Up early (as usual). Breakst - coffee and a cigarette on the palapa. This morning we're visiting Rai Pree Da, a local resort. We arrive and are offered drinks, but it's that incredibly sweet instant stuff that only contains trace amounts of coffee. Yum.

We choose our bikes and we're off through jungle and rubber plantations. Nong cheerfully tells me that the last time he was here he came face to face with a king cobra as thick as his arm. My knuckles whiten slightly, but hey, what spices up a bike ride in the country more than the prospect of possible agonizing death?

First stop is a Buddhist shrine set into a spectacular limestone cave. Our guide points out a rock formation which resembles a teeny little tiger and the masses of seashells on the cave-floor left there by humans 3000 years ago. He suggests we go deeper into the cave network. We follow gingerly, slipping and sliding on the guano covered rocks. Torches shine on the stalactite encrusted ceiling and we're greeted by a swirling mass of disturbed bats. Thoughts of thousands of sharp little teeth and rabies are overtaken by admiration and wonder at the furry little critter's incredible aerial gymnastics within the cave's narrow confines.

We emerge blinking into the hot, hot sunshine and hop back onto the bikes. Next stop - a shallow pool deep in the jungle that contains patches of bubbling quicksand. A sign nearby informs us that since ancient times it was thought of a kind of gateway for the dead. Spooky. Our guide asks us to be quiet and then motions for us all to start clapping. Bubbles rise rhythmically to the surface in time with our round of applause. I'm encouraged to put my hand into the quicksand. It's a strange sensation, simultaneously wet and dry, and as the sand easily gives way, I'm up to my elbow before I know it.

Back to the rubber plantation and I'm offered the chance to milk a tree. The owner of the plantation hands me the curved, razor sharp knife after a quick demo and I start hacking inexpertly into the bark. "No no, too deep" he says, wincing slightly as I mangle his precious source of income. I manage to get the hang of it and I'm ridiculously gratified to see a trickle of pure white sap run down the groove I've just made and into the collecting cup.

Off for a rest by the river. Gazing out at the lush mangrove forest the peace is shattered by Charlie, bellowing "Ladies and gentlemen, I have an important announcement to make. CANNONBALL!" and hurling himself into the mysterious depths.
Back to the resort and we have Pad Thai for lunch. Unfortunately I somehow cover my t-shirt in hot chili powder which mixes with my sweat to create a sort of natural Deep Heat and leaves me with an unpleasant burning sensation all over my stomach and chest.

I have a go on the rope crossing after a challenge from Charlie. I manage to make it across despite Charlie and Nong whipping the ropes up and down like a pair of demented orangutans. Nong went next and made it across without incident. Then it was Tim's turn. He displayed some crowd-pleasing acrobatics at first, but sadly lost his grip and plunged into the manky pond, suffering some mild rope-burn in the process.
And that brought our morning at Rai Pree Da to a happy (if slightly squelchy for Tim) end.

Written by Dan Billington

Thai Cooking Workshop

2011-02-12T18:28:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, GVI construction volunteers had the opportunity to learn how to cook a few authentic Thai dishes with GVI's local friend and neighbor, Pen. Pen owns a Thai curry shop next to the GVI base and takes pride in creating tasty and ornate foods. Today she showed Sophie, Emma and Sam how to make Gai Tawt Krathiem Prik Thai (chicken fried with garlic and black pepper), Phad Thai (Thai styled stir fried noodles) and Tom Yam Het (hot and sour Thai soup with mushrooms). While helping to do some prep work and taking detailed notes, the 3 construction volunteers were guided through the Thai way of making and flavoring food. Afterwards everyone sat down to enjoy the dinner together. Delicious!!!

Pad Thai- yum, yum

Fried Chicken with Garlic and Black Pepper

Thai Hot and Sour Soup with Mushrooms