September: An affectionate ‘adieu’ to Ao Luk and ‘bonjour’ to Ban Nam Khem
 |
| Global Village Leediot: Intern lee takes to the stock |
We’ve had a very busy year so far, but nothing
could have prepared us for September! After more than five years in Ao Luk,
Krabi, we are moving on to pastures new. We didn’t want to leave our base in Ao
Luk on a sad note, so we decided to make sure that our last few weeks were fun
and that we made the most of our time with the wonderful people of Ao Luk.
 |
| Students enjoying the stocks |
We started the month with a fair at the Ao Luk
Non-Formal Education (NFE) Centre, where we have been running free English
classes for adults since July 2007. There was a lot of fun to be had and lots
of mess to be made; Teaching Children (TC) volunteers Sophie & Laura got to
work painting faces while the rest of us ran the various games &
activities, including a 3 legged race, hoopla, pass the parcel, fishing for
prizes, a can shack and a crafts table making penguin piggy banks out of
plastic bottles! By far everyone’s favourite was the Global Village Idiot
stocks, where students got the chance to bombard their teachers with wet
sponges, water pistols and, eventually, entire buckets of water. Students –
adults & kids, volunteers and staff all had a whale of a time and walked
away drenched but happy.
The following week we wound up our project
work in Ao Luk; Laura F, Sophie & Shane taught the last day of the TC
programme in Ao Luk and Karissa, Lee & James brought the NFE evening
classes to a close. TEFL Trainer Ian & staff member Laura B also finished
up their training with some of our higher level students, who have been
learning about the teaching techniques used in our classes so that they can
help teach others in the Ao Luk area. The higher level students from our NFE
classes took all of us out for a slap-up meal and gave each of us a present –
though we had to ‘earn’ them by showing off our Thai language skills or talking
about our favourite thing about Ao Luk!
 |
| Students receiving their certificates |
As is tradition at the end of each term, we
held a party at our base for all the students, community and volunteers, the
theme this time being ‘GVI rak Ao Luk’ – ‘GVI loves Ao Luk’. For more on the party see Apple's blog.
The morning-after-the-night-before dawned and
all too soon it was time to say goodbye to Shane, Sophie, Laura F and Karissa.
We were lucky to have such a lovely bunch of volunteers for our last few weeks
in Ao Luk and would like to say a huge ‘thank you’ to all of them for their
hard work. Massive ‘thanks!’ also to 6 month interns Anna-Marie and Kirsty, who
finished their 3 month teaching placement in Ban Nam Khem this month; we hope
you enjoyed your time with the kids from Baan Tharn Namchai! Also a big
‘gracias’ to Lee & James, also 6 month interns, who are staying in Ao Luk
for their placement and continue providing English classes to the community.
The team that quietly (sometimes not-so-quietly) keeps things running smoothly,
Apple, Ian & Laura B, have done a fantastic job of making our final few
months in Ao Luk memorable and successful ones – well done, guys, you really
are a dream team J.
Finally, and most importantly, the biggest
‘thank you’ goes out to the community of Ao Luk: to our dedicated students at
the NFE centre who spoil us endlessly; to Noi & Supachai who drive us
around and always make us smile; to Pikoy who has spoiled us with delicious
meals and a big grin to Vee, Wit & Pui for taking on the epic task of
teaching us Thai. To all of the many,
many people here – too many to name –who, with all their warmth, kindness,
generosity and wicked sense of humour, have made sure that everyone who has
come to GVI Ao Luk has had an incredible experience. Thank you.
Laura B packed her bags and made the journey
from Krabi to Luang Prabang, Laos, where she will be working with Tricia, Greg
& Molly for a few months on their projects – make sure you send her back to
us guys! (but you can keep Gretchen...J). When she returns, Laura will be co-ordinating
the Teaching Children project; Laura has been a volunteer on both TC and TEFL
programmes and her hard work, positive attitude and random sense of humour
earned her a place as a Scholar before she became a full-time member of the
team in June, so she’s got a whole lot of wisdom and experience to share.
Congratulations, Laura, you earned it and we can’t wait to have you back!
 |
| Our impressive 'Trucks 'O Stuff' ready to leave Ao Luk |
So, Ian, Apple & I packed our bags (in the
shape of 2 rather ample trucks and with the aid of some of the aforementioned
lovely people of Ao Luk) and set off to our new place in Phang Nga province. Our
home for the next 3 months, as we set up our projects, meet our new partners
and prepare for the arrival of our first volunteers in January, will be the
small village of Ban Nam Khem on the Andaman coast; we’ll tell you all about it
next time! As a teaser, here's the sunset from the beach near our house...
Jax Keenan, Project Manager
0 comments:
Post a Comment