Prior to moving to Thailand, Amber researched some different volunteer opportunities within and around Chiang Mai. She contacted one called Jen’s House in San Pa Tong, a suburb about 15 miles southwest of Chiang Mai.  On Friday morning, October 1, representatives from the school picked us up at our hotel for a full day of volunteering with the students, as well as sleeping the night there.

On the way, we learned more about the school.  The children are all born in Thailand, but their ethnicity is Karen from Burma.  They all live in one or two remote, small villages in the mountains west of Chiang Mai.  There are no educational opportunities in their village, so the children leave their homes and stay at Jen’s House during the week, a group home in San Pa Tong.  There, the children attend public school during the day and do chores in the mornings and evenings, such as preparing food, washing clothes, cleaning the house, etc.  They grow a number of vegetables and herbs in a garden to offset their daily food costs. Since the journey back to their village is difficult and expensive, most children live there on the weekends as well.  Therefore, they’re actually away from their parents and families for weeks and months at a time.  On any given day, there may be 15-25 students living at the group home, and the home is maintained by an adult married couple of Karen ethnicity.

Amber and I spent the day interacting with the students and having a lot of fun. We helped them make lunch and dinner.  However, they are very skilled at cutting vegetables and preparing food, so mostly we watched.  We did an English lesson with them based on materials they were learning at school.  They showed us how they clean the house, how they wash their clothes in a bucket, etc.  We bought ice cream and celebrated one of the youngest girl’s upcoming birthday.  We played cane ball, which is like volleyball except that you can only use your head or feet, not your hands.  And in the evening, we joined the adult couple and the students for some Christian praise music, worship, and Bible study.

That night, we slept in a private room on wooden bunk beds.  With a fan blowing on us all night, it was surprisingly comfortable. The next morning before we left, we promised the students that we will visit them again sometime in December. Although we were only with them for about 24 hours, the entire experience was very rewarding.  It was amazing to see the challenges that the students (and their parents) are willing to overcome in order to get a good education.

Tags: volunteer