Rajaprajanugroh 50 School Education for Disadvantaged Children Project - December

Think Bigger Volunteering in Thailand Episode 3

Agata Klijewska A Polish volunteer who participated the activities in Thailand for 6 months in Think Bigger project from 1 October 2019 - 1 April 2020

The sun, the sea, the sand

The second month at the R.P.K. 50 school project I welcomed... in Bangkok. Over the next two weeks I was to travel around Thailand and discover its slightly more tourists charms. After a short stay in a crazy capital, I moved to a charming island off the coast of Cambodia. The intensity of the hot sun, fabulous views, romantic sunsets and spicy Som Tams and Tom Yums was simply incredible.

The second half of my holiday I spent in the cool (at this time of year) North and during a few days of mountain trekking I had the opportunity to see and meet members of local tribes that have lived there for decades. It was a very intense but exciting and tasty time.

Same place, different time

The return to Ban Heat meant a slightly different reality. My co-volunteers, Low and Mathieu, had completed their projects, and I found an empty house. The evenings were supposed to be longer from now on, and the weekends less fun.

Nevertheless, the students were still as active, loud and smiling as before and during the whole of December they were preparing for two very important events in school life.

School Olympics

The first of them was Sports Days, which took place in the third week of December. It was almost a real Olympics: with a parade outside the school, an Olympic flame and a marathon... well, almost :) Everyone was involved in its preparation: from the youngest pupils, through high school students, teachers to office workers and cooks. A real feast of competition!

Christmas time

The second event was the Christmas Day. All students prepared Christmas cards or posters and a special atmosphere was felt at school. The day ended with a student performance and the Christmas week with a disco!

So with a disco step, I reached the end of 2019 (or 2562, who knows:), and also the halfway point of my volunteering. Adventure! Go on!