Kochang school camp

Start of camp.

I just came back from a 2-day school camp in Kochang. We were supposed to be there to teach English, but the 90 over kids spoke little or no English, and we were only given 2 hours to teach them simple English, so I couldn’t share as much as I had wanted to, though some of the kids were really bright and keen to learn. And I admire very much the KS university students who drive 5 hours to the school every month to teach them English.

Kids learning in their exhibition halls.

The Wat Salak School is made up of 3 wooden buildings, and it sits right next to the village crematorium. The toilets were basic – no flush system but clean and well-maintained by the students. The students were well-mannered. They would show us to the toilet, thank us for scooping lunch for them. The dogs there were equally obedient and clean.

The icebreaking game on day 1 was fun – finding your shoe. The kids had a lot of initiatives in inviting to join them for the games while we were watching on. This little boy pointed to my shoes and dragged me into his group. It saddened us to see some of them in torn shoes and uniforms.

The English session was on day 1 which was followed by a visit to the mangrove forest. I have never been to one! The kids and us were invited to stuff our hands into a black box. In it was a clawless, big crab. Poor fellow had to be touched by strange hands every now and then.

My team mate Grape bending her way to get past the tree.

On day 2, the kids were supposed to draw out what they had learned the day before. While we were planning what to draw, this little boy came up to me to ask for the spelling of the words we had taught them and started practicing. He had a sketch of Doraemon in his notebook, so when I wrote “Doraemon” for him, he and his friends were excited to learn that word. (Given a chance, I would have taught him “McDull”).

This is one instance that I really wished I knew Thai. The entire camp was conducted in English so we replied heavily on our Thai colleagues to play interpreters. The volunteers were also nice people but I was playing ‘charades’ with them most of the times. I’ve added some of them on my facebook so hopefully, I get to know them better through pictures.

The best meal I had this trip!

End of camp.

Another interesting encounter this time was with our van driver. I totally admire him like how I admire our office uncle. This drive is really multi-talented! He could drive safely and continuously for 5 hours, without drinking or even visiting the toilet. When he was not driving, he would be helping to hang banners at the school while our activities were going on, carrying boxes and playing camera man. He made himself useful every other minute!