Feedback Stories

Ex-Volunteer Feedback Extracts

Roslyn Castle from NSW, Australia joined the programme in January 2012

Just writing to say thank you so much for placing me with the family Buphata. Kamon and Somkid have been just wonderful and have taken me so many places so generously. The school children have been wonderful as well and I am thoroughly enjoying my time at Ban Pho school. My singing and dancing careers are taking off ;) as well I have been playing volleyball with teachers from some of the other schools. Once again thank you for your efforts in placing me here it is very much appreciated and I have had an amazing time.
Korp Khun Ka :)

Yvonne Hendrych, a textile professional from Brussels, joined the programme in August 2011 and gives her feedback:

The project was amazing :-)
 
Everything worked out so smoothly and everyone was so extremely kind and nice to me that I had the most wonderful time there.

Everyone was incredibly nice and helpful and I felt at home right away. Also my host family was amazing. I really found a second family in Thailand and we got along so well even without speaking the same language. My host mother made a great effort to learn some English and I did my best to learn a couple of Thai words. Teaching was great fun but also quite challenging because I was teaching many different classes and all different levels of English. So I always had to first check and then quickly adapt to the level of English they had.
But luckily all the previous teachers kept a teacher’s diary and wrote down their experiences with the students so I could check in advance what kind of games or exercises they had been doing. Anyway the emphasis is on conversation. And this is best done through little games or quizzes. Students love the competition and teaming up against each other. It sometimes takes a bit to involve them because often they are very shy. But once they warmed up it was so much fun. I must say I enjoyed all classes and never had a boring moment.

On Sundays I went to temple school to teach the little ones (5-8 years) together with other teachers from Prangku who teach on a voluntary basis on Sundays. All the teachers at Prangku are so committed and engaged and dedicate also so much of their free time to the school and the students. It is really remarkable. Big compliment. And the students were just wonderful. They were so nice and polite and really eager to learn English. I can only recommend this experience to everyone who enjoys being with children and to everyone who is interested in getting to know a new culture.

Thank you Working Abroad.  This is really a remarkable initiative which offers unforgettable experiences for both sides.

Julie Eaglen describes her time with the programme

"...most of the students were completely lovely, whether or not they were any good at English: as I walked along the corridors, there were constant greetings of 'Hello, teacher!', followed by heads bobbing in a 'wai'.   It's true what they say - Isaan is very much a pocket of Thailand left over from twenty years ago, with small farmers living the traditional way of life.  I found it enchanting."