[Testimonial]

The project I participated is Sawaddee Thailand. The project was mainly a volunteering
program to teach the Thai kids Basic English conversation and vocabularies. The main
purpose of the exchange was to develop the ability of speaking English for the students in
rural areas and I learnt different religious and cultural background of my own. I taught English
in Sri Sawat Pithayakkom School. The school is located in Kanchaburi province, which is
about 5 hours away from Bangkok. My students were in the range of 13 years old to 17 years
old teen. I was there for 6 weeks. I gained a lot of experience about living and working there.
For me, seeing a new culture was one which could not be achieved in any other way than
exchange. I also taught Sri Sawat Pithayakkom sub campus which emphasis more on
agriculture. I was teaching the teaching the kids from that school only on Tuesday. We have
farming day on Tuesday, where the students together with me will be farming in the morning
and in the evening; I will be teaching them English.
You cant put a price on these things: an experience away from home, gaining
independence and making new friends for life. As an exchange participant, it prepares me for
life away from home comforts; I learn how to be tolerant, patient, understanding, fun and how
to make a difference. For example, I was living in Teachers doom with a Taiwanese and a
Malaysian. We have different understanding about cleanliness and language but end of the
day we able to tolerate and live happily till end of the exchange. The facilities provided were
very basic and people there talk very limited English. So, we have language barrier to
communicate. Together with my friends from other countries, we learned basic Thai language
to communicate with them. As well as the setting being a cultural experience, the beauty of
the exchange is to live and work with people from Poland, Egypt, China, Morocco, Indonesia,
America, Taiwan and Pakistan. I don't think I've ever been in a more diverse setting before for
such a long period of time. It has given an advantage to me.
In todays digital world we forget how important being outside in the fresh air is, we forget
how we can have fun without electronic devices. I visited few caves, resorts and dam which
carry me away to nature. I have experienced religious festivals, visited the temple with
students and learnt about a new way of life while ensuring that the students also had a great
time. Now, I am back from exchange and would like to work in diverse areas. I have
overcome the language barriers and appreciating the differences and using the strengths that
I have learned in daily life. There was also an opportunity to travel during the weekends. It
was interesting to see other side of Thailand. It was different in few ways compared to
Malaysia. Thailand was so colorful. Thailand is rich with culture and the Thai is very loyal
towards their king and Queen .I think the exchange has made me more independent and
confident. It is something that everyone should try.I will definitely recommend this project to
my friends in future.

APPENDICES

Figure 1 shows my students doing mothers day card

Figure 2 shows one of my classes

Figure 3 shows a briefing session with my students

Figure 4 shows my student doing a family tree