Thailand
Thailand Community Service Tour 2015
"My part may be small, but I am still doing my part".
We heard this from an elderly woman who works for Second Chance at Bangkok where she recylces second-hand goods into new products. She was one of the many inspirational people we met throughout the amazing two weeks we spent in Thailand.
Over the span of fifteen days, we built walls and we build friendships. We scaled the giants- the mountains, the elephants. We tasted the life in Thailand and tasted its amazing food. We saw great differences and hope we made some as well.
The main goal of our trip was to help repair the much needed irrigation system for the farms of a small community in Northern Thailand. I'm not sure if we had made a lasting impact on the lives of the people we met, but what we, all eleven students, can agree on is that our lives had definitely been changed. For me, what's changed the most is that I now appreciate the simple things in life more so than I had before the trip, like school, and even simpler things, like the sunrise very morning.
Our trip was beyond the fifteen days we spent in Thailand. It took months of preparation beforehand. We got to know each other and where we were headed. We also held many fundraisers for our community project from a Trivia Night to the many sausage sizzles at Bunnings. We took many steps in ensuring we got the most out of our two weeks.
Unfortunately, we did not get the numbers needed to run the trip this year but because the school and the students that participate believe strongly in the value of this trip we will be launching Thailand 2017 in Term 3 this year. We will be inviting students in Years 10,11 and 12 to take this opportunity to experience what we experienced. So maybe start thinking about the possiblities right now!
Just as the woman we met in Bangkok said, take part in this simple way to make great differences not only to the lives of others, but also to your own.
Next month: 'The Wilson Diaries'
Jose Melegrito
Year 12 Student