As a Peace Corps volunteer in any country, we have a pretty unique and in depth perspective on the problems that face our host countries. As such, we also have many opportunities to partner with other organizations that are also doing good work in our respective countries. I’ve had a chance to see and hear about some of the real, on the ground differences that a variety of organizations are making here in Thailand, and thought I would share their good work with you.
First, I’m going to highlight the American Women’s Club of Thailand, because I got to spend this past weekend working with them at their annual English Camp in rural Isaan (northeastern Thailand).
History of the American Women’s Club
The AWC was founded in 1955 as a way to help female expats develop friendships and integrate into Thailand through social, cultural and philanthropic opportunities. Membership is open to women of any nationality living in Thailand.
AWC’s Scholarship Program in Thailand
In 1995, the AWC started their Scholarship Program, when Peace Corps volunteers approached them and described how girls rarely finish high school after completing the compulsory nine years. Participants sponsor a girl who has the desire to complete her high school education (grades 10-12, as they are non-compulsory) but whose family is financially unable to support her attendance.
For the current school year, they raised over 2 million baht (around $70,000 US) and were able to sponsor 375 girls. In the nearly 20 years of the program, the AWC has been able to support over 6,000 girls in their education.
Annual English Camp for Scholarship Recipients
But beyond the sponsorship, the Scholarship Program also hosts an annual English Camp for girls to attend. This gives them the much desired, but rarely presented, opportunity to learn and practice English with native speakers. For the past several years, they have enlisted the help of Peace Corps volunteers to assist at the camp, and this year I had the pleasure of attending the event, which was held in Yasothon.
We started the camp on Friday, getting the girls all checked in. They received goodie bags with notebooks, pencils and books as well as a t-shirt.
We peace Corps volunteers entertained the girls by playing some fun icebreaker and team building activities. Then we had an opening ceremony, of course, and broke into our right groups. The girls, from 12 schools were all mixed together and would be going through the rotations together as a team, escorted by Peace Corps volunteers. We worked together to come up with a team name and cheer, which we performed whenever we entered a lesson.
On the second day we went through five of the right rotations. There were lessons on shopping, a room where the girls played Jeopardy, a room about information literacy hosted by people from the US Embassy, a lesson on pronouns and “Build a Woman” (a less morbid title for the game Hangman).
That evening, each school gave a performance, either a dance or a skit or a combination of both. The evening event ended with the volunteers performing the “Cha Cha Slide” and getting the girls involved which then morphed into a short dance party to a “Koh Jai Lek Bur Toh” remix.
Finally on the final day we finished moving through the rotations, with my group stopping by a pronunciation lesson, a lesson to make what I grew up calling a “cootie catcher” but with conversation starting questions inside instead of fortunes and finally, a station of just fun games. We had lunch, then a closing ceremony and then everyone was on their way.
Effects of the English Camp on the Girls
There was a visible change in the girls’ presentation of themselves, showing an increase in confidence in themselves and their abilities. Many hugs and pictures were shared fat the end if the camp and a handful if girls in the group that I escorted around made sure to tell me, “I love you,” before we parted ways.
It was clear how much the scholarships these girls receive actually has an impact on their lives, because I’m certain that many if these bright young girls would have been out in the fields harvesting rice that day if they were not afforded the opportunity to continue their schooling.