Teaching at a Monastery 

Our volunteers teach novice Buddhist monks, middle school to high school age, at different monastery schools located in the northern city of Chiang Mai. Objectives of the schools  include "enhancing the knowledge of monks and novices in both religious and secular subjects" and "providing secondary education for boys who are unable to afford such opportunities elsewhere." All the students at four of the schools are novice monks and many, but not all, of the faculty and administration are Buddhist monks. One of the schools has both novice monk students and non-monk students (however the majority are monks) separated by classroom.   Many of the novice monks are orphans from the hill tribes, and some of them are learning Thai as a second language and English as a third.  These teaching positions are a great way to learn about Buddhism and contribute in a meaningful way. After morning alms rounds, the day begins with morning assembly at the monastery schools.  All the novices, line up and the faculty and staff give morning announcements, followed by prayers and meditation.  Classes begin at 8:30.  Fresh Thai curries and stir fried dishes, served over steamed jasmine rice are served for lunch.  Volunteers are encouraged to share their lunch time chatting with novices and other staff.  After lunch, more prayers and meditation is practiced before classes resume in the afternoon. 

Elephant Sanctuary 

The Asian Elephant is only thriving due to the work of sanctuaries and reserves, and this program gives volunteers a chance to help with this massive effort.  Volunteers live on-site in amazing treehouses that lean out over the river, and they assist the hill tribe staff with bathing and feeding schedules.  Later in the afternoon volunteers will be broken up into different tasks.  The elephant park is big and has a very large staff.  It’s almost a community of its own.  Everyone living in the surrounding village is either staff or a family member of a staff person at the park.  Therefore volunteers will be asked to help out and work with the families and children of the park’s workers.  Some volunteers will teach an hour or two of English at the local hill tribe school.  Other volunteers will stay at the park and teach English to the elephant trainers and other staff.  Volunteers may be asked to help out with other areas of the elephant camp during their volunteer service.  These additional things could be anything from taking care of one of the baby elephants to moving equipment.  Any little bit helps in the development of the camp. 

Chiang Mai - City Beautification Project

One of the drawbacks of Thailand’s rapid development has been the overcrowding of city streets and loss of green spaces.  Due to this reason, recently a movement was initiated by Chiang Mai City Hall in an attempt to beautify the city.  This movement included the development of the parks and green spaces, along with putting flowers and other plants where they aren’t usually seen, like bridges or intersections.  The people of Chiang Mai take great pride in the appearance of their city, however, like in so many cities throughout the world, Chiang Mai City’s budget for beautifying the city isn’t very large and any assistance volunteers can give in this area will be greatly appreciated by the residents of Chiang Mai.  Volunteers work with local staff on planting and planning.

Child Care – Single Mothers’ Home 

This center provides a haven for unwed pregnant girls from the local hill tribes.  The girls are given pre-natal care, Thai, English, and computer classes.  At around 7:30 am the older children at the Single Mother’s Home get on their bikes and the home’s van to head off to school.  The youngsters stay at the home.  While the moms take classes on how to become self-sufficient adults, the younger children need to be looked after by those who enjoy spending time with adorable infants and toddlers.  Although many of these young children have had a difficult beginning before arriving at the Single Mother’s Home, they are fortunate to receive the opportunity to have a cross-cultural experience of being cared for by a foreigner so early in life.  The impact of a cross-cultural experience during early childhood is a great benefit to children, especially those who can really use the advantage.  Volunteers involved in this project will have the chance to experience cradling a newborn ethnic Thai or hill tribe youngster in a bamboo constructed house surrounded by rice paddies and mountains, while the child’s mother is learning the essential skills to improve her own and her young child’s life and future.

Construction – Single Mothers’ Home

You can often times hear the rattling of a “steel buffalo” (the Thai word for the small two wheeled, hand held rice paddy tractors) in the distance from the gardens and rice paddies of the Single Mother’s Home.  Although surrounded by rice paddies and mountains the home is only a 15 minute drive from the bustling streets of Chiang Mai.  Volunteers are needed to assist with the building of new facilities on the property (mostly out of bamboo) and gardening projects (they try to grow most of their own vegetables and fruits on-site).