October 2010

Time for another update.

I went to Canada for 6 weeks and have now been back for a little over a month. It was nice to be back in Canada for a short time in the summer. I don't miss the cold weather at all. I got to see the people in St Catharines, my brother and one niece from out west and I also got to see a friend that I hadn't seen in a very long time which was nice.

I am now able to ride my motorcycle to anywhere I want to go which really saves on transportation costs. It used to cost me 100 baht to go and come back from anywhere. Now I fill up my tank with 80 baht and it lasts me around 3 weeks. It's also much more convenient since I don't have to wait for taxis and songtails anymore.

The kids at Mercy are now enjoying a 3 week break from school. We have designed a program for them which includes some lessons and a lot of game time. We went to the crocodile farm a couple days ago. I think the kids enjoyed it. We saw a croc show, as well as various other animals. There was a great playground there and the kids played for over an hour. Next week we will go to the beach and to another friend's house who has a pool and a big yard.

I imagine that the next couple of months will be quite busy. We are planning a thanksgiving dinner (american thanksgiving) and then a Christmas dinner. It is also Mercy's 10th anniversary this year.

June

Ok, another update. It seems like time is flying. The kids are all back in school now except the 3 smallest ones who are too young to go still. They do preschool at Mercy. We have started an English program at Mercy in the afternoons. I teach 4 days a week and another person teaches 1 day per week. The children are in groups so they get English class either 1 or 2 days per week. We would also like to start computer class but we don’t yet have any curriculum to teach them. The kids seem to enjoy the English class. It’s got games and songs so it’s more fun than work.


I also still do much of the administration and grant writing. I do have help with the grants now though which is good because this is something that I have never done before coming here. I also have been in charge of keeping the volunteers in work. Our volunteer coordinator is in the USA right now so I have been taking over some of her duties temporarily. It is wonderful to have volunteers but sometimes it’s difficult to keep them all busy. I know at Mercy, we are all volunteers technically, but I’m referring to the ones who come for a short time.

I decided finally that I needed some transportation while here in Pattaya. I bought a motorcycle and have spent the past 2 weeks learning how to drive it. I am getting fairly good at it now although I don’t usually go over 35km/h. I don’t yet have my licence so I can only practice right around Mercy. I have to go get my licence shortly. I’m just not sure I am able to do the test yet. You have to drive back and forth between pylons (not very far apart) and then drive on a skinny wall for 20 ft. If your foot touches the ground at all, you fail.

I would love to come back to Canada for a visit this summer but as of yet I don’t have the finances to do so. I would have to find work for 6 weeks while I was there just to cover my ticket. If anyone knows of a place that would hire for only 6 weeks, please let me know.


Sharon

Well another month has passed and I thought it was time for a new update.


It is the summer break for the Thai schools so we have all the kids at the Mercy Center during the day now. The oldest ones are taking English lessons off-site in the afternoons since someone has sponsored them for this and I am continuing to teach the little ones. They are very bright children and seem to pick up on the language and the phonics that I teach them. We make crafts, read books, and do puzzles and games in the class also. We have class 4 days a week for 1 hour without any translator so the children are forced to learn to understand me. Of course, I do understand some of what they say in Thai also, but really encourage them to use English.

The rest of my time at Mercy is spent doing administration and grant research. A volunteer has inputted almost 2000 books into the library program so it is getting organized too. He has spent many hours working in there which has saved me a lot of time. We would not be nearly so far if I had to do it alone.

Two volunteers are here from PEI for 3 weeks. I have shown them around the city a little bit (I don’t know where much is). We have been to the market, Carrefour, Lukdod (souvenir place), and this coming week we are going for Thai massage. I rarely buy anything when we go shopping but I just enjoy looking.

I have finished my TEFL course that I was taking. It was a lot of work but I think it was worth it as I now know how to put together lesson plans that will help the children to learn better and stay interested.

I have moved into Pattaya now (from Ban Chang which is a 45 min drive away) so that I can work at Mercy full-time instead of only 2 days per week. This has allowed me to take on additional responsibilities and spend more time also with the children.

Teaching (March 2010)

I have been continuing to teach the preschool children. We have learned a few letters and this week I did a review game and they seem to be remembering what I have taught them. Soon the thai schools have their long break (like our summer) so I will be helping with the older kids too. I have to help plan 8 weeks of activities, including english teaching. It should be fun though. We will be taking trips to the beach and other places too so they are not just at the house the whole 8 weeks. I now live in Pattaya which means I can help at Mercy full-time instead of just 2 days per week.
I am also hoping to take a trip to Qatar where I will teach english for a month or so to get some experience and more ideas for what to do here.

February Update

I have started to teach English to the preschool children at mercy. They had their first lesson on Tuesday. I taught them about their body…head, arms, legs… Of course we did the head and shoulders knees and toes song which they like. They do it in Thai also. Then they glued paper cut out in shapes of body parts to make a body. They seemed to enjoy themselves and I will see what they remember when I go in again next week. Fortunately, they have a very good preschool teacher who knows a little English (just not enough to teach) and she will help them throughout the week with what I taught. Next week they are going to learn the letter s. We have the Jolly Phonics program and we are going to see how that works out with them.


We also have finally received the library program. I have started entering the data into the program but it will take a while. We are going to ask for volunteers from the church to help out with that so we can get it up and running as soon as possible.

I have also been asked to do grant research. I have to look up companies that might be willing to give to certain Mercy projects. It is a very time consuming process but I will see what I can find.

I am now taking a TEFL course online. Mercy has funded this for me as I am teaching the Mercy kids. It’s a 100 hour course and I can take up to 6 months to finish it but I don’t think it will take me nearly that long. I have submitted my first assignment and I am just waiting to get the marks back.

In Ban Chang (where I live), we have just discovered a slum. There is also a school right next door to it. The school has 155 children from k to 6. The only toys in the whole kindergarten class are a small bucket of building blocks (like Lego only not as good). Mercy has given me some toys and puzzles to give to that school which we will hopefully bring this week.

I am still enjoying the weather here. We have had lunch on the beach a couple times and I actually got a sunburn last week from being in the back of the truck too long. Anyone tired of the cold and snow should come for a visit. It really is lovely here.