Chapter 5 - Something for Nothing

When we first decided to trade in our creature comforts for life on the road with a tribe of backpacking nomads, it was a given that part of the journey was going to be spent volunteering. If we were going to tread the already well trodden paths of Southeast Asia for an entire year trying our utmost to spend as little money as physically possible, there was no question we were going to have to give something back.

So we started to do some investigating into the world of volunteering. Given the fact that we had been apprehended on the streets of London by many a desperate do-gooder determined to deliver Asia’s cries across the globe, we thought it would be pretty easy to find an organisation that would be grateful for the offer of our willing and able hands somewhere along the way.

How wrong we were.

Finding the people, animals and parts of the planet in need wasn’t the problem. There are plenty of those. Finding an organisation that didn’t want to charge us an arm and a leg for our free hands was. Yes, you did read that right. Volunteering organisations charging you to volunteer. (Is that some form of an oxymoron?)

And I’m not just talking about dropping a penny into the donation box on your way out kind of charge. I’m talking, hand over your hard earned £999 first, and only then can you feed the monkeys and clean the shit out of their cage. I shouldn’t be so harsh, you do get “3 meals a day and accommodation throughout your stay on a shared basis with en suite western bathroom,” after you’ve paid for your own flights of course.

But before you start to think I’m beginning to sound like a worthy cow, I do see the advantages of “guilt-free” travel packages like these for people who don’t have the luxury of travelling for a year and want to get more out of their annual holiday than a cocktail induced one night stand and tan lines. It just wasn’t what we were after. That’s all.

So our search continued until we eventually came across Volunteer Teacher Thailand volunteerteacherthailand.org and Fun 4 Kids fun4kidsinthailand.org

Volunteer Teacher Thailand (VTT) is a small non-profit making service, run by volunteer staff who provide free English lessons to children and adults in the Phang Nga province of Thailand.

Now teaching English may seem like a pretty lame way to go about saving the world. But what you have to understand is that tourism is a huge source of employment in Thailand. Euros turned into Bhat that pale bellied foreigners throw around like monopoly money is what puts food on the table. And having the ability to communicate with tourists in English in order to get that money, makes a Thai person more employable.

The thing is, that over 75% of the Thai English speakers in Khao Lak were killed in the Tsunami in 2004 as the majority of them were working in beach-front resorts when it hit. VTT’s free classes give adults the chance to secure jobs as restaurant staff, taxi drivers, shop worker etc. so that they are able to send their children to school, and they give children the opportunity to master English at an early age, so they may have a more promising future.

We were fortunate enough to have spent some time with VTT while in Khao Lak taking the adult classes. These lessons were held in massage parlors, restaurants that had offered up their premises during their quiet hours, and makeshift tables on the street. The students were anyone who wanted to learn. One day it could be a one-on-one session with a petrol attendant wanting to break in to the food industry, the next, a family of masseurs wanting to boost their business.

What amazed us was the appreciation. How grateful they were for our time. It was an incredible experience to teach people who wanted to be taught.

During our stay in Khao Lak we were also able to spend some time with Fun 4 Kids, a volunteer organization that strives to improve the lives of local children by building and installing playground equipment in underprivileged schools, Burmese learning centres and orphanages.

Steve, an English ex-pat who runs the organization, picked us, and the rest of the volunteers, up every morning and took us to the donated workshop just out of town. Here we got to play with paint brushes and some pretty hectic power tools, with the Thai electrics always adding a bit of excitement into the mix. We grafted until the midday heat got that bit too much to bear and then Steve would take us somewhere local (aka cheap) for lunch. The rest of the day was ours to do with what we wanted.

We loved it here. I got to shed a bit of London poundage (or at least I think I did) and we both met some fantastic people, all whilst contributing to the community. It was definitely a win, win situation.

Both VTT and Fun4Kids have become incredibly attached to a local orphanage, Home & Life www.homelifethailand.net, which was established to house children whose parents were unfortunate victims of the Tsunami. At the moment it’s home to about 25 children, and as the schools were on holiday when we there, we got to spend a decent amount of time doing activities with the kids and helping out around the property.

This was probably one of our favourite volunteering experiences. Given the circumstances, we were literally wowed at how happy this place was, and how forward thinking Root and Rasa, the couple who run it are. They’ve recently been given two commercial ovens and have now opened a bakery on site which helps pay for the upkeep of the orphanage. They’re also planning on opening a ‘family’ business, a travel agency, guaranteeing the children a job (if they so wish to take it) when they finish school.

It’s been a pretty intense month, but incredibly rewarding. There’s no doubt we both learnt more than we taught, and experienced more than we thought possible. The next part of our journey won’t be the emotional rollercoaster the first part was, but I have no doubt it’ll be every bit as challenging. In a very different way of course.

We’ve posted some pics on flickr for your viewing pleasure. Check them out here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/43679192@N07/sets/72157622760620057/