Category Stories

Walking Far From Home

“India has a lesson for you, whether you want to accept it or not is your decision”-Sarah Davitt, ProWorld coordinator   This quote was prominently in my mind while I was preparing for India. It stuck out to me while…

Muay Thai and more Friends…

This week in school was an interesting turning point. With the discovery that the children cannot read, Nikki, Gregg, and I revamped our teaching plan. We decided that we would start teaching them to read. We began incorporating vowels with…

We all share roots

I began my journey to South Africa six days ago… I began attempting to write this blog post six days ago. Literally, I have tried to sit down countless times hoping that inspiration would immediately begin to flow through my…

It’s All About Literacy

This week, the whole experience of teaching changed with the change of volunteers. Gregg and Nikki are a great pair of volunteers for me. We work well together. Every night before school, we plan, prepare props, and put together a…

Transitioning

Up until this point, I have been learning from the other volunteer teachers how to go about the tricky parts of this position. From everything from cultural, administrative, and resource issues at hand, there are a lot of compromises from…

Teacher or Student?

Friends, The past couple of days have been an interesting exploration in the school for me. We have come to the conclusion that there are very few resources for us to use. As a result, instead of copying or using…

All the Small Things

I’m finding that so much of what I miss in telling the story of the culture and people of Koh Tao is in the small things. There are a couple specific things having nothing to do with what happened today…

School Days and Mountain-Top Experiences

Friends, The weekend brought some interesting adventures, mainly in my own brain. I spent much of the time writing, reading, and researching possible lesson plans for the children. I was excited to begin teaching on Monday, only to go to…

It almost doesn’t seem real

4 1/2 weeks left. It almost doesn’t seem real. I have to keep reminding myself that I’m leaving. This time last year I was leaving to study abroad in Queensland, Australia for four months. A little bit different of an…

Weekend in Thamel

Upon arriving at the RCDP hostel in Kalanki last Tuesday, I was given a dal bhaat lunch, introduced to several new volunteers, and then told that not only was the hostel already full, but five new people were arriving from…