OCIP Day 3
2007/11/22 at9:24 AM
The fragrance of Thai style fried rice greeted us as we started off the day with a hearty breakfast. We then set off for the school. Most of us were excited to start work today. We were hoping to follow up with our great start from yesterday and ensure that all the teams succeed in their objectives.
When we entered the school, the cooling atmosphere immediately caught our attention. The school is on a mountain and temperature is far lower than Singapore.
As we sat down for morning assembly, we noticed that the Thais were reading intently. Following the morning prayers, the work group promoting English introduced the Phrase of the day to the whole school. The Thais being hospitable, repeated the phrase with us.
As the students disappeared in various directions for their classes, the OCIP TEAM divided into its respective sub-groups to carry on with our work. The Drama work group rehearsed their skit and had a joy of a time working with their Thai counterparts. The Drama team has completed ‘blocking’ for their skit. We found out that ‘blocking’ means to get the various actors to enter, leave and stand at the various positions. The team intends to finish their rehearsals tomorrow in time for the performance on Friday.
The Library work group put up posters around the school to advertise for the English Corner in the library. As their team had completed all of their objectives for the trip, several of their members helped out with the other workgroups.
The Media resource work group managed to overcome the technical problem of not being able to upload pictures onto the blog site due to the low bandwidth of the internet connection. They emailed compressed picture files via email to Ms Lim Hui Qi (WRS) in Singapore. Ms Lim then uploaded the pictures onto the blogsite using the higher bandwidth in Singapore.
In the evening, we visited the Maechaem Police Station. The policemen were very hospitable and showed us around the station. The visit was really and eye opener as we got to see a prison cell and also found out how the police carried out their jobs. We found out that they did more than just providing security. They were closely involved with their local community in all their activities. For example, they even pass messages from people who live in the city to their family members living in the remote mountain areas that have no telecommunications.
Reported By Danial and Abu Sofian
OCIP DAY 2
2007/11/21 at10:19 AM
5.30 am: Time to wake up!
6.00 am We did last minute adjustments to our plans over breakfast and got ready to move out.
7am: We moved out and made our way towards the school. We were all nervous as we did not know what to expect on the first day. We were wondering if the Thai students would be shy or if they would cooperate with us? We were also wondering if they would make the sharing session a hard time for us? Our hearts beat faster as we approached the school.
When we arrived at the school, we were surprised to see that there were groups of students sweeping or cleaning the school without the supervision of teachers. We asked ourselves all of us back at school could also be as responsible as them.
7.40am: We assembled at their parade square. During the flag raising ceremony, Sofian and Natalie raised our school flag together with the Thai flag. We were then requested to sing our national anthem. Although we did not have music to back us up, all of us sang as loudly as we could. Following that Mr Siva addressed the school population and introduced Natalie as the leader of the student team. Mr Daniel Lim then presented the 900 English books that we brought from Singapore over to the school principal.
We were brought into the room named “sweet dreams” and then introduced to the 60 Thai student that have been chosen to work with us. The Thai students were divided into various work groups and we started work with them.
All the teams started off with the ice breaker activities which were planned before hand and it went smoothly. It raised our morale as their level of cooperativeness was really unbelievable. They did not reject anything when we suggested it to them and were even not afraid of doing a forfeit after losing a game.
We finished our planned work for the day at about 4.30pm. We stayed back till 6.30pm to play various games with them This gave us a chance to bond with the students. Our teachers also joined in the games and it gave us a chance to get to know them better.
The sun set quite early. As we left the school gates at 6.45pm it was completely dark. Mr Siva led us back to our hotel through the dirt track and the padi fields. We walked in a straight line like small kids and followed each other closely. Back in the hotel, we had dinner and then met for daily reflection time.
Before bedtime, we realized that some of the rooms had flickering lights that made it like a “disco ballroom”. The hotel owner told our teachers that they will repair it by tomorrow.
Report by : Peh Ming Bin , Muhd Danial
From: Shikin
Love you too Shera. And I miss my family!!
From: Sofian
Hi Mum, Dad, I’m here missing you . See you soon!
From: Elyn
Hi everyone, the weather is fine, I didn’t vomit at all. Miss you all so much! See you soon! Muacks
From: Afifah
Yoha! Yanz: thanks so much! I love you guys to the core! Nurul: I Miss You Too! See you soon alright! muackxx
From: Aainaa
Hey drama queen!!! I miss u too!!! Take care okay!! MB will publish the pictures soon :)
From: May
Daddy and mummy, I miss you guys! I enjoyed myself here. Hope to see you guys soon!
From: Kinza
Ammi, I miss u so much!!!! :)
From: Shah
Ayah, has my mother filled up the pail with tears? Just kidding. The MaeChaem school is kind of nice. I’m going home in one piece.
From: Jun Hong
Hello! I don't know whether you will be seeing this but I want to let u all know that I am fine, the food, place that I live in is great! The Thai people are very friendly.
From: Denis
Hi! I am doing fine here in MaeCheam. Miss you all. See you all soon!
From: Surej
Hello, family. How are you? I am fine. I am having a lot of fun. The room is nice. It is extremely cold at night and after taking a bath. The people are very nice. See you later. Miss you all!
From: Sam
Oh My God, this is awesome; they sleep under the tree in between lessons during free time: not us, them. Haha, take care buddies and friends: we will be back this Sunday. Miss me!
From: Kok Hou
Progress in the field of robotics has been fruitful. Who realise that the Thais learn very quickly.
From: Ming Bin
Don’t worry people, I will try to upload the photo as soon as possible it’s fun up here! Stay tune ~
From: Danial
Hello! Sorry but I cannot upload the pictures due to the low internet connectivity. By the way I’m fine thank you. Hope all of you are ok. Alright, see you soon.
From: Suraya
I'm okay and I'm having a lot of fun!
From: Aisyah
Hello family! I’m still fine! See you guys soon …
From: Natalie
Hello everyone! I miss home... And my besties! Time here has been great, especially when I’ve made so many new friends! I’m doing fine here… We’re in for more great stuff, so wait and see! See ya soon!
From: Mei Yin
Yo … I miss my mom.
OCIP WRSS DAY 1
2007/11/20 at9:00 AM
Monday.
Yesterday, early morning, 5am, everyone reported to school. Everyone was excited and ready to go as all of us were looking forward to this trip. As we bade farewell to our dearest parents, tears poured over several of our friend’s cheeks. All of us marched toward the customs check in the airport, hopes high.
The first flight was from Singapore to Bangkok. There, we were awed by the sheer beauty of the International airport of Bangkok. Following customs checks and moments spent waiting, our second flight arrived- the one from Bangkok to Chiang Mai.
The Thai airways flight indeed was as smooth as silk. Finally, touchdown on Chiang Mai city. Indeed, most of us were extremely excited, we were finally in Thailand.
As soon as clearing another round of customs clearance, we boarded vans and made our way to the Karen village. Little did we know that the journey was a protracted ordeal. The van went on for miles and miles but the road seemed endless. Even after two hours of driving, we were still not there! No wonder several of us experienced motion-sickness in the van.
Who could take it turns after turn going up and down the mountainous regions of Chiang Mai? Luckily, to fight off the unwanted mess in the van, the girls chit-chatted and helped one another forget about the trip and to endure the challenging route.
Meanwhile, the boys were busy singing and cracking jokes throughout.
It’s amazing how sheer true friendship can enable one to overcome one’s weaknesses. After enduring chilling wind blowing into the vans and after a great meal for lunch, Our clan finally reached Karen Village. FINALLY!. The tour guide, also a pastor of a nearby church, showed us the daily activities of the villages.
One of the highlights was when we witnessed how the villages woven yarn into beautifully crafted bags and clothing. Not to mention the photos we took of the cute children there.We were indeed amazed that these people could produce such fine quality work. It only goes to show that teamwork goes a long way.
Walking past the huts we caught a glimpse of Huge roosters and pigs rarely seen in Singapore. Another interesting activity was the witnessing of the husking process of rice done by the women there.Stopping by a warehouse for refreshments, we enjoyed playing on the swings .
After a LONG DAY, we returned to our hotel for evaluation. After which we will now be going to bed as tomorrow there will be lots for us to do and we would need a lot of rest.
