Written by: Jamie Hamley - 25 April 2009
During our 3 month stay at Moung Choum school we also worked with the significantly less well off Souncha school, which is primarily inhabited by the Palaung hill tribe.  The obvious lack of funding for this school (despite the well attended class sizes of 30-35) and the consequential dull school daily life faced by pupils-a small field with two worn out football posts, an old torn Takor net, and a couple of flat balls offer little excitement.  This coupled with the old classrooms sitting on this field, whose desks are rotten and uncomfortable, the teachers blackboards dirty and as old as the walls they perch on, show the school to promise little personal or academic development. 

After a couple of months teaching here we decided we needed to do something for these children, who seem all too often left out of trips and fun activities that bless the children at neighboring MoungChoum.

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Written by: Jamie Hamley - 15 April 2009

Written by: James Hallamore - 10 April 2009

Written by: James Hallamore - 10 April 2009

Leaving a wintry UK behind in early January 2009, I arrived in Thailand full of anxiety. Having recently graduated from University I wanted to do something that was meaningful and worthwhile. Although lying on a beach in southern Thailand has its appeals, I wanted to do something that would be rewarding. In every sense I got that.

For the English teaching placement we were placed in a small town called MoungChoum, 20 minutes from Fang. It was here that we moved into our own Thai house. The house which was located only a 5 minute bicycle ride from school had all the modern features that you would expect from a Thai house – a squat toilet and a cold shower. To begin with it was an experience, but we soon got use to it. Looking back at our time teaching, staying in MoungChoum was probably one of the best decisions we made. We became totally immersed in village life from being invited around people's homes to being known by all the villagers.