By Souly QuachAngkham | Director/Founder
"Teacher Zach" Written by Souly QuachAngkham Edited by Rebecca Carnevale
Zachary is a young college student from Boston, Massachusetts who has recently contributed his time to help children in Laos. Zachary has a great heart and has not only contributed his time, but some of his personal funds to create lessons that make conversational English interesting for his students. Before his time in Laos, Zachary had been teaching in Thailand for one month. Zachary contacted SEDA with his interested to volunteer in Laos, and within 48 hours SEDA had coordinated two sets of English courses for Zach to teach – one at the school in Ban Phao and the other in Ban Hai.
It was originally thought that only 8 students would attend Zachary’s class at the Ban Hai School, but it turns out that over 55 students enrolled! The students ranged in ages from 6 to 16 and enjoyed his style of teaching. The children did not know any English when they began the course, but within three days they were able to talk about their name, family, and other everyday things
Zacahry also taught at the Ban Phao School. Zachary only had two days of classes at this school and 120 students showed up – all eager to learn as much as they could during his short stay.
Zachary plans to return to Laos during his Christmas holidays to teach again. He believes education plays a very important role in providing children with more opportunities.
During his last day at Ban Phao the village presented him with a thank-you ceremony called Baci. During the Baci, a white string was tied to Zachary which was blessed from the Buddhist Temple. The ceremony thanked him for the contribution he had made to the village and wished him a safe journey home. Zachary was very touched by the ceremony and reiterated his plans to return to Laos. SEDA will support and coordinate Zachary’s return.
SEDA was able to successfully coordinate Zachary’s first trip to Laos on 48 hours notice! As SEDA’s goal is to aid the rural poor in Laos, we encourage and support volunteers like Zachary who have the same goal. Presently, Zachary is back in Boston and will help raise funds for the school. The condition of Ban Phao and Ban Hai shool is very poor and materials are needed like books, toys, etc.
All the students have a message for Zachary: “Thank you Teacher Zach and come back again!”
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
