By Matthew Williams-Spooner | International Volunteer
Here in Mae Sai, the Half Day School program has just started the new school year. The students are back from their summer break and it’s great to once again have the Centre filled with the sounds of fun and learning, which we’ve all missed while the kids were away. Academic classes and vocational training have resumed and the Centre, where the Half Day School is located, is again filled with the new and improving abilities of the children.
The morning air carries the scent of food as children learn and help to cook for themselves and their classmates. The sound of tools attests the new projects and continuing improvements around the Centre. This gives the children the opportunity to learn and to help preserve the second home where their days are made brighter. Among the many other life skills and vocational training classes going on, the agriculture site stands a lush green. The field is located just outside the Centre building and has begun to soak up the seasonal rainfall. Students and staff members diligently maintain the agriculture site throughout the school year.
Last but not least, the games and spontaneous fun of happy, carefree children have returned. Badmintons fly between friends, whose games are driven more by enjoyment than rules. Soccer balls curve and score to shouts of success and broad, delighted smiles. Volleyballs rise and fall to a chorus of laughs; the score less important than having fun with friends, trying their best and surpassing their own abilities. And the sun sets each day, splashing baby blues, inviting oranges, deep purples, and delicate pinks across the sky, as it watches the children return home with warm hearts, light minds, and the promise of an approaching tomorrow.
These activities mean a lot to the vulnerable children whom the Half Day School program cares for. One example is May, a 14-year-old student who has been at the School for 6 years and recently graduated from the 4th grade. Abandoned by her mother and left with distant relatives in Mae Sai, May has no citizenship papers and knows only that she was born in Nakorn Pathom Province in Central Thailand. May’s foster family cannot provide all the care she needs, since her primary caregivers are sick, elderly family members, so we make sure that she has access to basic food, water, clothing and medical necessities.
May faces significant inducement to leave school and to work in order to help support her foster family. Half Day School teachers appreciate the situation, and, though May will work part time, they have convinced her to remain in the vocational training until she finishes the program. This means that she maintains contact with the School, making it easier to monitor her situation, while she will also continue to learn important skills with which she can support herself in the future. For May, as for the rest of our children, the Half Day School program provides an opportunity for a safer, happier, and more secure life.
To all of the supporters of the Half Day School and DEPDC/GMS, thank you for your kind attention and generosity. We love the work we do and we are always trying to improve and refine its programs. We would love to know what supporters think of the program and any ideas for how together we can continue to tackle poverty, exploitation and human trafficking. As Margaret Mead said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”
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