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Round Square International Service Project - Ladakh
Simone and the local students.
Simone Hu
Over the summer 4 brave girls from The Regent’s School,
Pattaya took on an adventure to go abroad to participate in Round Square
International Service (RSIS) Projects, which take place in various locations
around the world twice a year. Two of the girls went to South Africa, one to
Ladakh and one to Peru, where they had the opportunity to meet with other
delegates from around the world, experience the local culture and
participate in completing various projects to help local communities. Here
is Simone’s reflection on her trip to Ladakh:
Ladakh. Just one word, but yet so powerful. This one name
of a place might not have meaning to anyone else, but to me, it marks an
unforgettable summer under the Indian heat and the mountain’s cold air.
Along with 13 other international students and 10 Indian students, I
embarked on an adventure that created many lifelong friends and some
exceptional experiences that will forever be imprinted in my mind.
Participants of RSIS Ladakh
sightseeing at Taj Mahal.
On July 7th, I set out for New Delhi, India, not knowing
really what was going to happen and who any of the other students were.
Little did I know that just 3 ฝ weeks later, I will be dreading the thought
of even leaving India and other students.
After the first few days settling into India and then
flying to Leh, the capital of Ladakh, the most northern state in India lying
in the shadows of the Himalayas, we finally arrived at our campsite which
was to be our home for the next few weeks in Thiksey. Thiksey is a town just
a ride away from Leh and holds the largest monastery (gompa) in Ladakh.
The main goal for our trip was to help construct two more
rooms for the Thiksey-Lamdon Model School dormitory. For the next two weeks,
we lived near the school, taught at the school and helped create from ground
up these new dorms for students coming from afar or orphans whom have
nowhere else to stay. The students of the school were so kind and warmly
welcoming us into their classrooms, where we got to teach (play with) every
grade from year 1 to year 9. And to think the oldest students were only 4
years younger than us. The little kids were a joy to play around with and
with the older students we made some lasting friendships and promises from
us to visit them in the future. We even had many laughs as they danced and
sang songs from all over the world including Justin Bieber!
RSIS group trekking in the
Himalayas.
Stone collecting, sand filling, mud making, brick laying,
collecting and cutting logs, mud spreading, water collecting, you name it
and we did it, but not without some complaints and many breaks in between.
But all our efforts finally paid off when finishing more than what we
expected to do, having a third and fourth room in the process. Once a week,
each group got to have ‘a day off’ where they taught at the school and did
domestic duties for the day such as cleaning up and helping the Snow Leopard
Team with our food. To end each evening, the group of the day organized an
activity for the whole group to do from speed dating to dancing competitions
to reflecting on our trip so far.
The final week consisted of a 5 day trek in the
Himalayas. By then we were all laughing comfortably with each other and
acting like a family, supporting each other during the trek at times where
it seemed like we could just fall off the edge. Although it was hard and
extremely tiring, we all felt accomplished after arriving back in Leh and
now we can all say we climbed the Himalayas!
While the trip sounds like a lot of work, we had several
breaks in between where we got to experience the culture and traditions of
Ladakh. Ladakh is often known as ‘Little Tibet’ and the majority of the
inhabitants are Buddhist. We visited numerous monasteries, learnt about
Buddhism, saw many traditional dances and costumes, shopped in Ladakh style
markets and some of us even got invited to the children’s homes. The boys
even got to participate in a coming of age tradition where they shot at a
target using a bow and arrow. To cap that all off, we visited the third
highest motorable road in the world, visited Pangong Lake, which if any of
you have seen “3 Idiots” would recognize as being a location in the film and
the famous Taj Mahal.
By the end of the trip, the group of us experienced
everything together, from the harsh realities of living in Ladakh to the
culture shock to creating friends from the school, the trip and even the
staff of the Snow Leopard Team to tiring ourselves out from work and
trekking and becoming sick. We all grew in our individual ways and
discovered new things about ourselves but as a group we became family. As
like all the other people who went on an RSIS trip before, Ladakh became
like a second home to me and I would return there in an instant if I could.
For the rest of my life, Ladakh and all these incredible people that I have
met will always have a special place in my heart.
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Regent’s girls venture to South Africa
Eye & Jisu
Over the summer 4 brave girls from the Regent’s School,
Pattaya took on an adventure to go abroad to participate in Round Square
International Service (RSIS) projects, which take place in various locations
around the world twice a year. Two of the girls went to South Africa, one to
Ladakh and one to Peru, where they had the opportunity to meet with other
delegates from around the world, experience the local culture and
participate in completing various projects to help local communities. Here
is Eye & Jisu reflection on their trip to South Africa:
Eye and Jisu in South Africa.
On the 9th of July, we flew with Mr. Thomas to
Phillippolis, South Africa, to participate in an RSIS. Our main aim was to
help construct a classroom for a local pre-nursery school. We worked for
about 5-6 hours a day, except on the weekends.
Every day, we were given various tasks which included:
brick laying, sand shifting, cement mixing, plastering and teaching the
little kids, which we all thought was the most tiring task out of all of
them! We worked for 2 weeks, and luckily one of the Mondays was Nelson
Mandela’s birthday, so we had the opportunity to work with the local
teenagers to do some services for 67 minutes (this was what Mandela asked
for his birthday).
Even though we had quite a tough time at the work site,
we took some break in between. On the first weekend we went white-water
rafting in the Orange River and stayed at a campsite with bonfires, and this
was a really refreshing break!
Making new friends at the
Round Square International Service project in South Africa.
On the second weekend, we went to the Tiger sanctuary and
to the church to be blessed. At last, on the following Monday, we flew back
to Johannesburg and had 3 days of Safari at Kruger National Park, which
again, was a fascinating experience.
The reason we decided to go on this project can’t be
simply summarised into few words. Mr. Crouch, the Round Square director of
our school, first suggested that we participate in the upcoming RSIS and we
decided that it would be a unique experience with lasting impacts on
ourselves. We had already heard about the RSIS in Kenya from other students,
so we had vague ideas of what to expect. From this project, we looked
forward to making new friends and doing something we had never done before.
From this project, we surely learned so many things we
otherwise never would have. Being in a country we had never been before, by
ourselves, and becoming friends with people from such broad range of
countries helped us become more confident and independent individual beings.
We had to face the cruel reality of Philippolis everyday, which made us
realise how much we accepted things for granted. Also, we gained much deeper
and more honest understanding of ourselves.
Should anybody ask us if we recommend others to go on a
RSIS, we will not hesitate even a second to say ‘YES!’ The RSIS is going to
be a one in a lifetime experience that is unique, fun and memorable. Also,
it is probably the biggest project available and is one of the most
challenging and yet the most rewarding one. We’ve gain so much, done so
much, and had so much fun during our project that we urge everyone to go on
it and make a difference!
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Regents School welcomes Royal Wedding party
Standing (L to R) Ricksel Namgyel, cousin of the King of Bhutan;
Rakchanok Techavijit, executive director of the Regent’s Schools
Thailand; Kuenzang Dechen, counselor of the Bhutanese Ambassador; Dr.
Virachai Techavijit, chairman of the Regent’s Schools Thailand and UK;
H.E. Tshering Dorji, ambassador of the Kingdom of Bhutan, Martin Kneath,
principal of the Regent’s School; Tenzin Wangchuk, cousin of the King of
Bhutan and Martyn Smith, head of secondary of the Regent’s School,
Pattaya. Seated 4th right is King Jigme’s scholarship student Phuntsho
Choden.
Dr. Virachai Techavijit, chairman
of the Regent’s Schools Thailand and UK welcomed His Excellency Tshering
Dorji, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Bhutan who presided over the
blessing ceremony and exhibition celebrating the royal wedding of H.M.
the King Jigme of Bhutan to Jetsun Pema.
The event consisted of a cultural
presentation, a Bhutanese national costumes show, an exhibition and
blessing cards and a blessing book signed by students.
Ricksel Namgyel and Tenzin Wangchuk, cousins of the King of Bhutan
together with Phuntsho Choden, H.M. the and other students joined the
events.
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Helping hands for flood victims
Asian U students at Channel 3 Studios, in a
good mood and ready for departure to the Thammasat Campus in Rangsit.
Ulrich Werner
Their day began early on Thursday, October 13: At
4.30 a.m., the busses left Asian University and carried 20 students and
several female staff from Asian U Registry, Admissions, Accounting, and
Library to join with TV Channel 3 helping those who left their homes due
to the current flooding in Thailand. They went to the Thammasat Campus
in Rangsit where over 2,000 flood victims found temporary shelter.
The members of Asian U staff looked after the
displaced families’ children for a day, while the students helped
package donated goods and clothes for distribution to the needy.
Late at night, they all returned exhausted but happy,
and they all agreed they would do it again as soon as possible. “There’s
nothing better than doing good,” one student said on her way to shower
and bed.
IB Biology students visit Khun Mechai
Mechai Viravaidya tells
Regent’s students about his work.
Carolyn Neylon
Our IB Biology last week travelled to ‘Cabbages and
Condoms’ in Jomtien, to meet with the inspirational Mechai Viravaidya.
We hoped to learn more about the risks of HIV and how his work over the
past 3 decades has helped reduce infection rates in Thailand and reduce
the discrimination experienced by infected people.
We gathered in the conference room at the beautiful
resort and Khun Mechai talked to us about his work, always asking us to
challenge ourselves and society around us, especially when we are given
‘no’ as an answer - think outside the box and find another way to solve
your problem. That is what he has done, and by thinking like this he has
lowered birth rates and reduced HIV infection rates in Thailand.
IB Biology students, Mrs.
Neylon and Mechai Viravaidya.
When he launched his NGO 37 years ago, he focused on
trying to reduce the birth rate of Thailand which was around 7 children
per family and was very successful.
His main action for trying to lower birth rate was by
education. He educated people all around Thailand, varying from small
villages to large cities. He provided education for family planning and
provided contraceptives for people. Later on, he enlisted help from
different parts of societies like monks and the police and birthrates
fell dramatically.
As HIV started to appear in Thailand he thought it
was essential to educating people about the infection. He taught people
how to prevent or lower chances of getting infected to HIV/AIDS; i.e.,
use condoms, and he taught to not discriminate those who are HIV
positive. His prior work had helped him build up trust and good
relationships and so he was able to reduce the HIV infection rates with
help from children, students, the army and monks.
Mechai is very knowledgeable and cares deeply about
the people he works with. He is keen to spread his thoughts and educate
people with what he does and how it can help people and society we live
in. He also has a great sense of humour! I learned some social history
about Thailand, that HIV is not a death sentence and that discrimination
is wrong and unfair.
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Garden helps flood victims
Helping others!
Mr. Mark Beales
Kind-hearted students from Garden International
School (GIS) recently helped deliver supplies and funds to
flood-stricken communities in northern Thailand.
The school’s International Baccalaureate (IB)
students wanted to help some of the victims of the flooding. They asked
students and parents to bring in donations for people affected by
floods, such as new clothes or tinned food. Donations were put in the
front office and then on then taken upcountry to help those most in
need.
To help out further, a mufti (non-uniform) day was
held on October 20, where everyone donated 50B to take part. A bake sale
was also held during break time and raised more funds.
The mufti day raised an amazing 31,444 baht, so well
done to everyone who has played their part and helped the flood victims.
Students baked cakes and sold them
to raise funds for flood victims.
Parents, students and staff
donated food and other goods to flood victims
in northern Thailand.
A mufti sale at GIS raised more
than 30,000 baht in a single day.
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