We spent the journey getting to know each other and speculating about the other four British volunteers, who we'd be meeting at the airport. As we all gathered together with our huge backpacks at Terminal 3 and introduced ourselves, we six Brits - Sarah, Andy, Jenny, Julia, Lauren and me - had no idea what lay ahead. I wish I'd known then that the month to come would change my life...maybe I could have prepared a bit better!

To Be Continued (one very VERY long plane journey later...)

Longtal boat again

Siam Niramit cultural dinner show

We hardly had time to recover from the flight before we found ourselves making yet more introductions - to the other half of our volunteer group: five Canadians, an American and another Brit. Steve, Jessi, Megan, Maddie, Paige, Callie and Emma respectively. And, of course, to our lovely project leader Claire, a native Thai who lectures at Bangkok university and who would, over the next two weeks, show us the Thailand tourists hardly ever get to see.

The minibus journey to Kanchanaburi gave us our first culture shock - the fearless bikers who weave in and out of traffic with their motorbikes impossibly loaded with everything from planks of wood to small children kept us occupied for some time, while the hair-raising 'exploits' of our driver (overtaking on a bend with a car coming at top speed in the other direction, anyone?) triggered motion sickness all round.

Bridge over the River Kwai

Now, for the moment we had been anticipating the most: our arrival at our two-week volunteer project, based at Moo Baan Dek (translated as 'Children's Village School'), a school and community for orphaned, abandoned or unwanted children. Our role at the village would be to teach the kids basic English, play games and generally give these children the love and attention they desperately need. I'll write more about Moo Baan Dek later.

Outside the school

The village is built in the jungle - but it has been tamed by volunteer workers over the years and also by the kids themselves, who have quickly taught the more terrifying jungle creatures such as spiders, snakes and scorpions to keep their distance for fear of dissection! The schoolhouses and dormitories are basic but strangely beautiful wooden structures and our volunteer house is no different: the downstairs dining area is open and the bedrooms and bathrooms are functional: our beds were thin mattresses on the floor but we had flushing toilets - the ultimate luxury! The best thing about our house, however, was the fact that it was built on the bank of the River Kwai. The view of the river, jungle and mountains was just incredible, and one I will never forget. Photos (below) just don't do it justice.

Our house at Moo Baan Dek

River Kwai after rain (view from our house)

So after settling into our house we set out to explore the village. The kids came to greet us right away, mostly to get their hands on our digital cameras! We walked down to a jetty on the river: there is a calm pocket of water where the kids are allowed to swim. Our first day at Moo Baan Dek was truly surreal, but it was about to get even more so...

The swimming jetty on the River Kwai

First encounter

Hellcow

Luckily, the eventful day ahead soon woke us up. On getting up we got our first taste of the Thai rain: it feels great to stand barefoot in the downpour when it's so hot. Our breakfast was an interesting mix of rice and chicken, bread and jam, Thai fruits and chocolate milk, which we would come to both love and hate over the next two weeks.
Our first stop of the day: Kanchanaburi Safari Park where, once again, health and safety regulations went out the window as I was allowed to hold a baby leopard which decided to make a quick snack out of my arm. Ah, bless. The safari tour itself was something else you'd never see in England: the animals, particularly the giraffes and deer, decided they would rather be in the bus with us and the food.

Curious giraffes

"Mmmm, arm, nom nom nom"

Don't support elephant shows like these

Shrine at Erawan National Park

Erawan hike (pre-mud)

Erawan trek

Safari park

But, just to prove that I did pay attention that morning despite the efforts of the attention-grabbing arachnid, here’s a bit about the workings of Moo Baan Dek. It was set up in 1979 as an alternative to mainstream Thai education, having seen so many struggling pupils dismissed without attempts by teachers to discover the root of the problem. Moo Baan Dek focuses on vocational subjects such as music and art, which the children can make money from, although they are always encouraged to further themselves academically: one of the older kids we met is planning to go to university next year. The kids aren’t forced to attend lessons: they go because they choose to, they want to learn. Punishments for misbehaviour are decided in a council meeting every Friday, which all the kids attend: they are each given a democratic voice. Punishments are usually just chores such as cleaning or litter picking. Most importantly, however, Moo Baan Dek is not just a school: it is a surrogate family for kids who have none, and the principal Meh Aew (‘Meh’ meaning ‘mother’) is seen by many of the kids as a foster mother. For more info visit the website: http://www.ffc.or.th/mbd/history.html

We took a tour of the school and saw the library, the outdoor dining area where the kids eat all their meals, the art rooms and the gift shop, where the kids get to sell their handiwork to tourists and keep the profits. We joined the kids for some batik painting, where I sat pretending to be creating my own masterpiece while actually letting my little helper do all the tricky parts for me.

My little helper

My other little helper

Batik

The day wasn’t over yet: after being used as human climbing frames by the younger kids for far too long we moved on to the football pitch to challenge the older local boys to a game of football or, as the Canadians would say, soccer.

Volunteers vs locals

Morning 'meditation'

Human climbing frames

In the afternoon we travelled by songthaew (see pic below) into Kanchanaburi town for a Thai massage, discovering that it's not so much relaxing as, well, torture. My particular favourite part was when my masseuse sat me up, grabbed hold of my shoulders and twisted my whole upper body round so that every single bone along my spine cracked.

We were joined by Nicole, another British volunteer travelling alone who happened to be staying at Moo Baan Dek at the same time as us ISV-ers. Nicole was sharing a House with Tess, an 18-year old Burmese student who had spent a month at the orphanage already and was totally and unconditionally adored by all the kids.

Songthaew

The ceremony began with each child writing a note - either addressed to their surrogate mother the principal Meh Aew, or their own absent mothers - and hanging it on the branches of a tree. These would later be read out, sending us volunteers into yet more floods of tears.

This was followed by a play, based on a Thai nursery rhyme about a rabbit who asks the sun to help him sleep, performed by younger and older kids as well as one of the teachers. Our project leader Claire translated the whole thing for us, and told us that they would be going to Bangkok to perform the play at a festival next week.

The most moving part of the ceremony came when one of the girls, aged around fourteen, attempted to read a poem she'd written thanking Meh Aew for everything she has done for her pupils. The girl was so overcome with emotion that she couldn't finish her poem, and that was enough to turn us volunteers into blubbering wrecks, as we realised how much Meh Aew and Moo Baan Dek really mean to children who would otherwise have nothing and no-one.

Finally, each child in turn lined up to pay tribute to Meh Aew, hugging her and bowing to her in the most sincere way. We volunteers also took our turn to thank the principal for all she has done for the children.

Meh Aew

That evening, to recover from the emotion of the day, we made a campfire outside our house so that the Canadians could teach the Brits how to make s'mores. Later, some of us lay on the veranda, stared at the stars and listened to the sound of mating gekkos.

Around the campfire

The under-over game (we made it up, don't you know)

Later, we took a large songthaew into town with some of the kids and teachers for their daily fruit and veg shop at the local markets: the journey was unbearably hot and cramped and the market itself didn't improve things, the smell of meat and fish was overpowering.

Well, we had to get ill some time.

written by  lucy3119 on November 30, 2009 from Kanchanaburi, Thailand
from the travel blog: Thailand 2009
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This is probably a great opportunity to talk more about the kids themselves. Although they appear perfectly happy on the outside, always smiling and playing and desperate for attention, their early childhoods have been anything but happy. As Claire told us the stories of how the children ended up at Moo Baan Dek, we realised how much they have had (and still have) to overcome.

Lunchtime

Toto

Cheeky triplet

Jop

Sleepy Mei

Other heartbreaking stories of the children at Moo Baan Dek include:
- one of the older boys came to the school after his father was murdered in front of him by his mother. When he first arrived, he refused to speak, but has gradually recovered from his childhood ordeal and made many friends. He joined in to play football against us volunteers.
-a little boy, infamous at Moo Baan Dek for having tortured one of the kittens that live at the school, certainly has reason to be volatile. He was abandoned in the jungle as a baby, forced to fend for himself until he was found by a monk. However, the monk could not cope with his behaviour and sent him away to Moo Baan Dek. We hope that one day he will be able to put his past behind him and become the boy he should have been.
-another musically gifted boy had the odds stacked against him from the very start: his mother attempted a DIY abortion which resulted in him being born disfigured and missing a leg. Nonetheless, he is one of the most positive and friendly people at Moo Baan Dek and entertains everyone with his musical performances.

Although these stories are heartbreaking, seeing the children now is truly inspiring: despite the odds, they're making the most of everything they have been given at Moo Baan Dek, and live every day to the full. We were warned that the children would be distrustful of adults as a result of their ordeals, but we found them welcoming, loving and positive. They will never stop inspiring me.

More pics of the kids:

Bubbles!

My little photographer

Nap time

Best friends

Siblings

Monkey child

Balloons!

Helping in the garden

written by  lucy3119 on December 1, 2009 from Kanchanaburi, Thailand
from the travel blog: Thailand 2009
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Longtail boat

Longtail boat ride

Second stop was the war memorial, commemorating those who died in Thailand during WW2 - many of them during the construction the Death Railway that connected Thailand and Burma. The POWS were mainly British, Australian and Dutch: it was odd and moving to see such familiar names all the way out here in Thailand.

The highlight of the day was a visit to a pretty amazing waterfall flowing down over a strange type of rock: we expected it to be smooth and slippery but it was actually rough like sandpaper, so that we could climb all the way to the top and sit under the water flow. It was a much needed chance to cool off and relax. For some reason, at this point we became tourist attractions ourselves, with a group of school kids asking to have their photos taken with us! (See below).

Who are the tourists here?

We also stopped off at a pretty awesome site (not sure where exactly) with a fantastic view of the Death Railway carved into the side of the mountains. We walked along the tracks a short way for some amazing photo opportunities.

At the death railway

Death Railway

Death Railway again

Then the monsoon began. We'd planned to go into town to finally sample a Chang or four...so that's what we did anyway. We stopped to pick up a very, very drenched Nicole and Tess along the way, extremely grateful for the songthaew that was keeping us dry. We spent the night at Tony's Bar, a little live music venue run by, you guessed it, Tony. We listened to the good old rock classics (and, for some reason, 'Achy Breaky Heart') sung in Thai, only interrupted by a group of very drunk Frenchmen who went and chatted up the Canadians (or was it the other way around?)

When we finally got back to the house, we found the monsoon had knocked the power supply out, which is pretty entertaining when you're drunk.

Tony's Bar

Tony!

Coffee treatment! (Not an excuse for a bikini shot!)

We also visited the Hellfire Pass Memorial Museum, set up in memory of all the POWS who died during the construction of the Death Railway during WW2. Visitors to the museum should definitely go outside to the balcony, the view is INCREDIBLE! Yet again my camera couldn't capture that scene well enough. I guess I'll just have to go back there some day. The strangest part about visiting local attractions such as museums is that you have to take your shoes off to go inside...there's something so liberating about wandering around museums in bare feet!

Later, some of us ended up back at the Waterfall we visited yesterday (the one with the odd rock), and we had a great time trying to climb as high as we could (well, I couldn't be bothered, so I took the photos). Claire (who gets funnier everyday) took us to some stalls selling snacks: fruit and veg is sliced, fried and then coated in salt or sugar...but be careful or you might end up with salted Banana and sugared taro (a type of potato)...Thai food always seems to involve making sweet things taste saltier, and salty things taste sweeter!

Lauren on the rockiest bridge ever

Salty or sweet?

You can't tell, but this is really, really high

Back at the waterfall