At a very poor province in Thailand, you'll see a very promising future and the hopes of the poor province Buriram . These futures are nurtured by a well-renowned school known as Mechai Pattana Bamboo School, a school founded by Thai great leader Mechai Viravaidya in 2009. The school looks like a little education paradise in Kok Klang Sub District, Lamplaimat, Buriram. As you enter the school vicinity, you will be welcomed by a bamboo gazebo and blooming bougainvillea flowers. You will also pass the bamboo bridge referred by Mr. Mechai as a bridge from ignorance to education. Truly, Mechai Pattana Bamboo School is a bridge to a better world as all students are educated and empowered with high standards of education. Aside from the regular English, Science and Math subjects they also have Chinese and Japanese subjects. They have one 1:1 ratio of workbooks, textbooks and brand new computers from Microsoft. They also received different leadership and additional short courses and skills training from the different foreign volunteers visiting the school. They do their different classes inside their beautiful, clean, big and well-ventilated bamboo classrooms. The cool breeze of different fruit trees, the calm lake, the aromatic smell of flowers and vegetables, the bamboo swaying in the wind that creates a relaxing chime, the chirping birds and the varied learning noises of teachers and students indeed make Mechai Pattana Bamboo School an education paradise. | http://www.mechaifoundation.org/school.asp |
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February 13, Bangkok, Thailand: Finally, we met the APLP Bangkok-based alumni who took a break from their very busy schedules to meet the GISTers 2014 except for our fellow Gister Menghun who was in Kuala Lumpur. We are very grateful to Joshua Monthei and Pacharawadee Tasee for being our lovely host in Bangkok and for organizing the dinner meeting. The alumni Nok Boonmavichit, Rahul Shah, Jessica Gordon and Junita Calder were all so warm and friendly.
The lovely smiles, friendly gestures, beautiful talks and laughter around the table made the dinner more sumptuous. I really enjoyed listening to their stories, seeing their eyes shine brightly as they giggle remembering their amazing APLP journey and funniest field study experiences. When asked on the things they love most about APLP, one thing is common to all. APLP is more than a leadership program. It is a family. It is a group of friends. As Nok said, “APLP gives you a network of support that will really go out their own way to help you out and it is amazing. You can never find this in other network.” The talks became more interesting as they give us impressive advices to make our projects more viable. They also committed to connect us with their network that can help us with our projects even without us requesting for it. Indeed, APLP is more than the target output of East West Center. It is a lifetime bond of wonderful chemistry of relationships. Traveling is one of the best opportunities I am blessed with. I am grateful that I have traveled in major forms of transport in land, water and air. Of all these travels, meeting people from all walks of life and from very diverse backgrounds makes my trip more memorable. Traveling alone is one of the things I hate most. I don't want the times that I sit and eat meals alone. I felt so terrible and it seems that the world is so silent and boring. I always love to be with people. It makes my day worthwhile and colorful. February 1, Friday, 7:30 in the evening. I decide to conquer my fear in traveling alone. I took the bus from Yangon to Bagan, an eight-hour drive to see the Myanmar's 11th century pagodas. Still anxious, I sat on the bus and tried to soothe my mind on my worries on traveling alone. As soon as I put my lovely haviainas stroller pack bag (a present that was given to me by the wife of my mentor for GIST), I closed my eyes gently and imagined all the beautiful pagodas that I am going to explore in Bagan. When I opened my eyes, I saw a beautiful smile from the guy sitted next to me as he said, "Hi." With a little hesitation, I replied "hi" as well. He is Ken, A Japanese financial accountant based in Singapore. The chat started to be more interesting when we talked about our planned itineraries, topics that made us fall asleep as well. Since we both haven't booked our hotels prior to our trip, we decided to book on the same hotel and explore Bagan together. We arrived Bagan at 4:30am and we searched for the budget hotel immediately. We landed in Rupa Guest House that charges $20 for single room and $25 for double room. Getting a hotel in Bagan is always difficult. On a peak season (January-March), you need to patiently wait for guests to check-out before you can get a room. I and Ken were in the long line of guests looking forward to get a room. When we were entertained by the reception crew, there was only one single room and one double room available. So, we immediately decided for him to take the single room while I take the double room which will still be available in the evening. There were still many guests in the qeue waiting for room availability. One of them was Eli, a tall, beautiful white woman who works in German Embassy in Yangon. She was next to us in the qeue. Eli politely approached me if I don't mind sharing the room with her. Knowing the situation, I never had a second thought of saying yes. We began chatting and I introduced him to my new friend, Ken. For typical tourist backpackers, time is always gold. So, we immediately left our pack bags in the front desk and began our journey. each one of us rented a bicylcle that cost $1.5 for the entire day exploration. Though not used of cycling in the Philippines, I took the challenge in Bagan. However, as I saw the winding streets filled with buses, cars, public rides, motor bikes, horse carts and bicycles made my heart beat faster and my right hand grasped the brakes firmly. Ken and Eli's support boosted my confidence in the road. I began to cycle calmly and enjoy the scenes I am seeing from sunrise to sunset. The meals we shared together for two days became more tastier because it was filled with stories and laughter. Truly, friendship is one of the best gift travelling can offer. The photos below were some of the sites we have explored together. Most of these sites are in the plains of Bagan which are filled with remarkably impressive temples and fascinating religious stories.
January 23, 2014, as the sun sets, I together with three of my cohort in APLP Generation 13 set our feet also in Yangon, Myanmar to kick off the Group-Independent Study Travel (GIST) of East West Center. The GIST will provide us opportunity to have intensive fieldwork and research to advance our interests while we explore cultures, languages and historical areas studied during the fall semester of APLP. In line with our personal goals to do intensive fieldwork and research in the next 4 months in different countries, we packed so light. In fact, Nina Dutra, APLP's Senior Program Officer who picked us up in Yangon International Airport was pretty surprised on how light our bags were. "Oohh, those were so light stuff young ladies," she said. This clearly manifests that we are all set for the new learning adventure as we preferred to free ourselves from our own comforts and daily fashion styles. Each one of us have only one pair of snickers, slippers and pack bags. We all preferred to have a break from different styles and colors of heels, wedge, flipflops, bags and clothes. We travelled light so we can bring more bags full of new experiences and insights back home. As we arrived in the beautiful Inya Lake Hotel, I immediately unpacked my bag and took a warm bath to get ready for the GIST Dinner Meeting. The warm bath soothe my tired body as I woke up at exactly 3 in the morning to catch-up with my very early flight from Manila to Bangkok and a seven-hour lay-over in Bangkok. Above all, the warm bath was so refreshing to my mind and soul that it made me productive in the dinner meeting hosted by Nina. On our first GIST day, we were grateful that we were warmly welcomed in Myanmar, the Golden Land. It made us more excited to tons of amazing journey as the sun sets in every place our feet will set into in the next 4 months. |
Anneis a member of the Blaan tribe, an indigenous group in the Philippines. Inspired by the daunting challenges of her marginalized tribe, she is committed on her quest to expose the Blaan indigenous group to a wider world by improving access to education in their villages while preserving and strengthening their cultural identity. Archives
May 2014
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