Andaman Discoveries Blog
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Opening of the “Southern Thailand Orphanage” Coffee and Bakery shop
On the 27th
of February 2012, the staff and friends of AD participated in the grand opening
of the “Southern Thailand Orphanage” coffee and bakery shop. We enjoyed the
delicious coffee and bakery goods on sale, and were entertained with a dancing performance
from the children at the home; the girls did a traditional Thai dance and the
boys a Muay Thai performance that incorporates all the boxing moves to music,
great fun to watch.
This Coffee and Bakery will
give students the opportunity to be trained in hospitality skills; learning how
to be waiter or waitress, how to keep shop, handle money and deal with customers. This is all part of the program in creating a
sustainable project for the home. Several of our volunteers helped to organize this
event, painting walls and doors, setting furniture and signs and of course
cleaning up after the construction workers had finished, just the day before
the opening.
The orphanage opened
its doors after the tsunami of 2004 to provide children in the area with a safe
and secure environment to live and learn. In partnership with Andaman
Discoveries, volunteers can assist with the daily operation of the home while
the children are at school and in the afternoons assist the children with their
English homework and basic language skills and of course play games and have
fun.
Testimonials
We really are lucky. We spent a night at a
homestay place a few days ago, (okay, fine, a lot of days ago) and I was
shocked at how poor the living conditions were. Okay, to back up, the homestay
I’m talking about was part of a program that allows local people to board
tourists in their homes for some period of time, making money in the process,
and giving the tourists a sense of the local conditions...http://travelschoolinginthailand.blogspot.com/2012/02/our-homestay-night.html
By Kaizen
Environmental Education Show
February
10, 2012
Environmental
Education Show at Burmese Learning Centers
February saw
the arrival of two wild and passionate Brazilian volunteers Jay and Lucas from
Grassroots Interactive Organization. They are currently traveling around
Asia offering schools and education Centers the chance to see their live arts
performance, which teaches children about the environment and how they can
change the damage we are causing to the planet by reducing, reusing and
recycling. The boys from Brazil performed their Environmental Education
Show at the Kuraburi Nursery, Burmese Learning Center, Bang Krang School, Kao
Lak Learning Center, and at our Southern Thailand Orphanage. They
actively got a hold of the children’s attention with their interesting and
eye-catching performance.
At the
beginning of the performance, the children seem to wonder and struggle finding
out who those scary looking guys where and what they were doing. As the
children started to understand the concept of the story, they stood up and
leaned forward, giggled, clapped hands and yelled out in enjoyment. The
performance was, mimed all without words; however, the children still
understood the concept and message of the performance. Jay and Lucas
bought Brazilian instruments made out of recycled materials, and performed with
materials locally sourced to send out the message of “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle”,
at the end of the show all the children are chanting this phrase. It was
fascinating to watch how the children reacted with their emotions during the
show, understanding the message the Brazilian duo brought and hopefully taking
the message home with them to start to put into practice this important ideal.
It was great
pleasure to have them in Kuraburi. Thank you for bringing the great energy!
For further
information, take a look at their website. <http://grassrootsinteractive.org/thailand-environmental-education-tour/>
Labels: activities, Andaman Discoveries, conservation
Rice Harvesting Ceremony
February 7,
2012
Rice Harvesting
Ceremony
A once-a-year
ceremony of rice harvesting took place in Kamphaun Village in Ranong
District. This rice harvesting ceremony was organized by Muan Mit Thai
Foundation, who works closely with the community group and women’s workshop in
the village. It was a great opportunity to appreciate the rice, and lean
about traditions of the harvest and get to know people in the N-ACT network
(North Andaman Community Tourism Network).
Kamphuan
village is located 25 km North of Kuraburi, and surrounded by palm and rubber
plantations. The ceremony was held at the rice field, located behind the
main village area, gathered nearly 100 children from several schools and
villages in the region and attracted many community representatives, and N-ACT
members.
Nicole,
Katherine and George from the USA, who were taking part in an Andaman Discovery
Homestay program, also joined the ceremony. They were able to participate
in rice harvesting with the local community and experience the traditional
method of harvesting and husking, which is done by using basic wooden
equipment, same as 100’s of yeas ago. The group commented that this was such a
unique and special ceremony to be part of; they felt so luck to be invited at
this special time.
The local
villagers demonstrated their traditional ways of getting the rice out of its
shell. First, they harvest the rice from the field with a knife; then
they stamp on the rice to separate it from the straw; then husk the rice with
the wooden equipment; separating the rice from its shell.
We also enjoyed
the delicious Thai dishes prepared by the villagers. They served us some
curry with rice noodles and fresh vegetables. We even had the chance to
interact with some local children who wanted to practice their English.
Jennifer
Hello everyone!
I am Jennifer,
the new member of Andaman Discoveries team! I’m carrying out my internship here
in Kuraburi for 5 months, and I already know it’s going to be a great
experience. Thailand has been a real discovery for me since arriving in Chiang
Mai 2 years ago where I interned with CBT-I an NGO. My task now will be to work
on Social Media and Marketing for Andaman, up-dating Facebook, Twitter and our
blog so you all can keep in touch with what’s going on in the beautiful Andaman
Region. I will tell you about the projects, volunteers and of course about the
interns and what we are doing and share this wonderful experience together.
I have been
studying Sustainable Tourism, Master’s degree, in Montpellier (France), and I’m
willing to learn and share the knowledge and experience I gain about social
media and marketing work. I will also be evaluating projects; environmental,
economic and cultural issues and share with you the findings I gather of the
impacts of community based tourism, this is part of my Masters studies.
Please feel
free to contact us if you need any further information about the projects and
the surroundings of this wonderful Andaman Coast., and don’t hesitate to ‘like
us’ and to add us on Facebook so you’ll be up-dated regularly with all our
news.
Thanks and hope
to hear from you soon!
Jen
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