End of first term 2018:

From Teacher Yulya's Perspective  

As the first semester at the Kamala school has come to an end, the students have completed their Thai subjects and English exams and are now enjoying a holiday break.

This academic year, I am teaching Primary 1 to Primary 6 classes. In the first term, we focused on vocabulary building, reading, and communicating skills. At the beginning of the year, all of my students showed great enthusiasm and eagerness to learn English, especially the little ones - my Primary 1 class. However, I must admit that it is still hard for them to get to used to chairs and tables designed for grown kids and keep focused during the lesson. For many of those students it was the first time they practiced English but they bravely paid very close attention in the classroom and actively participated in all classroom activities. I believe students have learnt a lot in this semester as their final grades show. The overall average mark for the class was 80% - yayy!

My primary 5 class is the class with the highest overall result in English amongst all  the classes I teach. They are well-behaved and very helpful students.  This class is always eager to learn and love to participate in classroom activities. For this term we have been working on their reading skills and they have shown great improvements.  The ability for them to read opens many opportunities for children as their vocabulary greatly expands. Each and every one of them is proud of the achievement of being able to read words and especially books in our reading corner.

My primary 5 students

In the past term, I have also focused on teaching grammar and building their vocabulary. We had many vocabulary and reading activities in the classroom and I am glad to say that we really had fun! In this term we have gone above and beyond our learning capacity!  The students have amazed me with their efforts and motivation. Their will to learn has only grown as the term went on and I look forward to this same attitude in the new term after the holidays. 

We have continued our Coconut club sessions (after school activity for residential students).  Every afternoon was always the best part of the day for anyone working or volunteering with Phuket Has Been Good To Us Foundation. Every week we had regular activities such as guitar sessions, bingo, skateboarding, fun games and outdoor activities with teachers and volunteers. Every Tuesdays I was also able to help to our new volunteer from Australia –teacher Jez. Jez is a talented musician and is able to play different musical instruments.  He joined our Coconut Club to teach children how to play guitar and share his passion of music. Our little “coconuters” absolutely loved it! Even though it is hard for little girls to grip the guitar strings, they were happy to participate and gain new experiences all the same.

Its guitar time in Coconut Club  

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At our lastest fundraising event I had an amazing opportunity to be involved too. Our staff, volunteers and friends of the foundation organized a marvelous event that took place in Café Del Mar in Kamala. My job during the event was to entertain children by painting their cute faces. Our little guests loved it! And so did I. I really get inspired and creative when it comes to arts. I was more than happy to help the foundation and be a part of the fundraising team. Click here to see photos. 

Facepainting at Family Fun Fiesta Charity Event 

As the first semester has come to an end, I wish all the students good luck in their end of term exam grades and I hope they will have a great holiday full of joy and adventures. I look forward to seeing them again in November! 

Thank you Phuket Condos and Homes for sponsoring me this academic year and giving me the opportunity to mould the minds of our young students. 

- Teacher Yulya 

 

The Road Less Traveled

Let me introduce myself through an excerpt from my all-time favorite poem written by Robert Frost:

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by…

    I am Jerraleen J. Balais, a teacher by profession and human rights advocacy is my passion. I was born and raised in the Philippines, grew up in a simple, loving family with parents who have shown us that although life is not easy, there is always something good that we can do for others.

    I had an amazing but challenging high school life and was surrounded by teenagers like me having the same teenage issues and pressures and in the middle of all these, we’ve had teachers who despised us and we’ve had those who made us realize that although we cannot control all the situations in our lives, we can use our experiences to learn more about ourselves and understand others better. 

Childhood, teenage years, it is a very critical stage in anyone’s life. Some children do not have a safe home or family, and I am thankful that schools exist because it can be the closest place for us to have that nurturing environment with caring people. It is because of these teachers, my heroes - that I was inspired to be one.

I graduated from the University of Santo Tomas with a degree in Bachelor of Secondary Education, majoring in Character Education and School Guidance. I started teaching high school students in the Philippines and volunteered in different non-profit organizations in our long holiday. I studied at night and took a Diploma in Social Work at the University of the Philippines-Diliman.

I worked part time in Childhope Asia Philippines’ prevention, recovery and rehabilitation program for street children through organizing youth activities in the slum areas of Manila and teaching basic, functional literacy in a temporary shelter for street girls who have been sexually abused and in need of rehabilitation. In all these experiences, I realized how education can change the lives of people one single to collective effort, one policy, one step at a time.

In December 26, 2004, the devastating Tsunami hit so many countries including Thailand. I went with the Daughters of Charity to visit and distribute relief goods in the evacuation camps of the displaced Karenni community in Phuket in April. My journey also took me to the refugee camps along Thai-Myanmar Border and to the nameless mountains in Mae Ramat to visit the stateless people. Before I left my country, I had so many complaints about the government, politics and more…here I was humbled and met people who are peaceful, happy, strong, surviving even if they are ‘unwanted’ in every country they go. They don’t have freedom. They don’t even have a flag to be proud of. I was still in my last semester in my Social Work course but I decided not to go back home to finish it and proceed to the Master’s program but instead spend my time doing in real life what we were taught in class. I helped organize a school for street children, mostly of the indigenous peoples and Burmese migrants. It felt selfish for me that in reality, the people that I have met and their stories of courage taught me more about life than I have taught them in the class. How little I know about humanity, about people’s pain and suffering. I can’t change their past but education can help them start anew.

In as much as I wanted to continue volunteering, I had to find paid work to support myself and family back home. From the north of Thailand, I moved to the south and worked as a teacher in private and government schools. In 2007, I was a teacher and also the liaison officer representing the principal and the board of directors in an international school in Songkhla province. I taught English, Character Education, Arts, Science and Information Technology to primary and secondary levels.

I traveled back and forth Thailand and Malaysia as the Liaison Officer and also the Primary Years Programme Coordinator of our IB (International Baccalaureate) School in Penang Island. I was involved in school management, curriculum planning and development, guidance and counseling, teacher training, events and charity projects of the school. 

I was working with the same company for 7 years. I loved my work, the children and my team, yet in the middle of those busy days and administrative tasks, I was missing the hands-on teacher and human rights advocate in me. I left my job gracefully in September of 2015 and headed back home for a brief rest. My parents asked me what I wanted to do next. I knew what I wanted – I wanted to be back in the classrooms again and I wanted to do more than teaching.

It seems that fate has brought me to Phuket Has Been Good To Us Foundation. It feels like all my experiences in the past, all those stops in the ‘road less traveled’ have a significant connection to what the Foundation does. When I’ve read that the Foundation was started after the Tsunami, that their main mission was to provide better life opportunities for the children through education and that in their biggest school- Rajaprachanugroh 36 (RPG 36), there are more than 170 residential students needing help, I told myself - “This is my next path.” And I couldn’t be any happier.

I started working in the Foundation in February 2015. I was amazed how a small group of teachers and a small team in an office could do so much not only for the 3 government schools that it is working with, but how it slowly helps the local community. In April 2015, I was offered the role of the Senior Teacher.

My favorite time of the day is being with the children either in classes or at Coconut Club. I am teaching Grades 3 and 6 as well as Year 2 and 3 in secondary level. Some days are tough but as a teacher, I know that those who have behavioral issues in class are the ones that need my understanding and attention the most. Happy days are those times when you see your students write their own names independently, or hearing them say “I can”, or seeing them do a task they haven’t done before confidently. It is when children who started out quiet and aloof suddenly share with you what made them happy that day, or when they run to you to tell you they’ve lost their baby tooth and a new one is growing or come to you to confide and ask you to help them save a stray cat at the end of the day. I wake up for those moments.

Most of them have gained the confidence in starting and engaging in simple English conversations. The school initially only wanted us to focus on teaching conversation and vocabulary words. However, we felt that these are not enough because students can indeed respond to questions, express their thoughts and feelings in the most basic ways but sadly, the current educational system’s choice of assessment is mainly in written form and they mostly fail because they are very weak in reading, comprehension and writing.

In 2015, we began incorporating phonics in our curriculum. I have modified the curriculum to follow the requirement of the Thai Ministry of Education, and at the same time also incorporated Cambridge Primary English as a Second Language Curriculum Framework which was developed from the Council of Europe’s Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). This is to have a point of reference as to where our students are in terms of their language skills. Within 2 years of working on the students’ reading skills, we have seen improvement as most classes in the primary level have acquired the skill of simple blending of 2-5 letter words. 

It is still a long way to go but it is definitely a progress especially that RPG 36 has also opened the English for Integrated Studies (EIS) programme where other subjects are taught in English language. Since the EIS programme’s inception, our teachers have also been teaching Science and Math for Grade 1-3 classes. Some of our primary and secondary students who had to relocate for various reasons have also been accepted in private schools and well-known universities where a good level of English is required. Although we are sad that we’re missing them in school, we are happy to know that they have found better opportunities elsewhere. This year, we are working with the Youth Career Initiative (YCI) and local hotels to help the Year 6, secondary level students to learn skills in the tourism industry as an alternative for them to secure jobs in the future.

Working with Thai schools is not without challenges but more than the obstacles that we have been facing, it is inspiring to meet so many local and foreign people from all walks of life wanting to make it better for the children. No matter how different our perspectives, our strategies, our ways are, we all have the same goal – to help improve the chances for all of these children through education.  We have also initiated teacher training and sharing sessions with the Thai teachers on classroom management and teaching strategies. They too are an essential part of the team. Some days, it gets really difficult but there’s nothing a team of dedicated staff and teachers will not be able to overcome for the children. If it’s easy, we won’t be here.

With all of these small steps, moving forward we have a vision of making the parents and the local community more involved as well in the progress of the children. The 3 key factors affecting children’s overall development are family, school and community. It may be a long shot but it is worth trying…we are getting there. Our Foundation does not receive funding from the Thai government, it is through our own projects, fundraising events and generous support of amazing people that we are able to continue what we are doing.

…And that has made all the difference.”

Sincerely,
Jerraleen J. Balais

Teacher Hamant’s experiences in Thailand

Before coming to Thailand, I was honestly never really one for charity work. I think we all give to charities of our choice from time to time but to fully involve ourselves in charity work is something else altogether. I’ve been teaching overseas for over four years now and have had quite a few interesting encounters here in Southeast Asia. The cultural diversity, warmth of the locals and incredible food are just a few reasons why the region draws the attention of many all over the world. However, being with the Phuket Has Been Good To Us Foundation has given me a whole new outlook on life.

I teach in Baan Kalim School and being the only English teacher there has helped me to improve my Thai language skills to no end. The English programme at Kalim is kindly sponsored by Baan Rim Pa, without their sponsorship we would not be able to teach the number of students that we do.

Signing the contract and applying for my first visa nine months ago, I imagined that teaching in Thailand would just be the same as teaching in any other Southeast Asian country. That naiveté was quickly washed away by the tide of reality. Teaching here has been the most challenging aspect of my career thus far. I have become deeply involved with my students and I have certainly grown as a teacher in so many ways. I’ve always believed that the best teachers never stop learning and it seems like the longer that I stay here, the more I learn. 

 Jay, one of my students from P1

Every Saturday we bring the children swimming    

Yin, Cha Cha and Mint goofing around with baby powder! 

The most difficult part of the job is probably hearing the backgrounds that these children come from. Many students prefer not to talk about their pasts and when we learn their histories, it’s quite plain to see why. As teachers, we’re expected to have the answers to the questions thrown at us; we’re expected to be there for the students and wipe every tear off their faces; we’re expected to be that rock that they can depend on when things get difficult. Then again, what does one say when a 6 year old is standing there crying by herself because she misses her mother? What does one say when a child says that their mother is away working in Bangla Road? What does one do when a child tells you that they feel lonely? How does one help a child understand parental love when they live in school and only have the teachers to care for them?

Got from Primary 2 pretending to be a speed racer 

Teaching the children how to play the guitar during Coconut Club

I don’t have answers to any of these questions despite the time I have spent here. I am part of a group of teachers that have reconciled with the fact that it is impossible to answer these questions. All we can really do, over and above just teaching, is to attempt to fill the voids that exist in each and every one of these children. We try our best to do this every single day that we are on the job. 

The teachers at Baan Kalim School on Children’s Day, proving that there’s a child in all of us!   

Having fun with the children during Christmas

In April 2016, I have decided to ride 5000km all along the border of Thailand in order to raise money for the foundation so that we are able to continue doing the good work that we do here in Phuket. The ride is called ‘Going the Extra Mile’ because I want to go above and beyond my job as an English teacher for these children. Read about the ride here: https://fundrazr.com/campaigns/a13qe7/ab/05Fwh9

             I firmly believe that Thailand is best seen on the back of a motorbike 

Safely driving around the country! 

Training session before the real 5,000km ride

I believe in our cause and the people that work for the foundation. I believe that the children deserve a better tomorrow, far away from the hardship of today. I also believe that I will stay here for a long time trying to make this happen.