My Journey to becoming Teacher S

“How do you want kids to call you?”

“Teacher Esra”

“Thai kids will have a problem pronouncing your name… think of a shorter name”

“Perhaps I will use one letter... Teacher S, is that okay?”

And that is how I became ‘Teacher S’ in Thailand folks! I would have never thought that I would get a ‘rebranding’ after leaving the Philippines for the Land of Smiles. Just like our names that vary, they say that a teacher wears different hats in school - friend, cheerleader, and counselor to name a few. We can be all these things in a day, three years into teaching and I am convinced. Teachers take on different characters because we have big responsibilities. Some may say that teaching is an easy job. If that is the case, then anyone could do it. Real teaching calls for someone who has a brave heart to educate a group of kids with different backgrounds; likes, dislikes and opinions - and not lose him/her self in the process. Ergo, who can keep a SANE mind at the end of every school day. 

Sandwiched between two of the best teachers in the world, my Mama (mom) and Lola (grandmom) | May 2015

Group photo with Pre-service teachers Majoring in Special Education, UST | March 2015

I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for kids. From an early age I was already exposed to this field of educating. My Mom, who teaches in a government school used to bring me along to her classes. I just sat quietly in the back and listened as she taught the parts of our digestive system. At age 8 I knew that apart from the stomach, we have small and large intestines which aid in digesting food. My Mom answered questions and explained things in ways her students and my young brain could absorb. My Grandmother and some of my Aunts are equally amazing teachers just like my Mom. This may sound too uncool, but I am one of the few people who enjoys going to school, likes learning new things and loves taking exams. I owe my love of learning to my Mom, Grandmom and all my great teachers. Hence, when I had to choose a course in university, a degree in Education was my first choice. I love learning and I want to inspire students with my passion for education. Consequently, I got a degree in Bachelor of Elementary Education and Majored in Special Education from the University of Santo Tomas. A couple of months after graduation, I took and passed the licensure exam for teachers.

Proud smiles ‘cos we got our teacher’s license | Dec 2015

In my first teaching job I handled students with autism, learning disabilities, and intellectual and developmental disabilities. As their special education teacher, I made IEP (Individualized Education Program) for each student; considering their respective developmental pediatrician’s recommendations as well as their parents’ views. I worked with other specialists (occupational therapists, speech pathologists, etc.) and have learned so much from them. My greatest take away from working with a dynamic team was that no man is an island. Although I wanted to do things on my own for my students, I realised that I may be shortchanging them because I may not be exceptionally well in doing some things. Hence, I learned to ask for help. To outsource and find other people (e.g. therapists) who can do better. Teaching kids with special needs is very challenging and very fulfilling at the same time. Whether big or small milestones, all are equally celebrated by parents and teachers.

Behavior therapists joined Angels Walk: a walk for autism | Jan 2016

On Thursdays, we (were asked to) wear ‘Thai dress’. | Nov 2017

Aside from teaching, I also trained and worked as a behavioral therapist for a year, following Dr. Lovaas’ Applied Behavior Analysis therapy. Through such training and experiences, I have developed key strengths in handling both kids and adults with behavioral problems. As a behavior therapist, I had to teach students in a one-on-one setting for at least two consecutive hours in a day.  Parents often pressure us therapists to perform well because such therapy sessions are costly in the Philippines. Some would even pull their kids out of the special needs school and just rely on therapy for intervention. This new kind of work environment made me continue to spread awareness and clear SPED misconceptions of families that I have worked with. I had to explain the difference between the two a countless amount of times; why both are essential and one can never compensate the other. Philippines has still a long way to go for special education awareness. I just hope that more laws and bills will be passed to benefit people with special needs in the future.

In 2017, I decided to move to Thailand. During my first year, I taught conversational English to Thai students in a small town located in the northeastern part of Thailand: Sikhiu, Nakhonratchasima. I lived in Manila for 7 years but I never felt safe there. Surprisingly, this small town which some Thais would not even be familiar with, made me feel secure from the very first day. The people there were some of the nicest and kindest people I have ever met. Our Thai co-workers tagged us along on their temple visits, brought us to provinces in the north, explained their Thai culture and love for King, and made us eat sticky rice using bare hands. The most important value that Thai people hold to is respect. Respect for the King, respect for elders, parents and government officials. Hence, most of my students in Sikhiu are well-mannered and respectful of teachers. My first year in Thailand was great because of the wonderful memories I have had with them. Unfortunately, all good things come to an end. I had to leave them and find a place where I can help more kids and serve a bigger purpose. I found out about PHBGTU through my college friend and colleague - Vezah, who happened to have joined same volunteer work as mine back in the days in Uni.

Volunteers in action: Vezah and I during Starkey Hearing Foundation event and Ursuline Christmas Party | Dec 2013

So far, it has been a pleasure teaching English to Thai kids in Baan Kalim School and RPG 36. I, myself, have also learned so much from them. They taught me how to become a better teacher amidst the language barrier.  I have gained wonderful relationships not only with the students, but also with their Thai teachers. I enjoy after-school coconut club activities and look forward to Saturday swimming just as much as the kids. I feel grateful that I am part of this wonderful organisation that helps underprivileged students. I am very much looking forward to continue inspiring youth through Phuket Has Been Good To Us.

Saturday swimming with Mathayom residential students at Thanyapura | June 2018

-Esra aka Teacher S

 

Teaching Anuban in Baan Kalim School | May 2018

“No I don’t teach, I work in the Office” – by Erin Grout

My mother was skeptical when I said I was leaving for Thailand in a month to work as a full-time volunteer for an NGO for half a year. She was reassured when she saw that the organization had a website, was on Google maps, replied to my emails, and generally seemed legitimate. Still, I had student loans and the more responsible choice at the time seemed to be staying in the US, getting a paid job, and maybe taking a holiday to Thailand someday. But I decided it was the opportunity I was looking for and, bank-account-be-damned, I was off.

Luckily, it turned out moving to Phuket and volunteering for Phuket Has Been Good To Us Foundation (PHBGTU) was a great decision. Volunteering for the Foundation doesn’t just mean making coffee (although we do enjoy our morning cup of Joe); I became the primary marketing and communication fellow or the “Marketing Department”. This role meant liaising with media sponsors, updating our social media, creating our quarterly newsletter, marketing and helping to plan our major fundraising events, and more! In short it was amazing career experience, working with great people, on a beautiful tropical island! #Winning.

Even the fact that I happened to arrive on the island during an El Nino year –which meant the rainiest high-season most people seemed to be able to remember – hasn’t put a damper on my time as a full-time volunteer. One of the best parts of the job is helping out at Coconut Club, the after-school programme for residential students at Kamala school. For an hour each day we play games or create arts and crafts with students who live full time at the school because they are orphans or their parents are unable to take care of them. Spending time with the children we work to benefit through quality English language programmes is the best reminder that a day full of monotonous emailing was worth the effort. 

Fortunately, working in the office was usually very dynamic and meant taking responsibility for a variety of projects. I stayed with the Foundation for 9 months and was able to take part in all three of our major fundraising events over the course of the year: A Night at the Opera; Black Tie, Muay Thai; and Pop Up 3. While I was primarily working on marketing our small team shared responsibility for tasks and everyone was involved in our fundraising events. Even our seven-member teaching team would help out before and on event day.

 While a salary is a nice perk of any job, I am incredibly happy that I chose to be a full-time volunteer for PHBGTU. I was lucky enough to move to Phuket and meet fun people, take part in great festivals, eat delicious food, and travel around Thailand a bit! Plus, while my time with the Foundation is wrapping up, I am hoping to stay on in Phuket and I am therefore seeking new work opportunities. In the meantime, I will definitely stay informed on all the happenings at Phuket Has Been Good To Us and take part whenever I can!

Reflections on Volunteering Abroad by Ruth Hall

When I arrived in Phuket to start my 6 months volunteering with Phuket Has Been Good To Us I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect, but it wasn’t that I would spend over a year here working with the Foundation. What started out as 6 months quickly turned into the best year of my life. I have met some amazing people who will be friends for life, had the chance to explore new places and gained new experiences. Most importantly I have loved getting to know the children and working towards giving them a better education to benefit their future.  

During my time with PHBGTU, the majority of my responsibilities as an Office Fellow included marketing and social media, volunteer recruitment and looking after visitors to the Foundation. During the last few months I got involved with running our fundraising events, specifically planning A Night at the Opera 2016. All of this was new to me when I arrived, but my experience here has taught me so much about life behind the scenes in an NGO and all the hard work that goes into running a charity. I learned so much from everyone at PHBGTU that I know I can take with me to my future.

Every afternoon I would try to make it to the school to join in Coconut Club activities. This is always the best part of the day for anyone working or volunteering with the Foundation. After a tough day in the office, there is nothing better than heading down to school to see your all your favourite students. We spend the afternoon playing games, painting pictures and having fun. At the end of the hour, you find yourself with paint on your face, glitter on your arms, feathers in your hair and a million selfies on your phone. It’s hard to put into words how much I will miss all the children at school and the crazy afternoons at Coconut Club.

As much as I loved Coconut Club, Saturday swimming was always the highlight of my week. Every Saturday afternoon you can find a group of residential students, teachers and volunteers marching down to Kamala beach or one of the local hotel pools. There are always a group of students waiting at the teachers’ office hoping to go. This gives them the chance to leave school for an afternoon and have some fun while learning to swim. The children are so excited to be playing in the water and the sand, throwing Frisbees and doing handstands. Thanks to Kamala Green Club who donated gloves and bags, during this time we also get the kids to do a beach clean on their way. It’s fun to see how pleased they are when they manage to find the biggest piece of rubbish. It is also a great way to expose them to some extra English without them noticing they are learning!

During my time in Thailand, I have been lucky enough to travel and learn about Thai culture. From weekends being a tourist in Bangkok, beach days and rock climbing in Krabi, scuba diving in Koh Phi Phi, getting to know elephants at an elephant sanctuary, and exploring tea plantations and cities in Malaysia I feel lucky to have been given the opportunity to see some of the incredible places in and around Thailand. As amazing as all of this has been, most of all I have loved working with the team and getting to know some amazing people and kids. I am sure that I will be back to visit my PHBGTU family in the future, but for now, I feel lucky to have been able to call this beautiful country my home.

A year in volunteering - by Leo 'the Lion' Ferrari

When I was in my home country, Brazil, I decided that I needed some change and needed something else to fulfill my expectations as a human being. Reflecting on how I should use my time to make a positive impact, the possibility of volunteering with a cause that promoted child education seemed the perfect fit for me.

I have a good level of English, thanks to my parents who worked hard and made me attend many years of English classes. One of my least favorite activities as a teenager opened up some of the most amazing opportunities in my adult life. After deciding on a cause, a destination, and a few foundations that shared my goals, I found Phuket Has Been Good to Us (PHBGTU). PHBGTU is a foundation that works to improve the economic opportunities and life choices of children. Based in Phuket, it was created after the tsunami in 2004. The concept is simple; to generate funding and offer high quality, practical English language education to young children in government schools.

I had never worked directly in the nonprofit sector. I had zero experience with the day-to-day activities of a charity but I had the drive to learn new skills and tackle all the challenges that came with the unfamiliar work place. Tina Hall, the director of operations at the foundation decided to give me the opportunity and trained me in the basics of fundraising, event management and building relationships with donors. As a small team, multitasking became a large part of the job. From printer operator to leading meetings with hotels on new projects; this was all new to me.

One of the most exciting parts of my day was the possibility of interacting with the children we teach and experiencing firsthand the reason we do this work. After school hours the Foundation runs Coconut Club, this offers opportunities for the Thai children to practice their conversational English outside the classroom in a relaxed, fun, and social environment. This is an essential aspect of the learning process and developing the language skills they have gained from their classroom lessons. My favorite activity was Saturday swimming classes which offered the perfect setting to enjoy the beautiful beaches in Phuket at the same time as seeing the delight on the children’s faces. Many of the children we teach are orphans. They have a complicated home life and often live on the school grounds. Seeing these children happily playing at the beach and interacting with us in English made it come together in my mind why the work I was doing and the mission of the Foundation were so important.

An unforgettable, personal highlight of my time at PHBGTU has to be training to be a Muay Thai fighter. One of the big fundraising campaigns hosted by PHBGTU is a Muay Thai Gala Night. We needed two volunteers with no previous experience to be trained in four months to be able to get into the ring on the night and take part in a Muay Thai fight. I decided to be one of the guys. This opportunity enabled me to experience one of the most traditional examples of Thai culture. Training Muay Thai with the locals changed my perception of the country in so many ways. If you are curious to see how I did on the night, click here. 

Phuket is conveniently located in the South of Asia making traveling easy and affordable. During my time as a volunteer I was able to visit a few of the most amazing places, I had ever imagined. From deserted beaches in Cambodia to river parties in Laos to a surf trip in Bali. Close to Phuket, my favorite beach was Railey, a small peninsula between the city of Krabi and Ao Nang. It is only accessible by boat and surrounded by huge limestone cliffs -a hard place to forget.

Thailand will always impress me with its purity and I still remember the first time I heard the words “Sawasdee Krap” in the back of a taxi, weaving through the congested streets of Bangkok. It is hard to express my gratitude for a country that made it possible to meet my girlfriend (who now lives with me back in Brazil), experience genuine smiles and helped me find a new sense of fulfillment in life.

It may be cliché to say “give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”, but the work the foundation does in Phuket is remarkable! I will always think fondly of my days as a volunteer, from the Pad Thai meals, the office cats to the amazing people I worked with. I left PHBGTU to continue on my life path but those smiles will never leave my heart.