Community Service

High school Service Thailand student Sloane reflects on a full day in northern Thailand, from teaching at local schools to sharing meaningful moments with the children at the Thomas House.

Today we woke up at 7:00 a.m. to get ready for an incredibly jam-packed day ahead. After getting dressed and packed, we headed down for our first breakfast at our Chiang Mai guest house. It was a massive buffet full of sausage, ham, eggs, and, my personal favorite, hot cocoa straight from the drink machine.

Once breakfast wrapped up, we split our large group into two teams for the day’s activities. One group headed straight out to teach in the morning. My group, consisting of Thomas, Kathryn, Bella, Katy, Wilder, Archer, Iago, and myself, took off toward the Thomas House first, with plans to teach later in the afternoon.

The Thomas House is a truly special place built to support children with special needs. During our visit, we learned a heartbreaking reality: in Thailand, it is often traditionally seen as a curse to have a child with special needs. The house was named after the man who started it because he was never given help growing up and was constantly looked down upon. He built this space to change that narrative.

The second we arrived, the children were in the middle of a full-blown dance party! They immediately ran up to us, throwing their arms around us in massive hugs. We jumped right in and joined the dance party, laughing and dancing along with them. Afterward, we all sat down together to listen to their lesson, and then it was time for games.

Out of everyone we met, the most memorable was a little boy named Doi. He possessed an absolutely massive amount of energy. His hugs felt completely magical, and he took a special liking to Kathryn, following her around. When it finally came time for us to pack up and leave, it was so sad to say goodbye, but knowing how much they enjoyed our visit made it worth it.

We loaded back up and headed to the Maekok River Resort. To pass the time, Sienna, Thomas, Kathryn, and I headed straight to the Bamboo Room for a competitive game of Scrabble. I obviously won, of course! While the others kept playing, Katie, Bella, and I took it easy, hanging out and coloring with the local students.

Afterward, we made a quick trip to another local school, where we got the wonderful opportunity to teach our prepared lessons to the students there.

We broke out the activities we had prepared based on the topics we chose. Iago and I led a session all about animals, playing some really fun drawing games with the kids that they seemed to love.

After the indoor activities, we all headed outside to play. Bella and Kathryn completely excelled at volleyball—though, to be completely fair, it was really just everyone enthusiastically hitting a soccer ball back and forth!

By 6:00 p.m., we were all exhausted and ready for dinner. I piled my plate with rice, fish, chicken, and fresh watermelon. Archer, Bella, Kathryn, and I all crowded around a table together. We couldn’t help but laugh at Kathryn, who has suddenly become completely obsessed with putting papaya and lime on everything.

As we ate, the conversation naturally turned to planning for our upcoming karaoke night. Everyone was debating their track lists, and I officially declared my pick: “I Know What You Did Last Summer” by Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello.

We ended the night with some high-energy team games before winding down and lounging in the Bamboo Room until it was finally time for bed.

Good night!

–Sloane P.

To learn more about our high school Service Thailand program, click here!