Information
Information
The 2nd Year Senior High School Students Visited Thailand
From July 24 to August 8, 19 second year senior high school students visited Thailand. Many of the student’s parents came to Haneda Airport to send their children off to Thailand. The group first went to Bangkok and transferred to go to Chiang Mai.
Next day on Thursday 25th, students had an orientation in the morning, where they learned about Thai customs, culture and people. They also learned basic Thai.
In the afternoon of the same day, students visited “Ban Rom Sai” established for orphans with HIV infection. Fortunately, they
were able to meet Miwa Natori, the founder, and was able to hear from him. (Mr. Miwa Natori, Chuo)
Although it was a short time, students had a chance to interact with the children at the facility.
On Friday the 26th, the group met Mr. Chachawan who has done a lot of volunteer activities for many years in Thailand.
“In this country, 1% rich people have 90% wealth”. Mr. Chachawan explained in great detail about poverty, disparities, education in Thailand. Mr. Chachawan also conducts activities to promote the town. He also introduced the folk art street, which had a lot of traditional craft work created by local artists.
(Left :Mr. Chachawan with a translator Mr.Kawaguchi / Right: Mr. Chachawan with a translator Ms.Dewa)
The Volunteer for Children Development Foundation runs Drop-In Center for street children. The representative came to give a talk for Junten students. Junten students were shocked to learn the poor family environment of my children. It was much worse than they had imagined.
On Saturday 27th, the group visited “The House of Hope.” )This is a facility where hill tribe’s children live. The hill tribe was not able to receive sufficient education and had the opportunity to gain knowledge for anything including illness. Mr. Tassany, who operates the facility, talked about various issues that the hill tribes face such as AIDS, drugs, and domestic violence. Then interact with the children. It was raining, so we spent all day indoor. But they had a great time and they ate noodle dishes for lunch.
On Sunday the 28th, students arrived at Chiang Rai. Junten students stayed at the “training farm” created by Daiei, the leader of the Lahu tribe. Daiei is fluent in Japanese because he studied agriculture in Japan. In addition to Japanese and Lahu, he speaks Thai and English. The training farm is a facility created by hill tribe villagers who knew only slash-and-burn fields to learn about agriculture.
(Right : Daiei took Junten students on tour of his farm)
Monday the 29th, Junten students visited the hill tribe children’s home. Junten students and the children at the home ate curry for lunch. The Japanese students brought Japanese curry and they cooked on firewood. It was too smoky to cook but they finished cooking and served delicious curry to the people at the home.
In the afternoon, the students visited Lahu’s village which is located at the 1000 meter high above ground. The air was clean and the wind was refreshing. It was beautiful.
Tuesday the 30th, the Junten students had a small clothing sale. In the village, there are no retail stores. The pepole in the village go to work at the farm from early morning, so the sale started very early in the morning. The price for one is between 5 and 10 baht. All sold out and 538 baht was donated to the Children’s Dormitory.
The Village and training farms are basically self-sufficient. The food they serve are not spicy so it was easy for Japanese students to eat. (Right : The breakfast of the day)
A village pastor and his wife let Junten students wear Lahu costumes. Lahu people are not wearing national costumes on
a daily basis. This is a costume worn during New Years and events. It was a very valuable experience.
Wednesday 31st, the Junten students went to the boarder city of Myanmar and Thailand. We heard the word “Beyond the borders” many times in Chiang Mai facilities and training farms. The other side of this bridge is Myanmar. There is a lot of water in the rainy season now, but people can easily crosse the river in the dry season. Even now, people who cross the rivers and illegally enter Thailand are dying.
On Thursday Augsut 1st, the Junten students had a get-together with the students of the Japanese class at Phayao Pittayakhom School. They chatted and played games together but English was not allowed to use during the time. They all were expected to use only English and had to complete 6 tasks. ThePhayao Pittayakhom School students contributed to the Junten survey which is a part of the Junten students’ research project. They sung together and they all had a great time.(Right : Mr.Koyama, the Japanese language teacher at Phayao Pittayakhom School)
Friday the 2nd, the students rode on elephants and they went around the town for 30 minutes. To thank the elephants, the students gave sugarcanes and bananas.
In the afternoon, the Junten students visited a blue temple, which was created by a local artist. There was a pound where small flower candles float. People pick the color of the day they were born and light the flower candles.
In Wat Phra Singh, the guide, Etto, taught the Junten students how to visit temples in Thailand. There were many students who studied Buddhism this year, so it was very helpful. (Left, upper right is Etto)
In Wat Phrakeaw, students saw monks who are on training. Their ages are between 15 to 17 and they live in the dormitory right next to the temple and study Buddhism.
On Saturday the 3rd, Junten students start home-stay. Their host-families were waiting for them at the airport.
Monday the 5th, the group went to Chitrada Shool. The morning in Bangkok is alway very crowded. The teachers at Chitrada could not make it to the morning ceremony as the streets were so crowded. Junten students greeted the Principal of Chitrada then they took the city tour. In the afternoon, they tried on the local traditional consumes.
Tuesday the 6th, Junten students made local craft and visited Royal Project. The craft is to make scented balls, which are made of paper and you can put scented powder in the balls.
In the afternoon, there was a party. Junten students showed their dance performance and sung songs and Chitrada students performed Thai Dancing.
On the final day, Tuesday the 7th, Junten students visited Ayutthaya World Heritage. There were parts where the bricks were about to collapse. Preserving the ruins may be one of the biggest challenges of the site.
When Junten students arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, many host families were waiting for the final farewell.
The homestay families welcomed Junten students like real family members. So it was really difficult to break up the group!
It was such valuable experience for Junten students.