Angela Dinaria – 2015 Scholar

Several months ago I was selected as a delegation of MSGA (Medical Student Goes Abroad) program which was held by ISMKI (Ikatan Senat Mahasiswa Kedokteran Indonesia) and AIESEC. In this program, I chose Sawasdee Project Thailand. I was accepted by Local Committee of AIESEC in Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok. I started my project at 3^rd February 2017 and finished at 8^th March 2017. This project was held in order to reach the 4^th goal of GSDG (Global Sustainable Development Goals) by United Nations, whis is Equality Education.

The goal of this project is to provide the equality education among students in the rural area of Thailand. I had to run my project in Ubonratchathani Province, which is very far from Bangkok. It took around 9 hours to go to Ubonratchathani from Bangkok. In the first week of my project, I taught English with another EPs (exchange participants) from Indonesia and Argentina. We went to Laongampittayakom School and held an English Camp there. There are 2 EPs also from another school that joined us in this English Camp. They came from Indonesia and Spain. We had many activities to learnt in this English Camp. We learnt English by singing, dancing, and playing games. Besides, we also taught the students about Bahasa Indonesia and Spanish. We had so much fun there.

In the next week, I moved to Nakkamwittaya School and met again with the EPs from Indonesia and Spain. We taught the students, lived in the same host family, and travelling around Ubonratchathani together. For daily activities, we taught the students some exercises for their final examination. But sometimes we had special occasions in learning English, such as Valentine’s Day, English Day, Science Camp, and Farewell Day (for another EPs from Indonesia and Spain).  At the first time, both the students and the teachers were so shy to speak in English with us (the EPs). By the time goes by, we practice to speak in English everyday and every time. I was very glad that their English skill got better and better everyday. I realized that from giving small and simple action from ourself could bring big impacts for others.

My project is not only about teaching English to the children. I was learning many things also. I met many people who were very kind to me. They welcomed me warmly and treat me like their own sister. My host school and host family were very friendly. They liked to take me to travel around Ubonratchathani Province. I visited so many tourism places in the weekend. I tried so many Thai traditional food and beverages. I learnt Thai language by songs, drama series, movies, and daily conversations. It was very nice to learn Thai traditional culture from my students and the teachers (my brothers and sisters). They are my new big family.

I’m not saying that my project run very well without any obstacles. I had problems sometimes. But I tried to deal with it and find the best way out of my problems there. I learnt how to be a problem solver, not a problem complainer. I got so many experiences there, wether it is sadness, happiness, cuteness, craziness, etc. Those all experiences would be an unforgettable memory in my life. If I have another chance to go back to Thailand, I will definitely visit Ubonratchathani and see my family there again :-).

By Angela Dinaria - March, 2017