During 2009 Lokgatat and Mundo Exchange members, Oum, Nalinrat, Dalyn, Prayoon and volunteers planned the creation of a Thai Cultural Centre where local people could come and learn about their own history and people and about other cultural ways too. In March 2010 the Culture Centre in Bueng Kan opened its doors for the first ‘Culture Club’ event. This was a week long timetable of exciting events to teach children all about different cultural ways.
Adrian teaching damcing games to Thai children
An international team of volunteers and interns put together a cross-cultural programme which included; drama, art, crafts, music, food and games. Prayoon, Kelly and Adrian all chose activities which came from another culture, or were able to teach the children about different cultures and traditions. Each volunteer had a say as to what they would be able to teach, and what skills they could use. Within all activities there was a strong emphasis on learning English, all students were encouraged to use it whenever possible.
Children learning all about the world
The student’s took part in a large group introduction and conclusion activity, and two small group activities a day, one taught about Western Culture the other about Eastern Culture. As Prayoon is from Thailand, and Adrian is from China, but grew up in the USA, they were able to use their expertise to teach many things from the East. One of the student’s favorite activities was making Origami originally from Japan. Adrian taught student’s how to make many things, like flowers, birds and animals. This ancient craft is so skillful, and yet all students made beautiful creations.
David from the USA and Kelly from the UK were able to use their knowledge of the West to teach the children. The student’s created western flags and learnt where lots of countries in Europe were. By the end of the week the student’s knew many countries and continents, and were able to say them all in English too. One of the favorite things they learnt was a Western tradition of making puppets out of socks. The students created hilarious and imaginative characters, named them and chose where they were from. After rehearsing, the students then performed a play with their puppets, which was entirely in English. This was such a fantastic achievement for the students as many of them were very shy to begin with, especially about talking in English, but were all able to perform excellently. It just shows how much you can do when you’re having fun, and not worrying about things too much.
Hand puppets completed - time to use them now
On the final day, the students made food; spring rolls from Asia and sandwiches from the West. The spring rolls were delicious, and some of the children were already experts at making them. Some of them were even able to show the volunteers how to do it properly! But what really got the students excited was making tuna salad sandwiches, they loved them! It’s so interesting how similar the ingredients are for these two dishes, and yet they taste so different.
Party time when the day is over
The Culture Centre has a fantastic exhibition which includes many items from traditional Isaan culture. Prayoon gave the students a tour of the centre, telling students about the items, what the artefacts were used for, and who would have used them. This was a great opportunity for students to learn more about their own culture, ancestors and what life would have been like in Bueng Kan many years ago.
Play time
The volunteers and interns had such fun teaching Culture Club. It was not only a chance to learn for the students, but also for the teachers. On one occasion the students were asked to create a picture for each teacher, with their name written in Thai alphabet. For most of the teachers this was the first time they’d seen their name in this alphabet, it is so beautiful and different from the English alphabet, it was great to see.
This is just the first of many Culture Clubs which Mundo Exchange and Thai association Laekplian Lokgatat plan to organize for the local community. There are many exciting plans, and not just for children but for adults too. It was lovely to see a group of people coming together from so many different places in the world, and sharing such a good time together.
Please look on our website for information about new events, or please contact us if you would like to get involved organizing or contributing to events. We and the people of Bueng Kan, would love to hear from you. If you are interested in learning more about traditional Isaan Culture and would like to see the exhibition at the Culture Centre then please send us an email and we’d love to show you around. For more photos from Culture Club, and similar events please visit our Flickr page.
Thanks again to Bobby, David, Kelly, Adrian and Prayoon for all your artistic and cultural expertise in putting this event together, it could not have happened without you.
About
Linda is a retired musician and writer. She welcomes new knowledge and expression with an open mind and happy heart. She writes as she travels and shares her observations about differing cultures.
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Great volunteer stories, Kelly! Thank you I will be coming to volunteer soon.