There was an opportunity that was available for me to attend a RS service project. It was the annual trip students make to the Baan Maelid school in Chiang Mai. My initial motive to attend this service project was to gain hours for my CAS, but then I realised that I was able to meet the students who were making bags for the conference. I have always wondered what the life styles of the hill tribe villagers were like. Thus I would be able to help the kids in the schools and also gain a wider perspective. This is how the journey to the Baan Maelid school started.
In the Baan Maelid school, we did various activities. Firstly we scrubbed off the old paint on the dormitory and re-painted the whole building. This required arduous work and after this, I went to teach english to the students of the Baan Maelid School. I taught the students a song and the alphabet. This was great fun because the students were very enthusiastic to learn and some amazed me with how much they knew about english. After I taught the students, it was my turn to learn something from the students. I sat down and learnt how to make the traditional bag using the device the villagers use. It required delicate work because every thread of wool were to be placed in the correct position or else the bag would distort.
From these various activities our service group achieved various accomplishments. Firstly we re painted the whole dormitory and we were able to increase the bond with the children.The fact that I could now think that the students will have a more friendly environment in the school and it looked better made me realise the worthiness of the work we did. I also noticed that I had a very caring personality. I emphatized with the children and as I lived according to their life styles, I started to question how they could still smile while I always showed signs of anger or anxiety.
From this experience I learnt to appreciate things I had. As easy as it may seem, people tend to take things for granted. However, to have seen the students astonish at my ipod and to appreciate even the snacks we shared with them made me come to realise that the complaints of not having more was meaningless. Materialism has manipulated me to think that to have more leads to happiness but now I have changed my thoughts. I have come to think to value the things I possess and to take better care of the things I already have; whether it is an object or a person.
