ハビタット・フォー・ヒューマニティ・ジャパン
ハビタット・フォー・ヒューマニティ・ジャパン
 
Archive < Report < Home  

海外建築ボランティア体験談
Overseas Building Volunteer Report

訪問国名 一覧

Thailand: Shizuoka University of Art and Culture

Team NameSUAC in Support of Habitat for Humanity (Shizuoka University of Art and Culture)
CountryThailand
HRC-Northeast (Udon Thani)
Work site295 Ban Nongnakum, Nongnakum, Muang, Udon Thani 410001
1 Families
2 room steel frame, cement block house with corrugated iron roof
Itinerary11 Day(s)　04-Mar 2008(TUE) ～ 14-Mar 2008(FRI)
MemberTotal: 16 　Adult(M): 2 , Adult(F): 2, Univ. Stud.(M): 1, Univ. Stud.(F): 11
ExpenseTraveling:79780 JPY（taxes included）/person
In-country:Approx. 2,350 (not including surcharges for members with single rooms etc.) JPY（taxes included）/person/day
RouteChubu international airport-->Bangkok (Thai)
Bangkok-->Udon Thani (Thai)
ReportWhen you are greeted at an airport with red roses and a welcome banner, you can be pretty sure that you are going to have a wonderful stay. The welcome that the Udon Thani staff gave us was warm and thoughtful and typical of their general hospitality to us throughout our visit (Thank you, Tasani and your team!).
After checking into our rooms at the Karin Hotel (big, clean rooms; a TV with both Japanese and English channels; great value; but, yes, skip the breakfast option!) we were driven off to lunch in our very own pair of Songthaews. For the whole week we were driven around by two volunteer drivers who had taken time off work to help. Driving around on the converted back of a brightly painted pick up, with the sound of Thai pop music blaring from the car radio and squeals from our group as we saw yet another beautiful temple, cute kid, water buffalo – you fill in the gap – was a fun and blissfully airy way to travel in hot weather.
The next day, when we were driven out into the surrounding countryside to see the house we were to build (the foundation, the steel frame, and the roof had already been erected by volunteers from the village) it was impossible to believe that we could finish all six walls in just four days. However, after going through the safety orientation and being shown what to do, we soon got the hang of brick-laying and began to really bond as a team (despite some of us never having met before).
The hardest day was the second day when we mixed the concrete for the floor by hand. It was really physical work but everyone pitched in and whenever the staff saw us tiring they were quick to cheer us up with a joke or a song (thanks Bomp!). Other Thai volunteers helped, as well as the drivers, and although the home owner couldn’t be present because of her job, her elderly mother always made us welcome. Big, delicious, home-cooked style lunches also helped - as did a Thai massage for our poor backs later that night!
Our stay fell over a weekend so after laying the floor we had two days to recover before finishing the walls. Although Udon Thani is one of the poorest regions of Thailand and doesn't get much of a write-up in many of the tourist guides, there is actually a lot to see there. As well as the amazing pottery at the Ban Chiang World Heritage Site, we enjoyed hiking through the Phu Phra Bat Historical Park, cruising on the Meakong River, visiting a temple, and shopping near the Thai-Laos friendship bridge. Other activities included visiting a local primary school, where we taught the older grades how to make origami frogs that hop; touring a village working, in partnership with World Vision, to show local farmers how to use local resources to farm more sustainably; having a Thai dancing lesson; and visiting Sarnelli House, a home for children with HIV/AIDS. The last activity was one of the highlights for me. Seeing the children’s pleasure at having 16 young visitors come to play for a morning quietened my worries that they might feel gawked at, although it was heartbreaking to have to leave. I would really recommend going if you have the time (and take more water pistols – they were a big hit!).
In the evenings there was lots of free time to enjoy Udon Thani's night market (very popular with certain shopaholics searching for huge numbers of ""omiyage"") and on our last afternoon Candi in Bangkok was kind enough to hastily organize an additional last minute trip into the centre of the city for some sight-seeing and, yes, more shopping!!
The house dedication ceremony on our final full day was very emotional as many of the homeowner's mother's friends and neighbours came around to give us a special local blessing. In the end over twenty women came in to sit in the circle and as we shuffled around in front of them on our knees, each one tied a simple knotted bracelet around our wrist, thanked us and prayed for our happiness. Later that night her mother and a few neighbours also joined us for a farewell dinner at a beautiful lakeside restaurant where Bob managed to get us all up for at least one shot at the Thai karaoke. Possibly one of the hardest things for us to understand was the background situation of the homeowner because there was a lot that we were not told, but seeing the tears of joy on her mother’s face, the happiness that the other villagers felt for her, and her smile as she danced with us that night, confirmed that we had done a good job.
In the end nobody wanted to go home and we felt as though we had been given far more than we had donated, in the form of so many fantastic memories – of the children at Sarnelli House, of the Udon-Thani staff, of seeing even the shyest members of our team blossom in confidence as they succeeded in communicating across the language barrier. It was a great experience and I would recommend going to Udon Thani to any team, especially those made up of first-timers who might feel a little bit nervous about what taking part in the GV entails.
PhotoUpper left: with homeowners　Upper right: building
Lower left: finished building　Lower right: hotel

　
* Click the image to zoom-in.

投稿者: Habitat for Humanity Japan 日時: 2008年03月04日 10:51 |



 

 
 
非営利活動法人　ハビタット・フォー・ヒューマニティ・ジャパン
 
 
ハビタット　著作権