The Turtle Festival, 1st March

I was very lucky to be invited to the Thai Turtle Festival which is celebrated every year on the 1st March.

On the 1st March the turtles come out of the sea, onto the beach and lay their eggs. This is very important because they are making the numbers of turtles bigger. Turtles live for a very long time.

The photograph above is of a turtle who is 60 years old, which is probably older than most of your teachers!

To celebrate the coming of the turtles, the Thai people have a huge parade of school children, floats and ofcourse, special turtle floats.

Here is photograph of a float.

There were lots of children in the parade. They were dressed in colourful costumes and some were playing musical instruments and twirling batons. They were amazing.

This photograph shows some of the children that I have taught English to.

Here are some children dressed as dragons.

The parade started at 6pm, just as the sun was going down. Lots of people lined the streets to watch the parade go by.

At the front of the parade were the special turtle floats.

The parade ended at a fair ground with lots of rides and stalls selling all kinds of things.

We were invited to the VIP area and ate a huge 5 course meal.

We watched many people dancing and performing on a stage wearing beautiful costumes.

Next week I will tell you all about Thai food.

I hope you are all well, lots of love, from Thailand xxxx

To Broomfields Primary from Volunteer Teacher Thailand!

My name is Nicola and I'm here in Khao Lak, Thailand as a volunteer, teaching English to Thai school children. On 26 December 2004, there was a tsunami which hit Khao Lak, killing many people and destroying villages and homes.

The Tsunami Volunteer Centre was set up and many people from all over the world came to help the Thai people rebuild their homes and lives.

This photograph is of a Tsunami memorial.

The photograph below, is of a memorial created by the original volunteers who came straight after the tsunami. It shows all the different cities and countries that they came from to help.




The majority of the Thai people who spoke English were killed, so there was also a need for English teachers. Volunteer Teacher Thailand was created and volunteers come here and teach English to Thai children. During the school holidays, volunteers also teach English to Thai adults.




These photographs show the volunteer centre. This is where we plan our English lessons and make resources for the children.










Every week we visit four schools and one orphanage. The schools don't have many of the things which we are lucky to have in UK schools. For example, there are hardly any computers, no interactive whiteboards, no TVs or DVDs. The teachers still use blackboards and chalk - most of you will be too young to have been taught in this way.




Also, you have to take your shoes off to enter any buildings in Thailand, so none of the teachers or children wear shoes in the schools. It is also very hot most of the time, but most classrooms do have fans to help keep everybody cool.



Here are some of the children working hard.












This is a photograph of me with some of the children. I hope you have enjoyed learning about volunteers in Thailand and if you would like to help, that would be great.











You can find out more, by visiting our website at www.volunteerteacherthailand.org.

Lots of Love, from Thailand.