Life In The Field

Thomas Martin

…So, I’ve been at GVI for almost 5 weeks now and I have another 5 weeks to go. 10 weeks seems like a long time but this first half has flown by and I expect the rest to do the same. The teaching would have been hard work but the GVI staff are so helpful and forthcoming that it hardly felt like work at all. The rewards of teaching are also really exciting-you actually feel like you have made a difference. On top of this the students are so willing to learn, friendly and generous. I have already been given a bushel of apples, 4 mangoes, a load of bananas, a meal at Ao Luk’s best restaurant, a whole orange cake and a house for 4 days in Khanom! (200 km out of Ao Luk). Also, the fact that we are teachers in a town, which for the moment at least, has very few tourists, means that we are able to see the real Thailand. We go to villages no tourist visits, we explore caves that have yet to be frequented by foreigners, we swim in places that are totally deserted but for the GVI team, and we play basketball and drink beer with the locals. This place is amazing if you want to see unseen Thailand as well as actually making a difference I would definitely suggest GVI in Ao Luk.