Reflection on Nan Project 2017
Note: Although most of the photographs here are taken by me, some are also taken by the students themselves.
In March, I went around the province scouting elementary schools in Nan Province. I saw a variety of schools ranging from big ones in the town district and tiny ones hidden in the mountain ranges. In the end, I chose a medium sized one situated in Nanoi District. The school is in a small town so the surrounding landscape is not as developed as the main town district but not isolated from society. That was the first time I saw Narab School.
At the start of July, I took a team of seven members for a community service trip in Nan Province. We wanted to teach English at Narab school for around three weeks. I won’t go into detail about the topics I taught or how I taught it. Instead, I will share my experience living with the students and some observations.
Town District, Nan Province
A Typical School Day
At the start of every school day, students lined up at the flagpole for the national anthem, buddhist prayers, school announcements, and the King’s anthem. Teachers use school announcement to plant moral values of the community into the students. They preach about what to look out for and how to behave in certain situations. After the announcements, students meditate for five minutes. The students then stood up and faced towards the South (Bangkok) for the King’s anthem. Finally, they go off to class. Whenever they pass by the teacher, they had to perform a cultural gesture of respect. Whenever they pass by an adult, they must bow. Before entering any classrooms, they had to take off their shoes as well. You could sense a strong sense of age-based hierarchy here.
Meditation Period
Representatives from several grades play the national anthem on the melodians.
Student take off their shoes before going on the second floor.
PE Class
Wai: a cultural show of respect
Metal cups used by kindergarteners to wash their mouths after lunch
Although the school is located in a rural setting, most students already own a digital device. Our urban minds may think that because these children own an electronic device, they would be glued to it. Actually, the students don’t really use their phones much during lunch breaks. They play dodgeball, soccer, tag, and card games on the narrow concrete lane beside the main building.
I played frisbee on the first day with the students during lunch. Of course, there were some arguments about who should throw the next one. Interestingly, I saw one student snatching the frisbee, but instead of throwing it herself and for her own fun, she gave it to her classmate that did not have the chance yet. For someone like me who studied in the Individualist United States, it came as a surprise. Collectivism and a strong sense of community run deep in this social environment.
Classroom Environment
There was a huge gap in knowledge between the students when we taught. Some had trouble spelling Tuesday, while others could hold a basic conversation in English. This was one of the difficulty we had to overcome.
Every student was equipped with a correction fluid. Whenever they make a mistake with a pen, they always clean it up. When they saw my notebook filled with crosses and scratches, they laughed at me and asked me why I don’t use one.
If a student did not have something, he or she would go to another student for that item. When they sat down to do exercises on a piece of paper or a book, there was a flow of items going up and down the rows. Most of the times, the students did not even have to ask verbally. If someone was done with an item, he or she would place it on the corner of the table for others to use.
Whenever we ask a yes or a no question to the whole class, the whole class either answers yes or no harmoniously. The minority of students that uttered an answer that appeared incongruous with the rest of the class would quiet down into silence. Discussions between students therefore were not always very fruitful.
Fifth graders after they launched a paper ammunition using a rubber band
On of the fifth grade classroom.
Photograph taken by a fifth grader.
First graders sharing their stationary
Sometimes the students are tasked with cleaning around their classroom in the morning.
A student after two hours of class back to back.
Student’s life outside the classroom
I was lucky enough to talk to some of the students outside the classroom. Although the majority of the students here comes from Nanoi District, there are some students from surrounding provinces and even from Bangkok.
On Wednesdays, students wear the scouts uniform to school. After Wednesday classes, they engage in community bonding and survival-related skills activities.
Scout's Uniforms
On Friday, students wear traditional clothes to school. The color of the fabric varies from region to region. For this district, it is dark red. After Friday classes, there are activities based on their gender. Boys do Thai Boxing while girls do Thai Dancing. However, there are some boys who do Thai dancing and girls who do boxing.
Girls' Traditional Uniform
Early morning session of assembly
Prayers for Asanha Bucha Day
Opening boxing prayers
Traditional dance class
On weekdays, some students would come visit me at the hotel after school. We usually went out biking on a dirt road that snaked around the rice paddies behind the hotel. Along the route, there were people working in the fields. Some students I met at school were helping their parents with their work. A first grader was helping his mother herd the cows and buffaloes. Another was planting rice while wearing boots clearly too big for his feet. One of them told me they woke up as early as 5 in the morning to help feed the pigs and cows. Some woke up at the same time to clean the house and make food for their family. Despite all this hard work outside the classroom, they still told me that they are happy.
There was one student that told me he came from Bangkok. His family moved after his grandmother passed away. “Sometimes when I am by myself I would cry,” he told me. “It really hurts when I think about when she used to cook fried rice for me. No one could replicate her recipe. My father was the one who opened the coffin for me. The smell and sight of the corpse still haunt me.” Even though he told me all these grim bits and pieces, he still smiled at school every single day.
A sixth grader told me that she is determined to win a scholarship to study abroad. She participated in an Multi Skill English competition and won her district. Unfortunately, she came second at the Province Level. Her fluency may not be great but the aspects in the language are pretty good. Apparently, she was able to read most of the first Harry Potter book. Before we left, she said that she was amazed by our experiences abroad so she wanted to experience it for herself too.
A farmer burning grass in the field.
Students came from a kaleidoscope of socioeconomic backgrounds. The school’s director told me that some students enjoy a relaxing life while others have to live off an egg for the day. There were times the director had to go into the rice fields himself to help with their work. Despite all these differences, they still wear the same uniform, follow the same curriculum, and share the same learning space.
From left to right: the hotel's manager, the school director, and Kru Toi (the one that took me scouting for schools in the first place)
Personal Impression
Over the past three weeks, I fell in love with this place. I love everything from the cool air after the rain to the ubiquitous empathy and kindness of the people. The wide expanse of rice fields and the mountain ranges that sit behind them refreshed my spirituality and wellbeing. There certainly is something about the rural landscape and its people that an urban setting could never replicate. When my plane landed back in Bangkok at the end of the project, past the gray towers and apartments that spike up against the sky like broken glass shards, I already feel something missing.