After an arduous, yet fascinating journey we had FINALLY arrived in the mountain village we had all been dreaming of at home in Bahrain. Not only had we all endured a 7 hour plane journey from Bahrain to Bangkok, but a further 6 hour wait before we boarded the domestic flight from Bangkok to Chang Rai. We thought we were done, but the final part of our journey was still not over. A 2 hour coach ride from Chang Rai airport concluded our travel in which we passed by numerous temples and picturesque scenes drifting in and out of a dazed sleep. By late afternoon we finally glimpsed The Maekok River Village Resort – the place we would be calling home for the next few days.

After a warm welcome, the owner, Brian, and his team gave us a quick tour of the area. Even though we were all jetlagged and extremely tired, the resort’s natural beauty still caught our eyes. Our routine commenced the next day after a delayed breakfast at about 9.00am. We were refreshed and ready for the day’s challenges. We spent the majority of the day in team building activities which turned out to be a lot more fun than we had imagined. 

Essentially, the aim of our project was to fund for the building of 4 new rooms which could be used for a variety of purposes as well as the construction of a small path. We were providing funds for the facilities the school lacked in order to help the children have a better education in the hope of a more prosperous future. These funds were provided by our team from the sponsored walk back in Bahrain whereby we walked 10km – equivalent to what some of the children attending the school walked EVERYDAY.

Getting to the school we would be working in – Ban Huay Mong School – was an experience if not to say the least. About eight of us sat in the back of a yellow Songthaew – a type of taxi that very much resembled the magic school bus - for half an hour till we reached our destination. Over the 3 days we mixed cement, built walls, and painted them. The entire project was based around a dedicated team effort. The school students also helped us out in carrying the roof tiles to the rooms and laying the path, although some of the young girls and boys did struggle to carry the materials.

Whilst we were at the school, we divided our time by spending half of the day building and the other half of the day sharing our knowledge with the students by teaching them basic English. Initially the children were very intimidated by us but soon enough they started to interact with us and we thoroughly enjoyed our time with them. Our team spent 3 full days working on the project with a raft building exercise weaved in one day whereby we had to work together to successfully manage to sail down the river. The biggest eye opener was the trek, not only were we travelling through the wilderness on our own but actually seeing how the villagers managed to survive with basic necessities under a thatched roof in one of the villages we passed by. Despite the basic conditions they still managed to be satisfied and greeted us with their innocent smiles.

The final night at the resort was concluded with a spectacular show of fireworks and Thai lanterns; the resort’s way of showing their appreciation for all of our hard work. As we packed our bags to leave early next morning, the air hung with gloom. The boat ride back to Chang Rai was simply spectacular; with the water levels up to about 2 centimetres below the edge of the boat we cut across the water observing the magnificent greenery around us.

After a long, taxing, 8 day trip, the highlight of the trip was probably the fact that it was a well deserved break after a term’s worth of hard extended days. Personally, I was not in any hurry to get back to my hectic lifestyle and longed to stay for just a little longer. An exposure to the Thai lifestyle and their simplistic ways taught us how privileged we were in every way possible, where we took little things such as a continuous water supply for granted. I’m sure each of the students who came on this trip felt a sense of accomplishment over what we managed to achieve and in order to truly understand our emotions and experience I recommend anyone to go on the trip themselves and gain the thrilling experience that my colleagues and I had.

Tabassum Dungarwalla, Y12